What a great lecture! We had participants from Ft. Collin, Aspen, and Denver at our Virtual Lecture, 44 in total. Meir started off with his Bag of Trix lecture where he has an entire show in a little pouch along with his Magicians Badge. He started off with his Amazing Jumping Arrow trick, a Royalistic Poker Trick, and a Dice routine where the numbers on the side of the dice went in numerical order from 1-6 and then back down. He performed a coin vanish which he gives out to kids during a live show and gets a great applause. He explained his Wonderland Bill trick is always with him. Meir explained that his routines are only thirty seconds to three minutes. Audiences could get bored if it is too long. His longest trick is five minutes long but he rarely performs that anymore. He also showed us his Card Marxs trick which is his version of Twisting the Aces. Lastly he showed us his Kelly Bottom Placement card control which is a very useful technique to control a card to the bottom of the deck quickly and efficiently.
I became interested in magic in 3rd grade when one of my friends (and he’s still a great friend) Bob Koch (now a well known magic consultant and producer of high end magic stuff at KochMagic.com) taught me some basics and gave me my first routine, the Chinese Sticks, which I still have! (Side story, I dated Bob when we reconnected after college, where I was a theatre arts and communication major. He introduced me to the new single pastor at his church, Rev. Stan Jewell. Guess what happened? Since Bob, Stan & I remained close friends, when Bob got married he asked Stan to do their wedding!)
When Stan, I and our 2 kids, neither of whom had an interest in magic, moved to Colorado 30 years ago I found Fellowship of Christian Magicians which I joined. There I met others who were also members of MHMS. At that time I was also working as assistant to Ronald McDonald, so my interest in practicing magic (and I’m still PRACTICING!) was renewed, thanks to mentors, especially Dr. Earl Reum.
I’ve been a member of MHMS for many years (don’t ask how many since I’m getting senile) and have enjoyed performing my brand of Punny Silly Magic for family entertainment as a variety of characters in a variety of places. Highlights in 2019 were my first show for the Boulder Fringe Fest and magic with the Arapahoe Philharmonic’s family concert. I usually appear every Monday eve at Beau Jo’s Evergreen, when they’re open.
I have many favorite routines, none of which include cards or coins! My collection of items, costumes, and of course balloons too has taken over my daughter’s bedroom, since she got married & moved to the bay area. I might have to expand to son’s bedroom since he’s a professional scuba diver and travels the world. I’ve been a widow for 3 years now, and try to keep busy with my Balloons, Magic & More business. I thank all in MHMS who have given guidance and support as I’m still learning after all these years!
Magic has always put a smile on my face but it wasn’t until I went on a quest to create a bigger street show that I truly dove deeper into becoming a real magician. ince I was little I have been performing in plays, so the performing part of magic is the easiest part for me. And I have also been performing full time (including winters) as the Improv Poet on the Pearl Street Mall. Then Santa got word about my improv poetry and he named me his Official North Pole Poet Laureate.
Two years ago in my quest for a bigger street show I attended Jeff McBride’s “Focus on Street Magic”. I realized then that it was doable for me to actually be a magician. So last summer I spoke with Gregg Tobo about going out to Pearl Street and developing a huge magic street show and he was in. We took turns doing our magic shows, gathering crowds, succeeding, failing, astonishing people and giving each other notes. My show and magic has gotten better and better, thanks to practicing and the help of Gregg.
My favorite type of magic is illusions that tell a story. I love that surprised joyful look people get when they see a “miracle”. I also really like my audience to join in and do a type of magic call and response. But most of all I like performing a show where both myself and the audience has an amazing experience.
Since busking is surprisingly non-essential ;), lately I have been working on learning more magic. I have also done a virtual poetry-gram for a family’s Easter. And would love to do more virtual poetry-grams, as well as work on a virtual kid’s magic show.
I believe that magic can remind us in times like these that joy and astonishment are gifts of being alive.
Covid-19 has taken a toll of each and everyone of us. We are isolated from our compeers so we decided to have a virtual meeting. We were thrilled to have 26 members sign in for the usual club meeting. Anthem and Aria demonstrated how when they perform online it is very important that the magic works on their screen and also on their audience’s screen as well. They performed Forgotten Princess by Alexander Marsch for their first trick. They also talked about lighting, sound, cameras and software.
James Lopez performed a 5 red and 5 black card trick from the book Verbal Magic from Juan Tamariz’s magic book.
Gregg Tobo had a spectator hold a small object in one of their hands and they could either lie or tell the truth. If they were to lie, they had to continue to lie for the remainder of the trick. Same thing if they decided to tell the truth. He successfully told the virtual audience member which hand held the object. Next, Gregg texted his prediction to a friend. Then he had a member pick a number only known to him, add, subtract, multiply and divide to that number. The end result was the number 409. (Not the cleaner!) Wow, that was the date of our virtual meeting, April 9, 4-09! Amazing.
Young members Collin Toepfer performed a couple of rope tricks. Paige performed the cups and balls and a mentalist card effect.
Mentalist Mark Strivings performed an effect by Karl Fulves, and modified it to make the Ouija Spell trick work better for his needs.
For our first Virtual Corona Virus Meeting it was well received by the members who logged in.
Gimme Shelter (In Place)
Unfortunately, the March Mile High Magicians Meeting (our annual flea market) had to be canceled. So, instead we have spent our time in the most magical ways possible!
When our Sgt. at Arms, Gene Gordon can’t get out to have fun and do magical stuff with his fellow enthusiasts, he reads magic books and magic magazines. Books he’s currently reading are: Interpreting Magic by Regal, Cy Endfield’s Entertaining Card Magic, The Uncanny Scot, by Ron Wilson. He’s been practicing close up stuff, and all of his “A” list card stuff (30+ effects) and working on new items too! Keeping busy, that Gene!
Secretary Glenn Proulx has re-visited the 3-shell trick and has been practicing that in the evenings. After the practice, he shows the effect to his wife and mother-in-law who moved back in with them until the shelter in place is lifted here in Denver. He has also been working on card controls, double lifts, placing a card on the top or bottom of the deck then moving it around to various places in the deck. Reading his magic magazines, gleaning ideas from them and also practicing the Turn Over Pass. Great dedication and practice! Nice work, Glenn!
President Wendy Wylde is in the middle of moving to a new house. Packing her magic goodies lead her to discover that her magic “collection” (hoard?) is a little more expansive than she’d realized. Her current theory, that magic apparatus and books expand when air touch them, and that coin tricks will beget more coin tricks if left in a dark bag too long, seem unlikely but she’s sticking by them. She’s been working mostly on propless mentalism effects since all of her props are packed!
And we’ll have updates from our other officers next time!
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I have a video of me performing my first ever “magic show” when I was around 7 years old but the tricks were too hard to do so I gave up. Then it really started to pick up when I was 13 and it was my first time visiting the local magic shop in Tucson Arizona called Williams Magic Shop, where their motto was “the secret isn’t told until the trick is sold.” After I saw them float a dollar bill, I just “had” to spend that $60 to figure out how it was done and so I purchased my first ITR. Ever since then I was hooked and I loved to perform and have something unique that made me stand out. From age 15-18 I was already working in restaurants around town doing close up magic and staying pretty active in Tucson’s SAM and SYM clubs.
My favorite type of magic to perform is comedy magic on stage or in a parlor setting. Getting to energize an entire crowd and engage with them while bringing laughter and joy is something I live for. Some of my favorite tricks are the ones when I make the audience think I messed up but the revelation in the end is that I knew exactly what I was doing all along.
I have always been the ambitious type, trying to go above and beyond the norm, so while I am in the midst of producing a new magic show that was delayed to to the virus (coloradostarsofmagic.com), one of my biggest accomplishments (in my mind) was producing the InShane Magic show, where at the end of the show, I performed the floating rose illusion and proposed.
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Come join the FCM for dinner (on you), a lecture, and a chance to buy some cool new magic. The $20.00 fee will give you a membership to a Ricky will have $5 “Grab Bags” containing near $35 worth of magic and will have several tables of magical products.
Tricky Ricky specializes in kid and family-friendly entertainment. Come learn some new techniques.
Cost is either $20 for the lecture and a free club membership to the FCM and get a free lecture.
The FCM club in Castle Rock has hired Tricky Ricky Henson to do a magic lecture on Friday March 13th from 6 till 9 p.m.
We are meeting at the IHOP in a reserved room (South of the Outlet Mall).
A session for serious magicians. Join a group of like-minded people to share ideas, routines, and techniques to grow our art.
The Rocky Mountain Session is September 11 – 13 at the Marriott by the Airport. Click the link to see the line-up and to register for this fun convention.
Caring Critique and Feedback
This month’s theme was for members to bring a trick to perform and we would give a critique to make the trick better. Colin Toepfer did a nice sponge ball routine where sponges would appear in a brass bowl. Shane Cohen had character names printed on index cards and he drew on a paper bag on his head what he thought the character would look like. When he took off the bag he was wearing a Jason mask from Friday the 13th. Richard Russett did a trick with the 7 Deadly Sins, Gluttony was chosen and the helper earned 11 donuts because Richard ate one! Chris York had cards shuffled and mixed up and after placing them in a bag he correctly assembled the deck in complete face down order. He also predicted that certain cards would remain face up and they were the only ones face up! Steve Davis did a coins across and a tossed out deck routine. William Rader had 4 helpers make up a random number and when totaled it equaled his prediction.
Mahdi Gilbert from Toronto passed through town and WOWED us with his card skills. He sat on the floor as we were seated around him; we all had a perfect view to watch him perform. It was unbelievable! Second deals, false shuffles, total card control, and turn over pass techniques are many of his skills. He demonstrated the Oil and Water trick that Fooled Penn and Teller. He got all of us to interlace fingers with the person next to us during that trick. Mahdi said he breaks the rule, ‘Never show a trick twice’. Even after seeing the trick the second time we still where in awe! Renee Lavand and Darren Brown were magicians’ books that inspired him to practice non-stop for 3-5 years before he showed off his card talents at a convention.
In this cutting edge 2 hour lecture, Kent and Watkins teach stellar material from their own professional close-up and stage repertoire. There is no filler here. None. Zip. Nada. All of this is based in powerful, effective, and deceptive techniques without any knuckle busters. Also,this is a worker’s lecture, not a dealer demo. Buy our books if you like, but we’re here to pass on incredible Magic and Mentalism, not add to your magic drawer.
What you’ll learn
The Test of Time: Openly predict the time a spectator will call ‘STOP’ on the face of a clock. Kent has taken this popular and EXPENSIVE piece and reduced it to about 6 dollars. During the lecture, Kent will present the piece, and then walk you through the construction and presentation of this deviously simple device which could save you about three grand.
Poker Face: An open prediction routine with a switch that is so easy to do, you’ll fool yourself!
A little Touch on Coin Bending: This routine is so fun, it’ll get you bending coins right away!
Hive Mind: Duplicate a drawing that was worked on by multiple volunteers from across the room.
Definitely Maybe: A fool proof method for practicing readings and linguistic based mentalism.
The City Thing: An incredible show stopping closer. A randomly selected volunteer changes their mind over and over again, you guess the city they’re thinking of.
Challenge Cards: A new take on 4th Dimensional Telepathy and close up Q and A that opens doorways to new possibilities. Now you can allow your skeptical audience members to “challenge” your powers and still read their thoughts. You will also learn how to ‘hide’ progressive anagrams
The Difficult Ploy: This one line of scripting will create a very convincing revelation of any piece of information. Allow your participants the ability to change their mind AFTER they have written down their thought- and still be able to reveal it.
Severance 1 and 2: Learn 2 different methods to make your Center Tear routine more deceptive. These techniques will make your billets totally invisible in your audience’s minds.
Thought Switching: How to take any piece of information that has been peeked and turn it into a Spectator as Mind Reader effect.
2 Billet Switches: If you were ever afraid of switching billets, these two switches, along with Watkins additional tips and subtleties will help build your confidence and have you performing them without fear.
Thanatos: How to reveal a person’s ‘Death Date’…and they will know you are correct
And if time allows, we will teach a very simple method for performing a 2 person 4th dimensional telepathy, with all of the subtleties necessary to make it appear to be absolutely impossible.