Table Magic, Betchas, and Flim Flam
Gene Gordon started us off with matches that traveled from had to hand and only one match was unburned in the book after it was lit on fire. He also did a nice cocktail napkin trick where the paper balls went across, vanished and restored the napkin into one piece.
Next he had Colin pick his poker hand sight unseen and Gene won. Finally he had a t-cup routine where olives and grapes changed places and the final loads were a large sponge ball and a potato. Steve Davis had a pile of cards on the table and since it was virtual he had a 6thfinger lying on top of the pile. The chosen card transferred from one pile to the other. Drew Cardella performed a card trick with 8 cards and used his powers to make Steve discard all of the cards but his chosen card. Glenn Proulx had a flower bloom while he passed a ring around it to show there were no wires helping it open. He also performed a marked coin vanish that ended up inside a ball of yarn, pulled money out of the newspaper stock quote section and a scarf from the weather section as well since it was going to be a warm week in Denver.
We are still, virtual here in Denver but had a great time as usual. Bob LaRue zoomed in all the way from the Philippines. He asked Collin to think of a super hero who could get revenge. On 6 cards he had Voodoo doll printouts. When the trick was finished, inside of an envelope there was a sword through the bad Voodoo doll. Glenn Proulx found a box at an old Ghost Town in Colorado and inside was a spiral notebook, hatpin, slates and blank cards. Once the cards touched the notebook the pin moved all by itself and the cards printed images on themself. The slates were asked the question like an Ouija Board, “Who’s cards where these?” The slates answered that they belonged to Baby Doe Tabor who owned a Silver Mine. Gene Gordon performed a card trick and also had a ghost trap babushka, which found the selected cards. That babushka was a portal to the spirit world. Gene is a fan of scary movies such as; The Blob, The Thing, Wolfman, Godzilla, Curse of the Mummy and Creature of the Black Lagoon. The cards were mixed and Frankenstein found the only card in the group that didn’t have a black X on the back of the cards. Collin Toepfer performed a ghost card trick using the Ace of Spades to find the chosen spectators card. Steve Davis told a tale of different methods of getting the truth out of a suspect. He showed us the Spikes Through Coin trick. If the coin wouldn’t cooperate another spike was thrust through the coin. The coin had blood on it when it was over. Gregg Tobo, wow! Two decks of cards were mailed to a couple members, Glenn and Gene. Gregg instructed Gene to open his deck and a card matched Gregg’s 12 down from the top. The back of the cards where marked BUT the markings were on the wrong cards! Magician in peril, 4H was written on the back of the 9D but Glenn and Gene had 7C on the back of both of their 9D! What a match in the end. Drew and Donna Cardella, had Gregg select a card and double the value. When Drew counted down that value in his deck over Zoom and it was the same card Gregg had!
Teach A Trick 9/9/21 MHMS
Gene Gordon opened with a die trick with a paddle move. Drew Cardella did Rick Lax’s “Reverse Psychology”, a fun version of 8 Card Brainwave and predicted Mike Anger’s card choice as the only one without an X on the back. Bruce Spangler explained Thayer’s Dove Bottle (sometimes called Rat Bottle) where a ring is borrowed, ground up and lost. Drinks are then poured from a bottle for six people-each different and it becomes an “any drink called for” trick. The bottle is then broken and the dove (or rat or guinea pig) comes out with the intact ring tied around its neck. Glenn Proulx was the highlight trick of the evening where Glenn performed the most amazing vanishing act (as the power in his house went out and he missed the entire meeting)! Gene Gordon did “Numbers” a trick published in Card Corner in The Linking Ring several years ago. There is a prediction card shown, the spectator picks a number of cards between 10 and 20, subtracts the number of cards his two-digit number adds up to and the prediction matched! Don Zellner had to deal with babysitting his kids, but taught us how to escape from handcuffs. Gene Gordon taught a Benson Bowl routine by Patrick Snowden in the Paul Harris books. Collin Toepfer showed 3 colored balls in a tube and after being covered by a cylinder, the order of the balls changed. He then showed a “magic drawer” that produced objects when opened. This was part of a “magic” postage stamp set. Lewis Peacock showed a disappearing flower eaten by his rabbit puppet. He uses this in his kids shows to get all the kids to come back to the show and settle down. Gene closed with a 4 Ace production.
Magic You Learned From a Book
Glenn Proulx started off the evening performing a card trick from Jim Steinmeyer’s Conjuring Anthology; he had a Evidence bag with the cards bolted to preserve the order. He still bound their card at the number specified by the spectator. Gary Jenkins performed a Larry Becker baseball card tyrick from the book Stunners. The prediction was hanging in an envelope behind Gary and was in full view the entire time. Jean-Luc Romano did a card trick with a business card that was sandwiched in between the found chosen card. He learned this trick from Magic and Conjuring. His prediction said, “You will place this card in between the QD and the 2H”. That is where we found the card! Gene Gordon did his version of Currency Money found in Tarbell #3. He performed a John Scarney bill change trick, Copy Cat cards from the book TKO’s and did an amazing Okito Coin Box where 4 coins leave the box one at a time then ends up with a large coin coming out of the box. Steve Davis did Daryl’s “Whole Hole Card” trick. It was a splendid night.
Eric Jones passed through town and stopped in Denver, Estes Park and Castle Rock. While in Denver he did an amazing three flight routine without a gimmick. He performed his Fool Us routine of coins across and also a card trick where a couple of cards changed places. He demonstrated how with card control you can secretly place three cards onto the bottom of the deck. Eric stated it is very important to practice your routines while seated and standing because you always need to be prepared. Just by moving your hands or standing or being seated it will or could change how your audience views the magic. Basically, make sure you don’t flash.
Hello!
This month’s theme is… “Tricks you learned from a book.” Some tricks we read in a book are easy, medium, difficult, and ‘way over my head’ hard to comprehend or even learn. Hopefully, each and every one of us has had some success learning magic from a book. So, I am asking each and every one of you to go to your magic drawer or box and dust off a trick you made or learned from reading (or even watching and old VCR or DVD) and perform it at this months August 12, 2021 meeting 7PM. I am hosting the Zoom Meeting so if you would like to volunteer to show or perform the “Trick you learned from a book” please contact me at glennproulx@gmail.com and I will put you on the list.
Performers so far: Glenn Proulx, Gene Gordon
Mile High Flea Market
We had a great turn out for our Flea Market, which was postponed from last year’s COVID-19 restrictions. It was nice to be all together in person. Fifteen magicians sold their tricks that were collecting dust or just not needed anymore. The Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs magicians showed up as well as a lot of the Denver group. There were floating tables. Multiplying bottles, sword through head and vanishing head apparatus for sale. Rare decks of cards. Books, DVD’s and yes some VCR’s were for sale! Stage illusions, silks, large 3 shells, normal 3 shells, hand choppers, magician’s tables that had Bluetooth speakers built in, straight jackets, rabbit production boxes, and of course, every magician’s favorite, thumb tips were also available. Everyone enjoyed seeing everyone in person, the camaraderie, and hearing about what new tricks they learned and looking forward to meeting more in person and having live shows were part of the topics. Light refreshments were also part of the evening.
Hello Compeers..Member Stewart Hayner is having surgery and if you would like to contribute to his medical expense please contact him at 303-917-5241
Old Timey Magic Night was a lot of fun! Glenn Proulx brought out some old magic a teacher colleague gave him a cigarette catcher, gag kaleidoscope where you look into it and get black rings around your eye, mini magic wands, and the group helped him figure out the names of the some tricks he had no clue what they were, a Kennard Mystery Box, Shur-Shot Dice Box, and a Candle Lite. He also performed an old timey cups and balls routine.
Chad Darnell performed a Thayer Checker Cabinet and he has Thayer’s hand written instruction on how the cabinet works! Chad showed us his Mr. Skunk, a Razor Blade Trick EZ version, and a third hand made out of wax! Steve Davis showed us a card trick about the Dead Man’s poker hand using A’s and 8’s which then changed into J’s! He also explained a little about Wild Bill Hickok and his poker games. Lew Wymisner showed us his jumbo card plastic houlette which made a selected card rise out of the deck. It was a Joe Fenichel trick. He also poured milk into a paper cone and showed us a cat that drank all of the milk.
Steve Spangler showed us his Presto Clock Vanish “How Time Flys” trick where he made a clock vanish along with Multmum in Parvo (much into little) trick where liquid from a large glass could fit into consecutively smaller glasses. Last he had a die on a pedestal and the die and the silk changed places. Gene Gordon pulled out his Orville Meyer Book and performed the “Restless Colors” card trick. He had a different version of a Silk Cabbie that was cool along with a magician’s table that had a secret compartment. Didn’t know they made those! Bart Landry performed his Kuma Tubes. Lastly, Steve Aldrich showed us his 1851 Saturday Evening Post cover page of McAlester Wizard and Magician. Steve also showed us his September 25, 1850 Professor Anderson, “Wizard of the North” pen and ink drawing! He also had a 1900-1901 paper from “Richies Unique Entertainers.” It was fun to help the members with magic that they had and didn’t know how some of the tricks worked.
We had a wonderful lineup for our April meeting here in Denver. We have an average of 22 Zoom members each month! Dave Neighbors wowed us with the Open Travelers Card Trick and Matt Brandt performed a very nice Ace Assembly trick as well. Gregg Tobo showed us a Math Trick with numbers using a score card and correctly had the exact same number of 5 spectators! Cosmo Solana showed us his original cups and balls routine that went on for 13 min. Everyone was mesmerized the entire time and he had multiplying balls at the end! James Lopez did a Coins Under Glass where the coins visibly vanished from under the glass to inside an Okito Box. Gene Gordon performed a time machine trick with a Sci-fi paperback book, a wind-up toy robot and a deck of cards. The robot selected the card, the card vanished, a page of the Sci-fi book ended up inside a box and finally that torn out page pointed us back to the book and the missing card was found at the missing page numbers spot!!! Incredible is all any of us could say.
Pocket Tricks
Pocket Tricks, magic that you carry in your pocket to perform anywhere and at any time. Twenty-nine members showed up and eleven members performed! Marty Jewel had a ‘pocket book’ she took out of her ‘pocket’ along with her ‘pocket puppet’. She pulled a banana out of her ‘pocket’ and it was already cut into thirds after her karate chop. Drew and Donna Cardella did a card trick where one card flipped over one at a time and at different times. Sometimes tricks are done with mirrors and on the back of each card was a mirror. Gene Gordon did a dice routine where the numbers would change from 6 to 5 to 1 and the dots would fall off and onto a stick. He also performed a 3 Card Monte. Gene flashed a dollar and a vacuum and the coins changed into Chinese Coins, then into a jumbo coin. It was a Dave Neighbors effect. Dave Wintermute had a wire circle that changed into a square and he felt framed! Steve Davis did an amazing coin across. Young member Collin Toepfer did his sponge ball routine where balls appeared inside an empty bowl. Glenn Proulx did Card Warp then James Lopez performed a trick where a ring was inside of a coin and an Okito box trick “The Long Goodbye” Chad Wonder did Clock Colorama, an old card trick along with a mind reading trick with an Invisible Deck and finally the Get Sharkey deck. Todd Reis did a trick with wrong, right and left cards and a multiplying banana routine along with a Monte Routine using jumbo cards. Last but not least was William Rader who did a card prediction trick.
When I walked into the Hobby store in 1973, the guy behind the magic counter was wearing a robe. With long hair and a cool robe, Eddie Goldstein was a full-blown Hippie and would become one of my best friends. Sam Kent, the owner of the magic counter also became a good friend. Between the 2 of them, I gained a respectable knowledge of magic. It was Sam who talked me into attending my first Mile High Magicians meeting. Earl Reum was the President. I had such a great time I decided to join the club. It was an important moment in my life.
I have made so many friends as a part of this club and it has been an enormous part of my life. I have been lucky enough to serve as President of the club 4 times*, Vice President twice, and as Secretary, Treasurer, and Newsletter editor. The club has allowed me to meet and spend some serious time with some of the greats of magic, including the late Mark Wilson. What a treat it was spending time with my childhood magic hero. It was my partner Connie, who I also met at the club, that arranged for Mark and Nani to come to Colorado and lecture our club.
My career in magic began in 1974 when I began performing magic in schools in a show sponsored by AAA Colorado. Every year for 6 years my show was seen by 200,000 children. A young Steve Spangler, Past President, and Science Guru was in the audience at one of the schools in which I performed.
In the late 1970’s I used magic to earn a bachelor’s degree, in theater, from UNC. After leaving Greeley I spent four years in radio before returning to magic as a career. Leaving radio, I worked with club member Larry Campbell aka Zeezo the Clown. I managed and then owned and operated Zeezo’s Magic Castle from 1982 to 1989.
From the mid-1980s into the mid-1990’s I was the house Magician at Denver Landmark Casa Bonita. When Zeezo’s closed, I started busking on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. This led to performances in The Downtown Denver International Buskerfest and The Colorado Performing Arts Festival.
On television my magic allowed me to become a featured extra on Diagnosis Murder with Dick Van Dyke. I also was the emcee for Kid TalentQuest for Showtime Pay TV and I was featured in a national television commercial for Big Sur Waterbeds. On Starz/Encore Love Stories Channel I romanced a girl with magic.
I am proud of what I have been a part of over the years, and that includes my long association with the Mile High Magicians. I am looking forward to the time we can get back together in person.
*Editors note: Dave is the only member who’s been elected President of the club 4 times.
Dave Elstuns Website: https://www.MagicInDenvrer.com