I’ve been in the Mile-High Magicians Society for about two years now. I, like most, received a basic magic set when I was about eight years old. As an eight-year-old, I had many interests. Sports took up most of my time. Like anything else in life, to be good at anything, it takes a lot of practice and dedication. The magic set gathered dust.
When I turned twelve, my parents opened our family’s first retail store selling dollhouses and miniatures. The location was in Southglenn Mall, upstairs in the “Serendipity Shops”. It just so happened that there was a magic store right across the hallway. The Top Hat Magic Shop run by Mike Shannon. This perked up my magic interest again. Mike would patiently show me tricks he thought I needed (many above my skill level). I saved my earnings from the store and purchased many of the tricks he showed me. My favorites were the color-changing knives and linking rings.
Now, forty-five years later, I still enjoy watching magic. On one of my trips to Chicago for a trade show, I had the opportunity to visit Magic Inc. The salesman there was quite proficient with cards. My interest was again inspired, so I bought a few decks and books on the subject.
Many of the club members have graciously shown me and tried to teach me some of their skills. I go to Perkins nearly every Monday just to watch. I have yet to get up the nerve to perform any of the tricks. Maybe one day I will. Thank you all for your generosity and willingness to help. I do appreciate it very much!
This month’s member spotlight is our secretary, Glenn Proulx. I got started in magic when I was about 9 years old. Our neighbor had a magic set I would borrow and I would make my family sit on the basement stairs and watch me find a wooden bell hiding under a metal bell shell. Santa brought me my first magic set when I was in 4th grade and I still have all of those tricks!
I vividly remember the first card trick my cousin showed me. After I picked a card he chose 5 cards that he thought would be mine. After showing me all 5 cards he placed them face down on the table. As soon as I touched one, it changed into mine! He said he was using the Glide maneuver. He showed me the move and I spent 3 months of the summer learning that move.
When I was younger I bought card tricks from a magic store. The first good trick I bought was the Fickel Nickel that Doug Henning performed on TV in 1975. Since then I have been a member of the club since the late 90’s thanks to Mike Anger who told me about the Mile High Magicians’. I like close-up, parlor, stage and my new interest is learning more about mentalism after taking Mark Strivings master class. I also like to try and build magic that I see in Linking Ring and M-U-M magazines.
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This event is postponed due to Corona Virus caution.
Hey everyone! We are excited for the 2020 MHMS Swap Meet/Flea Market but after years doing it one-way, we have a few VERY important changes you need to know.
Load in for sellers is 7 p.m. and sellers will need to load in through the BACK door.
There will be a $5 per seller charge which will go to the Children’s Haven for allowing us the use their space.
Please contact Glenn Proulx at secretary@milehighmagicians.com to reserve a table. Table fees will be paid in cash directly to Glenn at the event.
Doors open for BUYERS at 7:30 p.m. The flea market is free to buyers!
Come find stuff you didn’t even know you needed!!!
See you there!
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Past Present Future
Our January meeting was all about the new year! Magic Past, Present and Future!
Magic Chuck one of our junior members showed off his sleight of hand by vanishing sponge balls and made a Coke bottle vanish. Our other junior member Colin the Great connected three silks together and had a new twist using a Joker Tube with racecars. Our last junior magician was the Amazing Amanda had a shrinking wand and a color-changing scarf. Gary Hickok stretched a dollar bill, showed us his shrunken pants, chop sticks vanished, had a spinning fork and performed a three straw repeat trick that we had never seen before. Gregg Tobo, local pro performed his Thought Collector trick where after asking for information from different spectators, the answer met his sealed prediction. Glenn Proulx, our secretary, performed Card Warp using Jumbo Cards and The Immaculate Connection by Paul Harris. President Wendy Wylde had four envelopes selected. Three of them had a prediction sealed inside, which read Wizard. Wendy’s envelope said President! Bruce and Kitty Spangler showed us an antique Thayer champagne bottle trick made in 1923, which had amazing craftsmanship for the time. A woman’s ring was vanished and she was asked to sip from the bottle. The flavor was AWFUL. When the bottle was broken there would be a dead rat or guinea pig inside and attached to its collar was the missing woman’s ring! What a shock that would have been. Local pro magician, James Lopez vanished coins, and performed a mind reading card trick and announced that the Mile High Magicians will now be co-hosting the local, monthly, magic open mic night. Editor and local pro William Rader did his Psychometry, in which he can sense, energy from inanimate objects. He correctly guessed which spectator drew which picture. Past president Brad Montgomery had a chip hidden in a spectators hand and guessed which hand it was in every time! Our last local pro magician Mark Strivings, performed his own version of John Bannon’s Wait Until Dark trick. Our first meeting of the year was a blast.
Larry Betz grew up in Globeville Colorado. In those days Globeville was not mentioned very much, not like now that I-70 highway is being rebuilt. When Larry heard that Globeville was a city at one time he tried to get a book and information about Globeville. Since Globeville never had a newspaper not much could be found, so he took it upon himself to dig up old History and wrote a book, “Globeville, Part of Colorado’s History”.
When Larry was 12 years old in 1954 he was reading a Joe Palooka Comic Book. In the comic was information on how to do a card trick. He thought that it was great that he could do something with a deck of cards. Later his Uncle taught him the “21 Card trick”. Later he saved his allowance to buy a Mysto Magic A. C. Gilbert Magic Set. Years later he would give Mile Magicians talks about the talented A. C.Gilbert. The next great find was a Douglas Magic Land catalog.
Larry loved going to Chuck Major’s Magic and Camera Shop on 16th Street. Some young kid by the name Bruce Spangler worked there while he was going to college.
Larry won 3rd prize in the High School Talent Show. He thought that was good because he was completing against Rock & Roll bands that were the rage at the time. Then he was in a Talent Group that traveled around doing shows in Hospitals.
In 1960 he graduated from High School. The Senior Year Book had a large picture of Larry producing a Dove for his classmates.
Larry was doing Magic Shows for private parties and on December 17, 1961, The Chafee Park Merchants put on a Christmas Party for Denver’s Welfare Children. Larry was the Entertainment and the party was recorded and broadcast on KHOW on Christmas Day.
Larry has always enjoyed building and making up tricks. Arm through a large running fan was one that he had worked on. He noticed that the 35 mm containers of that time could be cut down and a cap from a different brand could be like an Okito Box, easy to make and carry. He wrote a Book ‘Tricks for the Okito Box‘ with 25 ideas and even using 3 Okito Boxes.
1964 he went into the US Army and was a Medic.
Larry was always going in to Steve Alrich’s Magic Shop. Seeing some tapes in a box he asked what the VCR’s were for? Steve said to lend out but you have to be a member of the MHMS to use them. So he invited him to join the club. Larry said that he worked in a Federal Prison and worked odd hours and would not have time to do much but will retire in a few years. He joined MHMS 1991, retired in 1994, and now has time to do a lot of magic. He even worked in NED’s Magic and More. Later, he became the caretaker of the tapes that he was so interested in.
In 1996 Member Lee Merilli got the idea of a Mentalist Group. Larry was one of the founding members of the PSI-clones. Larry was Sgt-at Arms of the PSI-clones and 2 term President.A favorite was PSYCHOKINESIS that Larry made from props. He did a Houdini Séance for a MHMS Halloween Meeting. All the props and gimmicks went off at the perfect time. It worked great.
Larry was Sgt-at-Arms for MHMS 11 times. He was the opening act for many MHMS Holiday Parties and even gave out gifts.
A favorite part of Larry’s life was when he was awarded a LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP in MHMS!!!!!
Larry has been married to Leatta for 45 years has 2 sons, 4 granddaughters and 1 grandson.
There were 60 plus in attendance for an evening of great food and magic at the Fossil Trace Golf Club. Sharon Nuanes went above and beyond again with the making of lovely centerpieces for each table. Thanks Sharon!
Mitch Harwood our outgoing President was the MC for the evening. Gene R. Gordon presented a Lifetime Achievement award to our very own Dave Neighbors who then received a standing ovation upon his acceptance! The show started with Sharon Nuanes doing her beautiful act of silks, flowers and liquids to music. Next up was Shane Cohen, incoming VP. A barrowed $100 dollar bill changed to a coupon for one kiwi fruit! Next a painting of Mona Lisa surprisingly changed to Vincent Van Gogh’s painting! The kiwi seeds were passed out only to find the $100 bill inside the kiwi! Former MHMS President Matt Brandt used a taboo item a cigarette. The cigarette wouldn’t lite, vanished, changed to a lighter, then changed to a stick of gum as did ALL the cigarettes in the pack! He then had a card selected torn to pieces, one of which was given to the volunteer. The other pieces vanished, when the empty frame was shown a card with a piece missing was seen! The corner the spectator had matched it perfectly!
John Walker our resident Aussie presented a Murder case! Volunteers helped him sort out the murder and the weapon used. Evidence was eliminated and a lady committed the crime. Colin Toepfer our Jr. magician did a very nice “sponge ball to spectators’ hand” with repeat! Nicely done Colin! Jeff Jenson a crowd favorite did his newest piece with Rose’s to music. Next he did the walking knot/cut and restored rope. William Rader our favorite mind reader did a nice bit of mind reading. The spectator (Sam Teague) had a free choice of where to hide/put objects. The prediction, said exactly where the objects were! Gene R. Gordon came next and did his version of Six Card Repeat. With many laughs and a nice twist at the end, the cards turned blank and vanished “it all never happened!” Last up was Mitch Harwood and Co. They did a very fun and funny version of the Glass and Bottle transposition. Lots of comedy and magic surprises! 2019 was a great year for magic! See everyone in 2020!
This November, we lost one of our long time members and past President of the Mile High Magicians’ Society, Lindsay Smith. It was a sad time.
In spite of that set back, we also had two enjoyable meetings. The first one was our Three Trick Teach-in and we also had the Bill Wisch lecture. Gene Gordon performed DeLand’s $100 trick Stripper/Marked Deck to demonstrate some of the fun card magic that can be performed with this deck. Chad Wonder demonstrated the nickels to dimes routine, and referenced Tarbell 7 with a coin purse where the coins had a transposition. Next he demonstrated the Hot Rod and Professor’s Nightmare. Dave Neighbors demonstrated his Coins Across routine which we never get tired of seeing. Matt Brandt and Jeff Jenson gave a magic talk on live performance tips that will help your show. Ideas such as; (1) Have a notebook in which to write down ideas and things that worked or didn’t work in the show. (2) Keep up with pop culture, (3) don’t panic if a trick goes wrong, (4) ignore hecklers, (5) scripting is important (as is to know the running time of your act), (6) always have an out, and (7) music will definitely help a show. Gene Gordon suggested having a local mentor, read a lot of magic books, set a regular practice time, and stick to it. Practice and rehearse the moves 25-100 times before you show the trick to family and friends. All of the tricks we learned at our teach-in were available for purchase by members.
Bill Wisch, one of Tony Slydini’s former students, performed and lectured on his Killer Set which consisted of his IACAAN (Impromptu Any Card At Any Number), his Stand-up Helicopter Card trick, and his Xbox card trick. Bill demonstrated his Wisch WEDGE card control system, his Wisch-Craft Overhand Shuffle System, and he also performed a card trick by Claude Rix using an invisible die.
Our October, Evening of Odd was a pirate theme. Jeff and Karen Wake used skeletons as ventriloquist where the skeletons were going to mutiny off the ship. One of the skeletons was tied to the mast and then the rope passed through the mast and the skeleton. VP, Wendy Wylde has a spectator roll a dice and then they selected a bag with a surprise inside that they could keep. Wendy won the big surprise by getting the last bag and her car keys were inside. The others won, a pirate map, make your own eye patch kit, do it yourself ghost making kit, along with a plastic bag hand puppet and origami boulder! President Mysto brought a table he acquired from a neighbor that began to float on its own. Mark Strivings had a card selected, shuffled the deck face up, face down and then whey the cards where put inside a black bag they all righted themselves with the only card reversed in the deck was their selected card. Andrew Bates was our drunken sailor who also had a card selected and returned to the deck. After the spectator opened the chest, didn’t find their card but found a note instead that said, “Look at the other chest!” Andrew tore off his shirt and tattooed on his chest was their selected card! Rich Nakata’s spectators looked at a Skull Silk that vanished and ended up in a previously inspected empty can. Once it was opened, a spring snake popped out with the silk attached. Member Bob Brown had a cage with a pet rat inside. His story told about the rats that lived on the ship and one suddenly escaped, and his tail flew out and scared the kids. Gregg Tobo had a unique trick where a silk with a knot on it would magically untie itself behind his back. Then he explained how the captain lost his leg when a loose canon rolled across the deck, he lost his hand in a battle and poked his eye out with his hook also. Finally, Gregg balanced coins on his finger tips and bet a spectator if he could capture the coins. Marty Jewel, the queen of puns had a model ship that was lost at ‘C’ and it was found on ‘Sail’. Last was Treasurer, Chad Wonder whose selected lost card was eventually found in his back pocket.
Christian Engblom showed us some of his amazing card routines. He had three red and three blue cards and they where interspersed like oil and water. They melted through each other so that reds where on top and the blues on the bottom. Next the entire deck separated in half by color. He had a mind reading card trick where his helper could read the minds of the spectator who selected the card which was amazing. He explained how his gaff Pieces can be used for different tricks and how his deck switch gimmick can be used also. Thank you for coming to Denver!
Ring 131 and Assembly 37 meet the second Thursday of the month at Riverpointe Senior Community 5225 S Prince St, Littleton, CO 80123. https://www.milehighmagicians.comGlenn Proulx 303-794-5208, glennproulx@gmail.com
This month we learned about Stage Craft, which consists of lighting, sound, music copyright, low budget items for remotes, lighting, and microphones. Andrew Bates taught us via a recording that a gel is a plastic sheet that goes in front of a light to make it white light or to change the color. The term wash means to change the light color on stage. A green wash is good for a séance, red makes it hard to read, blue will make black colors not look the same. A run sheet should be given to the people running the lights so they know the act, scene, lights, curtain moves, sound levels and set change responsibilities. Bruce and Kitty Spangler taught us that the presentation is the most critical part of the act and you need a costume and music. Your music needs to end when the magic trick does! He made portable light and sound boxes that turned on and off using an extra head on a reel-to-reel tape player and metal cues for the head to pick up. Chad Wonder talked about using copyrighted music in your show and the penalties that could apply when prosecuted. If in doubt, use Royalty Free music. Chad also said that there is a difference between recording rights and that the music group has the song rights. John Walker showed us cheap and easy ways to add sound, by adding a remote that would hook up to your phone or iPad. He also offered suggestions for a low cost microphone that sounds amazing with speakers. If you want to add a 4-channel mixer it can enhance your show also. Many of us are now thinking of ways to put lighting and sound into our shows.
September 26th, we hosted a lecture by Midwest Magi, David Parr. David taught several effects which he used to illustrate several important aspects of magic: making things playful and even playfully spooky, how to think of your magic in theatrical terms, and how to let something be just silent instead of forcing humor at every juncture. He started with the Game of Life & Death using Fort Collins club member, Tim Pendergast, as a volunteer. Then followed that up by pulling his Slow Motion Swindle on Sergeant at Arms, Gene R. Gordon. Gregg Tobo volunteered to have his fortune told in David’s Fortune8 routine. David closed with his elegant, “Oldest Trick in the Book” effect using an origami bird to discuss the confident handling of props and effects that end with a souvenir. Upon presenting the origami bird, David, a vegan, made a plea to end live animal acts in magic. He finds them outdated and unnecessary. The author of Brain Food: Gourmet Edition left us all with much food for thought after this terrific lecture. Thanks again for the staff at Riverpointe for the use of their room for our meetings.
The Doc Murdock lecture was phenomenal! We had a good turn out to see legendary Doc perform all of his favorite elusions in including his well-known rattrap on his nose trick. He started out with his exploding wig with party poppers, which got our attention quickly and continued with an enlarged outlet drawn on a dry erase board. He plugged in a super sized plug and which played his music as he made his paper tree grow to over six feet tall. Doc also showed an empty card box and in a flash the cards magically appeared in the box! His lunch box started to ring and he pulled out and answered his phone. He did a $1 to $20 bill change with a very ingeniously easy method along with his puppet that had chattering teeth, spinning eyes. All along his tie kept popping up and would hit him in the face. Doc told us a story using the Chinese Sticks that help guide him through the forest and he even put a light bulb in his mouth and as it lit up to show him the way the tassels on the Chinese Sticks would move up and down even after being separated.