Ring NO. 46, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Seymour Davis Ring

Meets 7:00 pm, 1^st Monday of the month at the New Beginning Fellowship Church, 15601 S. Pennsylvania in OKC

LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary. Email: WoodsideLee@hotmail.com.

www.okcmagic.club

After a long dry spell without live lectures, we were very pleased that Jeff Corn was willing to stop in OKC on his way west to the Magic Castle and give a lecture. Jeff began by showing two playing cards, with his hands otherwise empty. He rubbed the two cards together and produced a half-dollar. He proceeded to do a “coin flurry” and then performed a coins across routine.

Jeff invited Jerry Bowzer to join him. He showed a one-dollar bill and a twenty-dollar bill and asked Jerry to hold both in his fist. Jeff removed the one-dollar bill from Jerry’s hand and magically changed it into a twenty. Jerry opened his hand to reveal the one. He showed us how to make the very deceptive gimmicked bill.

Jeff brought out three ropes of different lengths and performed a three-stage “Professor’s Nightmare” type routine with them. He next showed a deck of playing cards made up of cards from different casinos in Las Vegas. He shuffled the deck and then asked Grant Vinson to cut off about half the cards, leaving the other half for Jeff. After some shuffling, cutting and dealing, each person ended up with four piles of cards. Grant turned over the top card of each of his stacks and found that they were all kings. Jeff turned over the four aces from his stacks. Jeff then showed that all the remaining cards in the deck were tens of clubs.

Jeff set up two paper match books to use as card easels. He showed two two aces and placed them backs-out on the easels. With a magical flourish, the cards switched places. He did it again, but this time the two red aces appeared in their place.

Jeff finished with a trick he called “The Lucky Coin.” He had Jerry Bowzer select a card (the two of hearts), which was then lost in the deck. Jeff spread the deck on the table and asked that Jerry place a casino chip where he thought the two of hearts was. Jeff removed the cards not in the vicinity of the chip and spread out the few cards that were left. He asked that Jerry place the chip on one of these cards. Sure enough, the selected card was the two of hearts. As a kicker, Jeff asked that Jerry turn over the casino chip. On the back was the index off a two of hearts.

We were very excited to host an IBM Jam in February. We got to meet IBM President-Elect Chuck Arkin and enjoy lectures by both him and Michael Dardant. A ring event article was submitted about the “Jam.”

President Cassidy Smith was our featured performer for March. Cassidy used a Golden Nugget (think Michael Skinner) matchbook as a card easel. He invited David Teeman to select a card, which was the two of hearts, and return it to the deck. Cassidy shuffled the deck and then showed the queen of spades, which he placed on the “easel.” With a magical flourish, the card turned into the two of hearts.

Cassidy showed four red-back aces and a blue-back blank card. He placed the blue-back card back-out on the easel. He showed that the four red-back cards had become blank. When he turned the blue-back card around, it had the pips from all four aces on it.

Justin Teeman led a discussion on magic mentors. Professional illusionist Rob Lake was able to attend our meeting because he was in town to visit family. He said that he had learned a great deal from both Kirby Van Burch and the late Jim Smithson. Several other members said that they had learned a lot from Jim Smithson. The late Harold Todd was also mentioned as a mentor.

Cassidy Smith asked members to name something they want audiences to perceive about them in addition to being magical. Some of the answers included: funny, silly, fun-loving, respectful, grandfatherly, connected to the audience, and energetic.

During our brief business meeting, Lee Woodside sold copies of our annual Grimoire, which were hot off the press from our magical scribe, Malaki Dracwin (AKA David Swanson.) The Grimoires were distributed on flash drives this year, since most computers no long come with CD/DVD drives. Those who contributed to the Grimoire had already received a free copy.

Our performance theme for the month was “A Tribute to the Masters.” Lee Woodside led off by first performing his version of the professor’s nightmare, using blue Dacron sailing rope. Lee then talked about his early years in magic as he performed Tenyo’s “What’s Next.” He said that he has been doing that routine for over 25 years and was surprised when he found out by reading FROM BEYOND that Eugene Burger was using his own version of the spot card in a somewhat similar routine.

James Graham showed four what he called “spaghetti strings.” With a flourish, one of the strings vanished. He then talked about working in a spaghetti factory and demonstrated how he could make the unequal lengths of spaghetti conform to the same length. James performed a “magician’s clock” effect with a deck of cards. After shuffling a deck of playing cards and having them cut by an audience member, he placed twelve cards face-down in a circle. When he turned them over, the ace was in the one-o’clock position, the deuce in the two-o’clock position and so forth. The card he had placed in the middle was a king. James ended with a poker deal routine that he said he learned from BACKSTAGE WITH BLACKSTONE.

After thoroughly shuffling a deck of playing cards, Michael King cut to each of the aces. Michael’s card handling skills are amazing.

Cassidy Smith presented a linking ring routine using Shoot Ogawa’s “Ninja Rings,” which are close-up size linking rings. He performed several standard linking ring moves, but impressed us the most by spinning one ring on the tabletop and linking it to the ring in his hand.

Lee Woodside

Ring NO. 46, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Seymour Davis Ring

Meets 7:00 pm, 1^st Monday of the month at the New Beginning Fellowship Church, 15601 S. Pennsylvania in OKC

LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary. Email: WoodsideLee@hotmail.com.

www.okcmagic.club

Vice President Justin Teeman opened our February meeting with an announcement of upcoming magic activities. A Jeff Corn lecture is scheduled for February 13^th and will be free to all paid-up members. An IBM Jam is set for February 18^th. A Ryan Byer magic show, which will include local magical talent, will be performed on March 11^th at Rose State College.

Secretary Lee Woodside announced that the Ring 46 Grimoire will be available at the March meeting and will be delivered on flash drives this year. Our Grimoire began many years ago as a printed document and was later made available on CD-Rom discs. The Grimoire will be free to those who contributed material and will be five dollars for everyone else. Malaki Dracwin (AKA David Swanson) has been our Grimoire editor for more than twenty-five years! Lee also announced that a box of books on juggling, balloon animals and yo-yos had been donated by Jim Short. He invited members to grab a book if they were interested in learning a new skill.

Our theme for February was “Coming out of your Shell.” Members were challenged to present coin tricks where the effect could be achieved using either a gimmick or by pure sleight-of-hand. Lee Woodside invited Rick Johnson to join him “on stage.” He showed a US fifty-cent piece and a Mexican 20-centavo coin and asked Rick to put them behind his back and place one coin in each hand. Lee asked Rick to open the hand with the half-dollar, which Lee took and showed to everyone. He then waved his hand over the hand holding the Mexican coin. When Rick opened his hand, the Mexican coin had changed into a US quarter. Lee said that this trick, “Scotch & Soda,” is probably one of the best-selling magic tricks of all time. He said that the trick could be easily performed with three un-gimmicked coins, but the gimmick is really cool.

Lee next showed a “Coin Changer” that he said was made by master-craftsman Rick Martin. He slid the drawer out of the device and showed that it contained a US penny. He slid the drawer back into the box and invoked a spell used by the ancient alchemists. When the drawer was pulled out, the penny (base metal) had changed into a US quarter (“silver”).

President Cassidy Smith performed several versions of “matrix,” using four coins and four playing cards. He even performed a reverse matrix, where the coins ended up in the original four corners.

Michael King showed that he had a quarter and a penny. He asked Jerry Bowzer which he preferred and Jerry chose the quarter. Michael showed that he still had the quarter, but the penny had disappeared. He said the trick is sold as “Captain & Coke.” He said that while it is much easier to reset than Scotch & Soda, the coin gimmick does not hold up to close inspection.

Jim Green wrote a number on a dry erase board and then asked audience members for numbers. When Cassidy Smith added up the numbers, they matched Jim’s prediction.

David Teeman displayed a fifty-cent piece and as he held it, it visibly morphed into a transparent disk. David then brought out a metal box full of coin gimmicks that he had been given and asked for help identifying the uses for the different pieces. His fellow magicians were able to identify several of the gimmicks.

Our meeting concluded with Justin Teeman leading a discussion on the use of gimmicks versus sleight-of-hand. Some of the considerations were price, ease of reset, and the effort required to master a routine. It was agreed that marrying a gimmick with sleight-of-hand can create killer routines.

Lee Woodside

Ring NO. 46, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Seymour Davis Ring

Meets 7:00 pm, 1^st Monday of the month at the New Beginning Fellowship Church, 15601 S. Pennsylvania in OKC

LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary. Email: WoodsideLee@hotmail.com.

www.okcmagic.club

Our theme for the January meeting was showing off the magic we acquired over the holidays. Jerry Bowzer showed us his four new Lord of the Rings playing card decks that he recently received. He also showed us an uncut sheet of LOTR cards that he plans to have framed.

Derrick Beeson said that his holiday magic was a trip to Disney World. He said the trip was made less pleasant by 40-degree temperatures and constant rain.

New visitor Grant Vinson showed us his Volume 2 of CARD COLLEGE, by Roberto Giobbi. He said that he has been working on card magic since July and has the first four volumes of the set.

Justin Teeman said that he had received the new 2-volume set of books called TALK ABOUT TRICKS, by Joshua Jay, which is a compilation of Jay’s columns in “Magic” magazine. Justin then led a discussion on how to keep an audience engaged prior to our break.

Lee Woodside showed two booklets that he received for Christmas. TAROT MAGIC, by Matteo Filippini, describes routines that can be performed using tarot cards along with doing readings. SOMETHING STRANGE, by Tony Shiels, describes several bizarre magick routines.

Michael King told us about seeing a performance of “Cirque Christmas” over the holidays. He said that Lucy Darling performed some magic in the show.

David Teeman performed his card trick about four brothers who each “turn around” from a walk to go home and get a drink. Each of the four cards in the packet turned over one at a time. The routine climaxed with the backs of the playing cards all featuring different Coca Cola products, even though all the cards had previously had Bicycle backs.

Those who had not yet enjoyed enough magic repaired to the nearby Buffalo Wild Wings for food, drink, and magic sessioning.

Lee Woodside

Ring NO. 46, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Seymour Davis Ring

Meets 7:00 pm, 1^st Monday of the month at the New Beginning Fellowship Church, 15601 S. Pennsylvania in OKC

LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary. Email: WoodsideLee@hotmail.com.

www.okcmagic.club

We held our annual Holiday Party in December. Ring 46 provided ham, turkey and soft drinks and the members brought side dishes, salads, and desserts. We had a great time feasting and visiting prior to the evening’s magic.

Vice President Justin Teeman presided over our festivities. He introduced Michael King, who briefly discussed the magic of Sean-Paul and Juliana Fay, who have converted an old church in Eureka Springs, Arkansas into a venue for their magic and mentalism. Michael then showed us photos of his recent gig at the new Oklahoma City Convention Center.

We did not get the required six entries for a stage/parlor magic contest, but that did not stop us from enjoying some wonderful magic. Lee Woodside led the whole audience through a performance of “The Famous Australian Card Trick.” Afterwards, several decks of playing cards littered the floor, adding to the festive atmosphere of the gathering.

Jeff Davis began his performance by placing a Rubik’s Cube into a box. After much byplay, he showed that the box was completely empty and the cube had returned to his top hat. Jeff then showed us his routine for the Dribeek Die, where a large die is removed from a box and then the box is placed into the die. He ended by demonstrating the zig-zag balloon box he had built.

David Teeman and his lovely young assistant Byrnna performed a routine where David removed a silk scarf from a glass box held by Byrnna and placed it into a silk caddy. When he made a magical gesture, the scarf disappeared and reappeared in the glass box (crystal casket.) David then placed a green scarf into a box with a red and white interior. When he closed and reopened the box, the scarf was now red and the box interior was green and white. David concluded his performance by inviting a volunteer to join him on stage. She selected a Time magazine and chose a page from the magazine and then a word on the page. When David handed her a dictionary to look up the word, the page that should have contained the word was missing from the book. She opened an envelope that she was given at the start of the routine, and sure enough, she found the torn-out page with the chosen word circled.

Lee Woodside

Ring NO. 46, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Seymour Davis Ring

Meets 7:00 pm, 1^st Monday of the month at the New Beginning Fellowship Church, 15601 S. Pennsylvania in OKC

LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary. Email: WoodsideLee@hotmail.com.

www.okcmagic.club

As we were waiting for the November Ring 46 meeting to begin, former member Gravelly Finley III and his lovely wife came in bearing boxes of magic props and books. It seems that they had cleaned out their attic and decided that since Gravelly was no longer into magic, they would bring the items to give to the Ring members. These weren’t beginner magic props, either. We’re talking very nice paraphernalia and books. What an incredibly generous gesture!

Our featured performer for the month was John Shack. John invited Marty Ludlum to select a card, which John then placed into the middle of the deck. With a magical gesture, the selected Jack of Diamonds returned to the top of the pack. John then tossed the card into the air where it visibly transformed into a card with half of the front of the card and half of the back of the card on each side. This is an effect that John came up with that is now being marketed as “Split Ends.” He generously offered them to our members at a discounted price.

John concluded by having a card selected and returned to the deck face down. Suddenly the deck was face up and the selected card was the only face-down card. As a kicker, the previously red-backed deck was now a blue-backed deck.

President Cassidy Smith led a discussion on having a set list for one’s show. Several members offered suggestions based on their experiences.

Our business meeting was very brief. Treasurer Michael King apprised us of our financial situation, which is pretty good. Next, officer elections were held for 2023 and all the current officers were re-elected by acclamation. Cassidy Smith will continue as President, Justin Teeman as Vice President, Michael King as Treasurer, and Lee Woodside as Secretary.

Jerry Bowzer showed off his recently acquired Collector’s Edition of the new book UNANCHORED, by Ryan Schlutz. Jerry said that he would not open the two decks of cards that were included. He showed us some of the photographs in the book, which were excellent.

David Teeman led off our member performances. He showed us the items he had performed at his church’s “Trunk or Treat” event for Halloween. He showed a mesh bag with an egg that he used to play “catch” with the kids, a 6-foot ruler (a gag with six feet on it) that he used to prove that kids were tall enough to participate, a finger chopper, and an empty drawer box. When the magic word was yelled out by all, the box became filled with candy (actually bags of pretzels.) David then invited Derrick Beeson to join him “on stage” and asked Derrick to merely think of a card. He handed Derrick a card and asked him what was printed on it. “My Card” was the answer.

Jeff Davis, who has worked for many famous magic manufacturers over the years and has recently moved back to Oklahoma, demonstrated a trick that he had hand crafted. He blew up a long balloon and placed it through holes in the side of a small cabinet, which was open in the front. When the balloon was “popped,” a dove appeared in its place. (Actually, Jeff did not have a dove, so a wadded up towel was brought into play.) He said that the biggest problem with many magic props is that the manufacturers don’t know how to paint them properly so that they will stand up to repeated use.

Derrick Beeson invited young Tucker Johnson to help him. After examining a red deck of playing cards, Tucker selected one and returned it to the deck. Derrick made a magical pass and asked Tucker to look for his card in the deck. It wasn’t there! Derrick spread the blue deck and, sure enough, there was the selected red-backed card. Derrick said that this was David Regal’s “Flight of Fancy.”

It being November, one of our themes for the meeting was “Turkey Magic,” that is magic that didn’t live up to the hype in the ad. (Imagine that.) Cassidy Smith showed us several items that he was disappointed in, including an appearing rose that came with what he called “craptacular” instructions. He also had a zig-zag card. The problem was that the card being zig-zagged had a black back, which although obtainable, is not what lay people are used to seeing. He also showed us a bouquet of flowers where the flowers bow when the performer does, the only problem being that one of the flowers doesn’t do its thing.

Michael King talked about a trick he had where a nut threaded itself off a bolt. The only problem was that the apparatus hummed a symphony while the magic was taking place. And yes, lay people are smart enough to imagine there being a tiny motor doing the work.

To wrap up the meeting, Cassidy Smith performed a “Table Hopper’s Trio” of coin magic. He began by removing three coins quite magically from an empty coin purse frame. One coin then performed acrobatics across the back of his hand. A second coin penetrated the table. The third coin engaged in time travel, falling up from the hand it had been dropped into and then changed to a dime, where it had started life as a baby coin.

The meeting closed by Cassidy Smith reminding everyone of the Holiday Party and parlor/stage magic contest in December.

Lee Woodside

Ring NO. 46, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Seymour Davis Ring

Meets 7:00 pm, 1^st Monday of the month at the New Beginning Fellowship Church, 15601 S. Pennsylvania in OKC

LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary. Email: WoodsideLee@hotmail.com.

www.okcmagic.club

President Cassidy Smith introduced Jerry Bowzer as our featured performer for October. Jerry invited Cassidy to shuffle a red deck of Bicycles while he shuffled a blue deck. Jerry then discussed the astronomical odds against two shuffled decks being in the same order. For example, he compared the number of possibilities to the number of protons that would fit within the volume of the earth. However, when Jerry and Cassidy compared the orders of their decks, they were miraculously in the same exact order.

Cassidy Smith said that he had a show coming up where he would be performing for “super seniors,” where the youngest audience member would be 77 years old. The venue was a church rather than a nursing home. He led a discussion about effects that would be appropriate for such an audience.

Vice President Justin Teeman led the “teach a trick” portion of the meeting. He showed us a very visual, but easy-to-do method of producing four aces from a borrowed deck.

Jim Green showed five two-dollar bills. With a flick of his wrist, they all turned into twenty-dollar bills. Past-president Bob Caldwell, who recently moved back to Oklahoma from Tennessee, commented that if you are changing a bill borrowed from the audience, always change it to a smaller bill. Otherwise, they will want to take possession of the larger bill.

Jay Relkin said that he had started performing tricks with the “baby hand.” He said that the audience reaction has been phenomenal.

Cassidy Smith announced that we would have an impromptu magic contest. It would be truly impromptu because it was not announced in advance of the meeting.

Jay Relkin caused a finger ring to jump from finger to finger. He then had a finger ring magically pass through a folded plastic drinking straw.

David Teeman showed three matchbooks and invited Derrick Beeson to choose one. When he turned over the chosen match book, “You will choose this one” was written on the back of it. The other two matchbooks had no such message.

Lee Woodside invited Jerry Bowzer, Cassidy Smith, Rick Martin, and Bob Caldwell to select three-digit numbers. Sure enough, when Justin Teeman crunched the numbers, the total arrived at matched a prediction that Lee had handed out earlier.

Justin Teeman performed a trick with three cards. He first showed that all three cards were the Ace of Spades. Finally, he showed that there were Aces of three different suits.

Derrick Beeson performed the audience-pleasing “paper balls over the head” for Jim Green. Shawn Clark demonstrated his healing powers by restoring a broken cookie.

While the committee judged the impromptu contest, David Teeman showed off a tiny skull on a string that would stop anywhere on the string at his command. When the judges returned, David Teeman was announced as the winner of the contest. Each participant in the contest received a color-changing silk scarf.

Lee Woodside led off the member performances by showing the small cabinet that he had built from materials he obtained from a haunted house that was being demolished. A goblet and a red ball were displayed and the curtains on the cabinet were closed. When they were reopened, the ball was inside the goblet. Next a cord was threaded through holes in the sides of the cabinet and David Teeman and Shawn Clark were invited to hold the ends of the cord. Lee borrowed Rick Martin’s wedding band and put it into the cabinet. David was asked to let go of his end of the cord and Shawn was asked to slowly pull the cord from the cabinet. Rick’s ring was now on the cord and held in place by a safety pin. Finally, Lee asked Jerry Bowzer to freelly select a playing card. A child’s slate was shown to be blank on both sides and was placed into the cabinet along with a piece of chalk. After scratching sounds were heard, the slate was removed and “THE NAME OF THE CARD IS” was written on one side of the slate, but the other side was blank. After cursing the spirit, Lee erased the message and it changed to “NINE OF HEARTS.”

Lee said that when he performed this effect at an Oklahoma City Calvacade of Magic back in the 1990s, underground card legend Roger Klause was sitting in the back row with a friend. As Lee was performing the effect, Roger was whispering to his friend how it was being done.

David Teeman showed an envelope labeled “CURE.” He then laid out six pictures of a voodoo doll being stuck with a pin in various places. When Bob Caldwell selected one of the pictures, David removed the prediction from the “cure” envelope and it showed a large band aid over the location of the chosen wound.

Cassidy Smith placed the names of all the performers into his hat. The winning name was drawn and Jay Relkin claimed the prize of a chop cup with chopped dice and an eight-ball final load.

Lee Woodside

Ring NO. 46, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Seymour Davis Ring

Meets 7:00 pm, 1^st Monday of the month at the New Beginning Fellowship Church, 15601 S. Pennsylvania in OKC

LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary. Email: WoodsideLee@hotmail.com.

www.okcmagic.club

Our September meeting was devoted to our annual swap meet and auction. Lee Woodside was once again our auctioneer. We run this as an “appraisal” auction. There are no minimum bids, but when the gavel falls, the seller has the option of paying the high bidder fifty cents for appraising his item rather than selling it. Despite some incredible bargains, this option was not used once during the entire auction.

We were very pleased to have magicians visiting from out of state. Jim Canady auctioned off a few things so he wouldn’t have to take them back to Florida with him. Steve Mills from Wichita Falls also attended.

We were pleased to welcome Jeff Davis, an illusion builder who has moved back to Oklahoma from California. We’re looking forward to him bringing some of his creations to share with us.

Lee Woodside

In addition to being a magician and the President of IBM Ring 46, Cassidy Smith conducts water taxi tours on the Oklahoma City Bricktown Canal. On August 22^nd, Captain Cassidy invited all the members of Ring 46 and their plus-ones to enjoy a sunset cruise with him aboard his tour boat. Cassidy entertained us with the stories that he tells tourists visiting OKC. He also pointed out sites along the route, including the bigger than life-size statues that depict the 1889 Oklahoma Land Run.

On our way back, Cassidy pulled the boat over to the side, got out, and showed off his roping skills, ala Will Rogers, a favorite son of Oklahoma who was a comedian, movie star, and top-billed performer in the Ziegfeld Follies back in the day. Cassidy returned to the boat and donned a blindfold. He then proceeded to navigate the curviest part of the canal using his psychic abilities, or perhaps after thousands of tours, he has memorized the course of the canal. Either way it was impressive and got lots of amazed looks from those walking along the side of the canal.

When the cruise was completed, everyone went to Dave’s Hot Chicken to dine and share magic. Dinner was paid for by the Ring and it was a very enjoyable evening for all.

Lee Woodside

Ring NO. 46, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Seymour Davis Ring

Meets 7:00 pm, 1^st Monday of the month at the New Beginning Fellowship Church, 15601 S. Pennsylvania in OKC

LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary. Email: WoodsideLee@hotmail.com.

www.okcmagic.club

President Cassidy Smith introduced Lee Woodside as the featured performer for our August meeting. Lee invited Jerry Bowzer to assist him “on stage.” Lee pulled a blue drawstring bag from a champagne cooler and stated that he had found a good use for Crown Royal bags. He said that he tosses his spare quarters into the bag and when he gets enough quarters, he buys another bottle of Crown Royal. He said that he is also saving up for a bottle of champagne for New Year’s. He invited Jerry to scoop up a handful of quarters from the bucket and place them onto the table. Lee then removed several sheets of paper from a manila envelope. The first said, “I will have as many coins as you.” Jerry counted eleven quarters and Lee removed that many from the bag. The next sheet said, “Plus three more” and Lee removed three more coins from the bag. The last two pages said, “Plus enough left over to bring your total to $5.75.” Lee handed Jerry the bag and asked him to count the total of his coins and those in the bag. Sure enough, the total was correct!

Lee explained that when he was an engineering student at Oklahoma State University, his roommate in the dorm was an accounting major. Lee said that his roommate could add and subtract with the best of them, but when it came to multiplication and division, he could only multiply or divide by two. Lee then demonstrated how his roommate would multiply two larger numbers using those constraints. He called this “Aggie Math.”

Cassidy Smith led a discussion on mathematical tricks. Justin Teeman mentioned that Martin Gardner’s MAGIC, MATHEMATICS & MYSTERY book was a good source of material.

Jerry Bowzer showed his recently acquired book, 52 EXPLORATIONS, by Andi Gladwin and Jack Parker. He said that it was not a book for the beginner because it references sleights without explaining how to perform them. He said that it does, however, contain some killer routines.

David Teeman led off the member performances with his rapid addition blocks. The four blocks, each with four numbers printed vertically on each face, can be arranged in multiple ways to create an addition problem with four 4-digit numbers. David proved that he could add the four numbers in his head faster than Jay Relkin could key them into his phone’s calculator app.

Jim Green performed his variation on Jim Steinmeyer’s famous nine-card trick. He then asked for a number from the audience and created a magic square where every conceivable addition of four numbers yielded that total.

Malaki Dracwin (AKA David Swanson), our longtime scribe, showed his leather-bound collection of ten years’ worth of our annual Grimoires. He has actually been the editor of our annual Grimoire for over twenty-five years. He said that he is working on a new edition to come out in early 2023 and invited submissions from our members. Each magician who submits an article, trick, essay, joke, or any other magic-related item will receive a free copy of the Grimoire. Those who do not submit may purchase it for a nominal fee.

Shaun Clark performed a routine that he learned from the book that he won as a prize at the last meeting. (The book was STANDUP CARD MAGIC, by Roberto Giobbi.) He had a card selected and shown and then he placed it face-down on the table and set a stemmed goblet on top of it. He then showed a Joker and placed it back side out in the goblet. After talking about Houdini’s famous “Metamorphosis” illusion, he showed that the two cards had switched places.

Derrick Beeson showed off his new “Magic Card Plus” credit card. After asking for a random three-digit number and performing some math, he showed that the calculated number matched the expiration date on the card (10-89). After performing a couple more effects with the credit card, he brought out a deck of cards, pulled out one card, and laid it face-down on the table. He then had an audience member name any number between one and ten. He counted down to that number in the deck and showed the two of diamond. He turned over the card he had set on the table and it was the two of hearts, the mate of the one chosen.

“Magic Mike” Stelzer asked young Tucker Taylor to select a number. When Tucker chose 34, Mike quickly drew out a magic square where every row, column and diagonal added to the chosen number.

Malaki showed us his jewel-encrusted thimble and proceeded to wow us with his manipulation skill. He said that he had constructed the thimble in his Wizard’s Workshoppe.

Jay Relkin demonstrated his ability to divine the fifth root of numbers. He had audience members secretly select two-digit numbers and raise them to the fifth power. When they told Jay

the resulting number, he calculated the fifth root of the number in his head. For example, Lee Woodside gave him the number 537, 824 and Jay correctly gave the fifth root as 14.

The names of all the evening’s performers were placed into a hat and one name was drawn. Shaun Clark was the lucky winner for the second month in a row. He became the proud owner of Michael Skinner’s CLASSIC SAMPLER.

Cassidy Smith announced that he would host a magic cruise for magicians and their plus-ones on August 22^nd. Cassidy is a longtime Captain and tour guide for the river cruises on Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Canal.

Lee Woodside

Ring NO. 46, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Seymour Davis Ring

Meets 7:00 pm, 1^st Monday of the month at the New Beginning Fellowship Church, 15601 S. Pennsylvania in OKC

LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary. Email: WoodsideLee@hotmail.com.

www.okcmagic.club

We presented our annual “Pandemonium of Magic” show the Saturday before Father’s Day. Cassidy Smith acted as emcee and opened the show with his Michael Ammar style cups and balls routine, climaxing with the production of a lemon, a lime, a potato and a turnip. In act two, Cassidy amazed us with his “Cowboy Cassidy” lasso spinning. The climax was when he jumped back and forth through a vertically spinning lasso.

Brian and Michelle Tabor presented a card trick where, once a card was selected, signed, and returned to the deck, Brian placed the deck in his mouth and lowered the deck onto an animal trap. When the trap snapped shut on the deck, Brian removed the folded, signed card from his mouth. He then presented a bank night routine using a paper shredder to add drama.

David Teeman and his lovely, young assistant Byrnna performed a routine using silk scarves, climaxing in the production of a beautiful butterfly scarf. In act two, David performed a book test using three Time magazines, allowing his volunteer the free choice of any one of the three. The word selected by the volunteer proved to be missing from the dictionary David provided. The page was found, with the freely-chosen word circled, in an envelope handed out at the beginning of the routine.

Michael King performed his ever-popular “One-Man Circus” routine. After demonstrating his juggling and plate-spinning skills, he amazed us by juggling clubs while riding a unicycle.

Lee Woodside confessed to having a secret desire to be a game show host. Volunteers Brynna and her dad, Daryl took turns keeping their eyes on three tree frogs as Lee mixed them monte style. Brynna won all the candy bars and Daryl received a consolation prize of a jumping frog toy and had to endure Lee’s terrible puns. As the frog said, “Time’s fun when you’re having flies.”

Mike Stelzer, decked out in his martial arts regalia, invited an audience member to select a card. After much posturing with two swords, the table holding a watermelon gave way, smashing the watermelon and revealing a jumbo card matching the selected one.

We all had a lot of fun and cleared a profit for the ring, so we considered it a success. Best of all, we got to experience the joy of performing magic for the public in a stage setting.

Vice President Justin Teeman introduced Shaun Clark as our featured performer for the July meeting. Shaun asked for volunteers and Brian Tabor and Jay Relkin stepped forward. Shaun openly shuffled a deck and then turned half the deck over and shuffled the face up and face down cards together. He invited his volunteers to each take a turn further randomizing the deck. He now had each select a card and return it to the deck. When Shaun spread the deck, we were amazed that all the cards were now face down, with the exception of the Ace of Diamonds and the Eight of Clubs chosen by Brian and Jay.

Shaun now asked for a volunteer with Instagram on his phone. Jeremy Stillwell stepped forward to assist. Shaun asked three different audience members to name a color, a rank, and a suit, thereby designating a playing card. Shaun now asked Jeremy to check Shaun’s Instagram page, where he found a photo of a face-down deck spread on a table. When Jeremy scrolled to the right, he found that the selected card was face up in the spread. Shaun said that this effect could also be done using Facebook.

Our theme for July was “Card Effects that Play Well on Stage.” Justin Teeman led a discussion on what effects might meet that criterion. Lee Woodside testified that the “Thought Transmitter” routine that he learned years ago from the “Linking Ring” plays very well for a larger audience. He also suggested Harry Anderson’s “Three Card Monarch” and card manipulations, such as those done by Jeff McBride. Jim Green said that the giant zig-zag card fram that Rick Martin made for him plays very well. David Teeman showed us his monte routine made with huge cards.

Lee Woodside said that he was going to attempt to use verbal control to persuade Michelle Tabor to pick the same card as he did. He first showed the audience a number of jumbo playing cards. He selected one (Seven of Spades), showing it to the audience, but not Michelle, and placed it back-out on a small easel. He then fanned another packet of jumbo cards for the audience to see (all sevens of spades) and claimed that he would have Michelle select the same card as he did. He now asked Michelle if she would like the top card of the packet, saying, “No one ever picks the top card, but do not let that influence your choice in any way.” He continued moving cards from the top to the bottom until Michelle made her choice, which he handed to her and asked her to not show the audience. He now asked her to name the card she selected. When she said, “The two of diamonds,” Lee did a double-take and looked worried. However, when he turned around the card on the easel, it proved to also be the two of diamonds. The spirit of Billy McComb lives!

Gary Trosper showed a game that his father used to play with him to get Gary to do his chores. After showing three deuces and a king and setting the king aside, the king showed up among the deuces and the set-aside card proved to be a deuce. As a climax, the king vanished and Gary was left with four deuces.

David Teeman brought out a bag and pulled the tip of a silk scarf out of it. He had Jay Relkin pick a card, show it to the audience, and return it to the deck. When David divined the wrong card, he pulled out his magician’s insurance policy. There was a loose card in the folded policy, the jack of clubs, and it too proved to be the wrong card. When the insurance policy was fully unfolded, a giant king of hearts was displayed. When David pulled the silk scarf completely out of the bag, it had a large image of a King of Hearts. David said that he routinely performs this effect as a gospel routine.

Brian Tabor brought out ten jumbo playing cards. He had Jerry Bowzer pick cards to be included in Brian’s poker hand and also his own poker hand. Jerry ended up with a full house, but Brian bested him with a straight flush.

Paul Nightingale asked the audience what a pirate’s favorite letter is. When everyone shouted out “R,” Paul said that no, his favorite letter is “C” (sea). He had Brian Tabor select a card and return it to the deck. He handed the deck to Brian, and while he was looking for his card, Paul placed the edge of the card in his mouth. Paul also performed an ambitious card routine and a color change.

Michael King asked Paul to select a card from a fanned deck. He picked the Jack of Spades. After Michael shuffled the deck some more, he had Paul select another card – again a jack. Michael then took out a jumbo deck of playing cards and related the story of Jack Spade, new age detective. As he told the story, he turned over playing cards that matched the narrative, with lots of puns involved.

The names of all the evening’s performers were placed into a hat and Jay Relkin’s name was drawn. He was the lucky winner of STANDUP CARD MAGIC, by Roberto Giobbi, which was very appropriate for the night’s theme.

Lee Woodside