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.
Our theme for May was “May the force be with you.” President Cassidy Smith introduced Lee Woodside with a lecture on forces. Lee covered some of the finer points of the venerable cross cut and Hindu forces with playing cards. He then invited Kevin Brasier and his daughter, Cally to participate in a mind reading exercise. Lee asked Kevin to select a playing card and attempt to transmit its value telepathically to his daughter. When that was unsuccessful, Lee placed a crystal ball (shot glass) on Kevin’s outstretched hand and said that it would concentrate the thought waves. Sure enough, the experiment was successful and the crowd enjoyed being in on the gag. Lee then explained his use of the 50/50 forcing deck and offered decks for sale just like in a “real” lecture.
Lee showed a couple of gimmicked decks that can be use for forces: the Svengali deck and the Pop-Eyed Popper deck. He said that the jumbo Pop-Eyed Popper is ideal for stage work.
Lee invited Jerry Bowzer to roll two dice. Using the numbers rolled, Lee arrived at Jerry’s special numerological number and showed him a chart of forecasts based on different numbers. Jerry’s number predicted a long and healthy life while all the other numbers predicted horrible outcomes. Lee credited the routine to an “Auto-Magic” column in the Linking Ring.
Lee demonstrated a calendar force using a calendar he received free from a local bank. He then had audience members provide digits for a math problem. Sure enough, the totals added up to Lee’s prediction.
Cassidy Smith performed comedy magic using various gaffed cards. He showed how the use of a 52-on-1 card or a long card (e.g.: 15 of Spades) can entertain an audience. Cassidy then led a discussion on how to get an audience’s interest. He said that attention can be demanded, but interest must be earned. David Teeman suggested the use of music. Justin Teeman said that he likes to start by asking a question, such as “Can I borrow your imagination?”
Glenn Fain, one of our local magic dealers for many years, passed away recently. Cassidy Smith performed a broken wand ceremony on his behalf.
Cassidy Smith taught a magic trick using plastic drinking straws. Even though the two straws were securely wrapped around each other, Cassidy was able to cause one straw to penetrate the other.
David Teeman led off the member performances. He showed a mesh bag that contained six colored eggs and stated that each egg held a prize, but that one of the eggs held a special prize. Each “contestant” reached into the bag and grabbed an egg, which contained a piece of gum. The last egg, which was the magician’s, contained a one-hundred dollar bill. (Actually, it didn’t; it contained two pieces of gum, but wouldn’t that have been cool?) David showed that he had several colored markers. He went through a “point, pick and eliminate” procedure with an audience member, leaving one marker. This turned out to be the only marker where the color of the cap matched the color of the ink.
Brian Tabor asked questions of an audience member to arrive at one playing card. The value chosen turned out to be the only card in the deck with a different colored back.
Kevin Brasier had Brian Tabor select a card, which was then lost in the deck. Kevin was able to divine the chosen card.
Daniel Buster had a card selected and then shuffled it into the deck. He placed the deck on end on the table and blew on it. Sure enough, the deck separated at the location of the selected card.
Shaun Clark asked Brian Tabor to say “Stop” at any time as he dribbled the cards from one hand into the other. The selected card matched Shaun’s jumbo prediction card.
The names of all the performers were placed into a hat, with the winner to receive a copy of Simon Lovell’s How to Cheat at Everything. Lee Woodside’s name was drawn, but he said that he already had the book. Another name was drawn and Keven Brasier was the winner.
Lee Woodside