Ring Report
September 20, 2009

Minutes for this meeting.

The theme for the September Meeting was Close-Up Magic. Gary Jewell opened by cutting a shuffled deck of cards several times, turning the cut portion the wrong way each time. He then spread the deck, showing only the four Aces reversed. He dealt the two black Aces to the table, causing them to change into the red Aces despite being held in place by a volunteer. Finally, he had Dayton Salisbury freely select a card and bury it in the deck. He held Dayton's hand at the wrist and ran it up and down the spread, using muscle reading to find the card.

Danny Baker placed four quarters on the four corners of the table, topping each with an Ace. The quarters magically gathered one at a time beneath the cards until all four were together. Danny showed his ability to make popcorn using only the power of his mind. He held a jar of unpopped corn, then focused his thoughts. Fresh popcorn rose from the jar! He showed a candy box with a mixture of six different colored jewels. He poured them into his hand, then had a color chosen. With a gesture and a magic word, all of the jewels changed to the selected color!

Danny took a spongeball routine originally meant as close-up and performed it for stage, using a set of very large spongeballs and a lightweight container to serve the place of the volunteer's hand. Danny returned to a demonstration of his mental powers by correctly divining the Rhine card chosen from a display rack by an audience volunteer.

Prashant Srivastava performed a series of magical effects using only a deck of cards and his iPhone. He had a card selected, then claimed that he would cause it to move to a named position in the deck. When the card in that position turned out to be incorrect, his photographed the card together with the volunteer's watch. He shook his phone, and the image of the card changed to that of the selected card, with the watch still plainly visible. He showed a novel card revelation in which the image of the selected card is transferred from the volunteer's hand to the iPhone's display. He produced a quarter from the iPhone, first showing the image of the quarter on the display, then removing it to show that it was real. He went on to display his ability to read minds using the iPhone.

Members broke from the theme to show illusions being planned for the Ring's Christmas show. Dr. Wilson assembled PVC connectors and pipe into a mobile cabinet with doors in the front and back. He showed how the illusion, which will be decorated as a gift box, will be used to produce Santa Claus. Danny Baker showed a beautifully-built Doll House illusion from the 1960s. Brian Rodgers showed his Hospitality Illusion built in the form of a kid's lemonade stand, which Danny Baker will use in the show.

As members got together to session after the presentations, Danny Baker, Dr. Wilson, Brian Rodgers and Prashant Srivastava posed for publicity shots under portable theatrical lighting. Any member interested in high-quality digital photographs is being offered this service. Full details of the business meeting and photos are available on the Ring's web site (www.ibmring362.org).