Author: IBM Member

RING 19, MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The Carl W Jones Ring

Meets 2nd Monday at 7pm via Zoom Meeting   website-www.ibmring19.com and in-person 2nd Saturdays (location GameZenter, Roseville, MN)

Andrew Selbitschka, President

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Our in-person meeting at GameZenter typically attracts magicians, from far and wide, to come to the Twin Cities to view and share magic, and our August meeting was no different.

Blake and Bennett Scholl, two of our youngest members (under 12 years of age!) shared a vanishing ace/transposition routine and a nice rendition of the Linking Rings.

Daniel Norat, with spectator Sleven Olson, performed a card to mouth trick that used a copious amount of hand sanitizer! Sleven Olson returned the favor by sharing a coin flurry/coins across routine and asked for feedback before presenting it to a lay audience.

Tyler Erickson shared two card tricks – the Jack Detectives and the Mind-Reading Poker Chip trick with Miriam Olson.  Tyler is a master at engaging the audience and making miracles happen with a deck of cards.  He never disappoints!

Roger Wells followed Tyler with his version of a Michael Close card trick, Moving Hole.

The Ring is putting on several magical events in the Twin Cities, including a show on September 14th and a barbecue on the 15th.  Information on upcoming events may be found on the IBM Ring 19 website – www.ibmring19.com

Our Zoom meeting attracted viewers from all over the US, as well as, England and Australia.

Rick Hinrichs started us off with a card trick –  his version of Paul Gordon’s Spectral.  Tyler Erickson performed an original card effect that he calls The Big Red Card.

Tyler provided a tutorial on the Bottom Deal and we also discussed evaluating tricks.  Every trick may be performed using many methods, but one of the most important things to do is to not to fall into the trap of “analysis paralysis”.  Find the one most effective method and stick to it. 

We also talked quite a bit about Tommy Wonder and his philosophical ideas around magic.  Deciding what the primary focus of a trick is; eliminating everything that draws attention away from that focus and shifting attention to what is most important.  Tyler also embellished on the “School of Fish” theory – directing attention where you want it to be, using eye contact to get people to look at what draws your attention to objects – focus on the person for whom you are doing the magic. Eye contact, eye contact, eye contact!

Rich HInrichs shared some pen magic that he has been working on and Dan Norat offered up “Petit” by Rian Lehman.  David Hansen rounded out the meeting with a demonstation of how you can make an impromptu floating card box.

Please join us if you are in the Twin Cities for our in-person meetings or contact us for a Zoom link to our 2nd Monday evening meeting.

Jennifer Graham

As with every month, Ring 19 celebrates magic by meeting virtually and in-person. Our Zoom meeting was attended by several magic stalwarts who enjoyed an evening of card magic, with a rubberband trick or two, thrown in to the mix.
Tyler Erickson started us off with a book review of Juan Tameriz’s excellent The Magic Rainbow.
Geoff Williams shared a Jack Carpenter Four Ace Trick that can provide a great exercise in learning to effectively riffle shuffle cards, which would allow the ability to retain certain stocks. Geoff provided a tutorial that was deceptive and engaging. He also thought that this trick could provide a great demo of card shuffling in the context of a trick.
There was a lively discussion of card finesses and their many applications. These moves included double undercuts, multiple card shifts and the tricky (and oft hated) pinky pull-down and how these moves may best be used in various tricks. We also discussed card tricks over Zoom and the various pros and cons of performing that type of magic over that medium.
There was also a lively discussion of Geoff Williams’ masterpiece “Brain Candy”, that he created with his good friend and fellow magician, Scott Franz. Check this little gem out on Geoff’s YouTube channel.

Our in-person meeting was well attended and showed a bit more variety in the magic presentations. There were, of course, cards but also ropes, origami, coins. paper and rubberbands.
Tyler taught the card tricks “The Stop Trick” as well as ” Double Spell”. Nice little workers that would fit in anyone’s arsenal of quick, improptu tricks.
Sleven Olson shared a lottery bill trick that was a true crowd-pleaser.
Rick Hinrichs shared the rubberband and pen tricks that he shared over Zoom and wanted feedback. Rick’s presentation was very well received and enjoyable.
There was a discussion of upcoming magic events in and near the Twin Cities and then we broke off into small session groups.

We enjoy the enthusiasm shared in our meeting and extend a welcome invitation to all to join us!
Jennifer Graham

In person meetings bring out lots of fine magic, people are excited to gather together and share their favorite tricks and what they have been working on to add to their shows. Our June meeting was no exception.

Paul Laidig started us off by sharing Houdini’s Siberian Chain Escape. Magic Brad Gudim followed with a routine that he is perfecting – his Coins Across with Jumbo Coin Flurry. He also shared his finesse on a Cups and Balls routine that was exceptional. Several magicians travelled to the Twin Cities from the Duluth area. Jody LeBlanc performed his Any Suit, Any Card card trick with Paul Laidig. Fast Eddie Olson practices magic every day out on the streets. He shared a coin trick that he has developed using BitCoins. Sleven Olson shared a coin/phone trick that he has developed around a story dealing with alien abductions.

Tyler Erickson brought up a discussion surrounding embellishing stories to enhance the magic and how/when to eliminated dialogue during harder moves to draw attention away from the magic moves.
We broke in to small group sessions to end the meeting.
Our Monday evening Zoom meeting covered a number of subjects. Jennifer Graham shared that she is reading Harrison Greenbaum’s You Are All Terrible. This is part of the Magician’s Book Club that is run by Carolyn Ravn on Sundays over Zoom. A hilarious and insightful read, there is a lot of good material, but be forewarned – the book is not for the faint-of-heart. Tyler Erickson shared a presentation of Ted Annemann’s “Card in Hand” We discussed presentation – stage vs. close-up and how to use presentation to its best effect for both arenas. There needs to be balance between what is done vs what is said. We often put an unnecessary burden on ourselves by what we say during performances. Another part of the discussion included asking “Where you are and what you wish to present”. We need to keep in mind how we script for the venue in which we are appearing. We also spoke about the use of storytelling vs use of silence. We ended the meeting discussing card controls. We touched briefly on specific moves given specific situations.

As always, we welcome all to our meetings. – Jennifer Graham

Our in-person meeting began with performances by several club members. Rick Hinrichs performed a great, multiphase ring and rope routine and was looking for advice on scripting. Jody LeBlanc did John W. Bushey “Joker’s Clock”. Jody made multiple packets of the trick and sold them withthe proceeds going to the club. (Thanks Jody!) Paul Laidig did an eerie performance of his version of Max Maven’s Kurotsuke premise, where used body language to find which audience member is holding a special stone. AnneMarie Thomas performed her version of Jason Ladange’s Dream Cards with scripting about her experience as a parent playing games with her kids. Sleven Olson practiced the three phase Rubic cube routine he plans to perform at AbraCORNdabra; solving a cube mixed by the spectator, solving a cube with one hand, and solving a cube without touching it.

The business meeting was short, Andrew Selbitschka has made a park reservation for the annual picnic.

As always, we are open to any and all comers at all levels of magic. Join us! – Dan Norat

Our in-person meeting, at GameZenter, began with performances by several club members. Dan Norat started off the card performances with Max Maven’s “Kirigami” followed by Rick Hinrichs version of “Four Card Fooler” by Paul Gordon. David Hansen offered up his “Open Prediction/Stop Trick” and John Harrell, with two volunteers, shared his work on routines using the Si Stebbins Stack.

A short business meeting was held, where there was some discussion surrounding setting up committees for internal and external events, that may be used for either fundraising or recruiting for the Ring. There was also conversation regarding the recent passing of former Ring President Tom Crone and performing a Broken Wand Ceremony. The meeting adjourned to break-out sessions.

Our Monday night Zoom meetings have small but faithful attendees, and the March meeting was no exception. David Hansen started off the meeting with a coin trick. This led to a discussion of vanishes and the various ROPS (Retention Open Palm Steal) techniques available for not only coins, but sponge balls and other small objects. Tyler Erickson elaborated on the best props to use with ROPS. Rick Hinrichs has been working on his rubber band magic and did a flurry of tricks including broken and restored bands and bands through solid objects. Rick also shared his work on Garrett Thomas’ “Ring Thing.” We spent a significant amount of time discussing coin magic and the common things that one should know: false transfers and knowing two different versions depending on angles and the items used; the Shuttle Pass and Bobo/Toggle Switch and how to use whether showing or hiding an object; Han Ping Chien (HPC) and lastly, a method for continuous productions when using multiple objects. We also discussed using multiple objects instead of coins for “Miser’s Dream.”

As always, we are open to any and all comers interested in magic. Join us!
April Ring Report by Jennifer Graham