Ring NO. 46, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Seymour Davis Ring
Meets 7:00 pm, 1st Monday of the month at the New Beginning Fellowship Church, 15601 S. Pennsylvania in OKC
LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary. Email: WoodsideLee@hotmail.com.
Nineteen magicians signed in for our December Zoom meeting and annual stage/parlor magic contest. Anthony Bruno led off by showing two decks of cards and asking Zach Heath to name any playing card. Zach called out the five of diamonds. Anthony said that he would make the five of diamonds vanish from the first deck. The magic worked a little too well; all the faces of the cards had become blank. Anthony then showed that the five of diamonds was the only card that was reversed in the other deck. Not only that, it was the only card in the red-backed deck with a blue back.
Daniel Buster showed four pieces of string, each about a foot long. One of the pieces of string had a treble hook attached to the end. He placed the ends of the string, including the hook into his mouth. He invited Cassidy Smith to select any one of the strings. He jerked the selected string from his mouth. He did this two more times. Finally, he showed that the one remaining string was the one with the dangerous looking fish hook attached to it.
J. David Teeman showed a mailbox that he explained was for magically sending letters to Santa to the North Pole. He showed an envelope addressed to Santa and placed it into the mailbox and closed the door. When he lifted the flag to indicate outgoing mail, magical holiday music played briefly. He opened the door to show that the letter was now gone, magically on its way to Santa.
Mike Stelzer demonstrated his ventriloquist skills by carrying on a lively conversation with his pet orangutan. Following Mike’s performance, President Cassidy Smith announced that the Ring Officers would meet via Zoom later and determine the contest winners.
Cassidy Smith showed off his impressive collection of magic wands. Wendy Wylde gave a glowing review of the “Monster Mentalism” DVDs by Docc Hillford.
David Parr showed off his bound volume of Charlie Miller’s Magicana columns that were published in Genii magazine from 1964 to 1978. Michael King showed a collection of books that were given to him because he is a magician. The books included RAPID MATH TRICKS AND TIPS, by Edward H. Julius. He said that despite the title, the book was not a magic book, but a book on how to perform rapid calculations. He also showed the FAMOUS ROTH’S MEMORY COURSE.
Lee Woodside said that Walter Zaney Blaney’s memorial service was last week and included a video about Blaney. Look under www.facebook.com/StillZaney. Walter Zaney’s quote is very appropriate for magicians: “Die young as old as possible.”
Zach Heath, the inventor of “Ash and Ember” performed a finger ring routine that looked like movie special effects. Many hours of practice had to be involved.
David Parr showed a clip from his Halloween special that he performed on Zoom. He was in a very spooky-looking old house. He walked up a staircase and set a box on a stair and placed a ball in it. He walked down the stairs and called on the spirits. Sure enough, the ball rolled out of the box and bounced down the stairs.
Junior magician Lincoln Reed Thomas pushed a silk handkerchief into his fist. After making a magical gesture, he opened his hand to show that the hanky had disappeared.
The Ring 46 Officers met after the meeting to determine the winners of the stage/parlor magic contest. Daniel Buster won first place and will receive a $30 gift card to a magic dealer. David Teeman won second place and will receive a $20 gift card. Anthony Bruno took third place and will receive a $10 gift card.
Lee Woodside