April was a busy month in Denver, we had three events so we definitely got our fill of magic this month. First, we had Bronson Chadwick perform his original chopstick and Chinese coin production from mid air. He also suggested to keep you patter short to help keep peoples interest and attention when doing any trick. Bronson did a 6-card repeat and made silks escape from a corked bottle.
Next we had our Plastic Magic night. That is always a fun night and this time it was extra special because some of our members did a father and son and father son and daughter magic trick performing together for the first time! Plastic cups and balls, ball in vase, plastic cut and restored rope, sward and ring penetration box, hot rods, a plastic compass that always points to the spectator and the Spangler’s brought in some antique Anverdi plastic wine bottles. Those were so cool to see the construction and method.
Finally, we had long time member Steve Aldrich perform his last show/lecture in Denver before moving to Montana. Steve showed us some of his favorite tricks. His Miser’s Dream load system, different gimmicks he has created, a two ring separation, six card repeat, card at any number and he did three deck switches that none of us caught! He also had a couple magical apparatuses for sale and did a couple versions of a trick called Cosmic Blue Ray along with a Chink a Chink performance. We also honored Steve with a Life Time Membership to the Mile High Magicians’ Society for all he has done for Denver and Colorado.
Club members look forward to the Teach-in. Everyone learned four new tricks that night and we had a lot of members show up. Tommy Walker taught us about Rubber Band magic and gave us rubber bands to practice with and take home. Matt Brandt taught us an impromptu torn and restored bill routine that can be used anywhere and how to make writing appear and disappear on a Sharpie. Dave Neighbors explained and demonstrated his Coins in the Corner routine. What a master coin manipulator! He gave us suggestions of books to read to get more information on coin handling, switches and palming. Gene Gordon taught us a couple of amazing card tricks using a normal deck of cards. One in which the spectators card was found between two Joker’s at each end of the deck. When the deck is closed up and re-spread open the Joker’s are closer together with less and less card in between. The next time the deck is closed and re-opened the Joker’s are eventually right next to each other with the spectators card sandwiched in between. The other card trick taught was having any random card chosen, replaced in the deck and thoroughly slop shuffled. Next, the magician was in trouble and couldn’t find the card, but being a magician the card was successfully found in a different part of the deck. With a little practice this will be a killer routine. The great thing about this teach-in is, everyone goes home that night with new tricks they could practice and perform within a week, many times with supplies they already have at home.
Forty plus members and family showed up to the first meeting of the year our Past Presidents Night for a magical evening. Past National President, Dan Rodriguez swore in the new board members Matt Brandt President, Jeff Jenson Vice-President, Glenn Proulx Secretary, Chad Darnell Treasurer, and Gene Gordon Sargent-at-Arms, along with Dick Bowman’s help. Matt Brandt performed a card trick where the Nine of Diamonds vanished out of one deck and it ended face up in another deck. Jeff Jenson did a torn and restored paper trick with the help of two kids. Andrew Bates taught us a lesson that his dad taught him “Don’t let your sister get your goat” where five people picked different colored envelopes and inside were different animal names, the goat was chosen last. Gene Gordon and Matt Brandt did a comedy Professor’s Nightmare routine and then Connie Elston used a duck bucket where a chocolate candy rabbit appeared then a real one appeared. Chris Manos did a $6 repeat where at the end the money changed into Chinese money. Up again was Gene who had silks change colors in his hand and then he did a card trick where the chosen card melted through a large silk. Another chosen card was then torn up and the pieces vanished. One card piece ended up inside a Linking Ring magazine and matched the other restored pieces! Dave Elston had ten random cards chosen and placed into a sealed envelope. Four more cards were shot from across the room and ended up inside the sealed envelope. Dan Rodriquez told us a story about three bears using ropes of different lengths and also made a table float around the room. Last up was Steve Aldrich who had a length of chain where the links would unlink and visibly slink down the outside of the chain and reconnect to the bottom link. It was a sight to be seen!
Jared Kopf was our guest lecturer and he wowed and amazed us with his linking rings, card handling and mentalism techniques using a deck of cards and even business cards. A person would swear that you inspected and handled all six steel rings and yet, they melted together and apart! His false shuffles were spectacular. What a great start to the New Year, and next time you are in the Denver area please join us for this years magical meetings and lectures.
Our end of the year Banquet was well attended by sixty members, family and friends. Our Past Board Members and the New Board Members provided our entertainment. Matt Brandt performed his version of cups and balls with a new, never before seen twist on the ending. He even has some memorabilia signed by Dai Vernon and Goshman in his collection. John Luong had a clear water bottle lid and stuff appeared out of it from thin air. He did his salt pour into a mini wok, color changing knives and a signed dollar bill ended up in a bill tube. Dan McMillan made metal rings link and un-link within within 6” of two spectators eyes…It was amazing. Glenn Proulx had a corner torn off of a bill and left in plane sight while a lemon was selected and held by a spectator. The remainder of the bill vanished and the bill was found inside the lemon with a corner missing. The torn corner was a perfect match and so was the serial number. Andrew Bates had a mixed up bag of white and black balls. If you selected a white ball you tell a white lie. If you got a black ball, tell the truth. He correctly predicted who was telling the truth or not then he gave out gifts to each participant and one got a pair of handcuffs! Mysto the Magi did Professor’s nightmare that hypnotized us and poured water from a pitcher which would start and stop under his commands. Chad Wonder has cards with famous names on the back of every card. Leonardo DiCaprio was selected and matched his prediction, his baby picture and when it was turned over it was his real picture. Gene Gordon took a napkin and tore it into a snow flake which turned into an egg. He made bubbles turned into a crystal ball, his helper kept picked a card which ended up on his Gene’s forehead. Finally, the torn up a card which vanished out of a hanky and ended up in a box of Fruit Loops. What a surprise when a card found inside with its corner missing matched the torn off corner Sean was holding. Jeff Jenson performed a card’s across from one spectators pile to another with ten feet of space in between. He then performed his card manipulation routine which was amazing and skillful. What a Night!!!
Evening of Odd
Every October we have our Evening of Odd club meeting where members will perform odd magic. We were not disappointed this time either! Karen Wake made ghoulish treats for us to eat and Jeff was our MC, which had a Twilight Zone theme. Bob Brown made his own Jacob’s Ladder and made a pickle glow while Paul Noffsinger had a sealed prediction held by a spectator. A page was selected out of the book Centennial and it was missing. However, the missing page was found in the sealed envelope and fit perfectly in the book! Chris Manos put a stuffed animal inside a doghouse and hit it with electricity and all that was left was a huge dog skeleton. Lew Wymisner had Jeff wear a woman’s skirt and select a card. The card was torn up, most of it vanished in a pan, and by using a political candidate’s magic word the card was found in Jeff’s garter. All howled with laughter! Marty Jewell had and alien machine that lost his head and re-found it. Karen did a fine rendition of 12 days of Halloween with fun props. Chelsea the Clairvoyant predicted who was holding which ball with the help of her voodoo doll. Mark Strivings used the wives of Uncle Harold to predict how he would be buried. Michael Rehdish played a game of Jeopardy, and Rich Nakata had a séance where a pentagram started to burn on a piece of paper!
The David Ginn lecture was filled with a lot of fun and laughter as he shared a lot of great ideas for performing for kids, get them laughing right off the bat is his suggestion. Sponge balls, silk, squeak horns, pennies, the multiplying banana routine, a change bag with a miss-made American flag, a flower eating bunny rabbit puppet are some of his props. His linking ropes and vanishing arm trick using two volunteers was fun. Stretching bananas and a cool science trick using a coffee cup, string, a fender washer and a wooden spoon are things you can also use at a kids show. The way he uses all of his tricks together shows how he scripts everything!
Our summer teach-in had William Rader perform a Tic-Tac-To prediction and a Do as I Do card trick. Next, Matt Brandt taught us the classic gypsy thread routine with helpful hints how to do the setup without getting kinks in your thread. Gene Gordon taught a couple of methods on how to do a fun cards across routine. Steve Aldrich showed us how to make a production/vanishing paper bag utility that could be used with numerous tricks.
Kenrick “Ice” McDonald Lecture
Kenrick “Ice” McDonald words of wisdom were, “Find your swagger, have great showmanship, have fun and bring your audience back to their childhood, this will make for a great show.” His misdirection was fun to watch and he explained why he used this type of misdirection for the magic he does. He performed Mental Picture, Restored, Fortune Cookie, a card ended up inside a sealed Fortune Cookie! Exchange, is where a bill changed into another denomination from a different country! Utterly amazing.
The Rocky Mountain Session
The Rocky Mountain Session took place on September 23 – 25 in Denver. Caleb Wiles, Steve Reynolds, Mark Strivings, and Bill Abbott all gave wonderful lectures. During the attendee show, there were performances from Kainoa Harbottle, Dave Neighbors, Dan Fleshman, Marcus Eddie, and Curtis Kam. Gregg Tobo finished the show with a few routines from his show A Mathematician at Play which he performs at various fringe festivals across the country. The Session was a huge hit and hopefully William Rader will produce it again next year.
Our summer BBQ was a lot of fun and we had a wonderful turnout. Performers included Matt Brandt who performed with coins and a string, Dave Neighbors performed his wonderful coins across routine, Jean-Luc caught snaps in mid air, Steve Davis made blue backed cards change to 4 different colors and then turn back to blue, Gregg Tobo memorized a whole deck of playing cards in 18 seconds, John Leong performed his salt pour, multiplying squirrels, color changing chop sticks, and professors nightmare routine. Next was Glenn Proulx who did a $1-20 bill change, Steve Aldrich floated metal wooden blocks through paper, made colors change places and pass through each other, and performed a crooked dealing routine. Jeff Jensen smashed a beer bottle and placed it in a sack and then used his powers to find the back with the jagged bottle inside. Gene Gordon finished the show with a routine that consisted of a bag, rope, cards, and a lasso. The finale included a signed card that ended up in a sealed envelope.
Shoot Ogawa Lecture
Shoot Ogawa performed routines with cards, and coins, and performed a fun 3 card Monte effect. His effects and handling of coins, cards, and linking rings shows his expertise in everything he touches. His four of hearts strolling effect was wonderful along with his business card that had a moveable hole. Shoot also explained his color changing thimble magic routine. He showed us an eight-card trick using a Brain Wave deck. He suggested taking a classic trick and by changing the presentation you will come up with a brand new ending. He said that is what he tries to do with all of his magic. I was most impressed with how he could flawlessly melt one linking ring through another from any point on that solid ring!
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July is the month that we have a show for residents at RiverPointe for letting us use their community room for our meetings. We had a standing room only turnout, what fun! Rodney Wayne Housley performed a wonderful cups and balls routine. Our next performer was Joe O’Brien who did a color changing silk routine, torn and restored newspaper, cut and restored rope, and Professor’s Nightmare. Marty Jewel did a comedy routine using dry and liquid ingredients to make a cake. All were mixed up in a pan and then the finished cake appeared! Gene Gordon did a torn and restored paper napkin routine, a tossed out paper card trick, and a torn up card ended up in a sealed Oreo cookie package. Steve Aldrich cleaned silks with stains on them using magic soap, then performed his Japanese Silk Box where silks appear and vanish at will! His Wu Chang trick had us mesmerized. Show organizer, John Luong, finished the show with props he made himself. He started with a salt pour, then performed his Super Size Lunch routine, and ended with his color changing chopsticks and appearing rabbit.
Martin Cox Lecture
Martin Cox was in town for a friends wedding and was able to perform for our club. He is a good friend of Gene Gordon and a FFFF member. His new lecture, title “FOUR” was very good! He opened with a card trick then followed with a book test in which Aaron Johnson was asked to take a peek of a word in Martin’s book. He asked AJ to say the word that he was thinking of out loud and it matched Martin’s prediction. Martin also demonstrated different ways of controlling a card to the top of the deck.
Martin gave a great example of a way to produce shows. If you are producing a charity show ask the organizer to get sponsors which can pay for the magic and the rest can go to the charity. This is a win win situation for all.
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William Rader suggested that you have 8-10 tricks that pack small and play big, resets quickly for your walk around magic and he talked how he approaches a table and suggests having a sign in the lobby so patrons will know there is a magician in house. He also suggests not to be timid, show confidence, and be friendly! Try to get a dialog going with the table to establish raport. When the food comes, try to finish quickly and move on. If time allows you can go back to that table for more effects.
Gregg Tobo’s thoughts are that close-up magic is all about group interaction. Gregg suggests that you have magic that will work for small tables and also an effect or two for a large table so people at the other end can see as well. Gregg uses a small set of Linking Rings for large groups.
Gene Gordon says “Always be prepared” have your magic and perform it well. Magic should be fun and have a WOW factor. He suggested a few of his opening lines to approach a table as well.
Shawn Popp likes walk around magic because you always have a fresh audience and you can try out new material on the regular customers. Change up your act every now and then. Magic keeps kids happy, the manager and other patrons. Shawn suggests quick powerful magic tricks.
They all talked about their philosophy of accepting tips and suggested that they tip their server even better.
We were also lucky to have Adam Wilber swing through Denver and lecture at the last minute. He explained how to deal with a heckler, the evolution of Pyro Mini, and how it was developed along with how fun and exciting the trick is. He showed us how he solves a Rubik’s Cube the fast way, coin bending, how his splits a card and drinks out of a battery!
Whit ‘Pop’ Haydn showed us his routines and explained why he does what he does in each effect. He performed his 3 shell con game, his Chicago Opener where the backs of cards change colors. He taught us a peak/double peak for card control. He suggested that you only do the ambitious card no more than three times so you do not make your spectator angry. His coins across was extremely fast! Next he performed his Linking Ring and Color Changing Knives routines. Lastly, his bill Transporter had a wonderful Flash to it!
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Duane Laflin and Mary came to the Mile High City this month and did a lecture for our club. It was a fun and extremely educational as he had a bunch of fun, entertaining, and great magic effects that would work for all magicians and performers. Duane did his growing sponge ball magic and explained his do’s and don’ts when it comes to this type of magic. His three-color rope effect can be performed for children as young as two years old and up, easy to do and his was a good effect. He also performed a rope that would link and unlink at his command. His multiple cut rope was restored with the ease of magic.
Next, he showed us a paper tube, added a few silks and with the help of a magic wand, the silks blended into one! The paper tube was unrolled and was empty! His card effects were a freely selected card matched his prediction, a 3 card Monty fooled many of us and the gimmick is ingenious. Duane also showed us his handling of a thumb tip silk routine and how to show both hands and thumbs so you are clean. Then. he took 3 silks, which vanished and ended up producing a silk fountain.
Lastly, he let us look at his magic table, explained how it was organized with the many holders so he can find his props without looking. Thank you Duane for an outstanding lecture for The Mile Magicians Society!
Our Mentalist night was well attended. Performers where Matt Brandt had a prediction, which was correct of where someone would say stop with scissors. Anthem and Aria correctly identified a necklace, pen, dime, candy and the serial number on a bill while Aria was blindfolded! Bob Brown, wow, random people named and he drew their picture! Gregg Tobo correctly figured out 3 cards with and insurance policy and taught us black magic. The Great Loudini, predicted recipe cards and the ‘end’ was a ‘gas’. Kier Mather performed his version of a gumball machine prediction. Gene Gordon did card to wallet, and a dime vanished from a spectators hand and ended up 10’ away on their chair. Mark Strivings made us all promise not to cross the line with his paper sack and balls routine. What a fun evening!!!
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