NO. 46, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Seymour Davis Ring
Meets 7:00 pm, 1st Monday of the month at City Arts Center, Oklahoma State Fairground.
LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary. Email: WoodsideLee@hotmail.com. www.okcmagic.org
There was a good turnout of local magicians at the 90th birthday party for Harold Todd (AKA “Toddini”) hosted by his family. Magicians in attendance included Harold’s son Tom Todd (AKA “Tomboli”) and his wife, Judy, Steve Crawford, Malaki, Roger Ryan, J. David Teeman, Justin Teeman, Lee and Myra Woodside, and Tom Wainwright. Harold is well known locally for his sponge ball magic and his amazing muscle pass, which is the envy of much younger magicians.
Our featured magician for our July meeting was Marty “The Magic Dad” Ludlum. Marty shared with us some of the wisdom he has gained from many years of performing magic. He advised us to not call our props “magical” because that directs the attention away from the performer and toward the props. Rather, it should be the magician who is magical. He discussed marketing magic items along with the show. He suggested that when performing a “free” show, the magician should offer a magic trick for those who donate a certain minimum amount, such as five dollars. The magic trick provided would, of course, promote the performer. Marty then showed us Svengali decks that he had made up using baseball cards and generously gave decks to everyone in attendance. He explained that children often aren’t familiar with playing cards, but can relate to the baseball cards.
Our theme for the July meeting was our annual magic auction, which was conducted by Lee Woodside as the auctioneer. The bidding always starts low and when the gavel comes down, the seller decides if he actually wants to sell the item for the bid price. If not, he has the option of paying the high bidder a 50-cent “appraisal fee” and keeping the item. We had a very spirited auction with lots of bidding and a whole lot of fun. A lot of magic changed hands. Amazingly, not one seller took advantage of the “appraisal” option.
Lee Woodside