Samletter
181
At the next Assembly 181 meeting, Thursday, March 2, 2017, there will
be an exciting member lead workshop on Make It Yourself Paper Magic by
Magic Mike. Doors open at 7:00 PM. Meetings start at 7:30 PM
Mike Dziubas aka Magic Mike started as a prodigy of Dennis Thomas and has
been performing magic on his own for over 11 years. That is long before a
recent movie with a dubious title came out. Mike has some good ideas on
quickly making paper items for your magic shows as well as improving your
marketing.
Following their performance, we will open the stage for others to perform in
our “No Judgment Zone”, so bring something to share.
Society of American Magicians Assembly 181 of Hightstown meets the first
Thursday of every month, September thru June at the First United
Methodist Church, 187 Stockton Street, Hightstown, NJ 08520. Doors
open at 7:00 PM. Meetings start at 7:30 PM.
First United Methodist Church
187 Stockton Street
Hightstown, NJ 08520
Doors Open 7:00PM
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From the Prez - an editorial
For as long as you all have been coming to our
assembly, you have heard us say that the magic of SAM
181, is that we take your twenty dollar investment and
turn it into lectures, buffet meals, coffee and snacks,
giveaways and a multitude of other benefits we offer.
Well, we have been double-dealing. I confess we
deceived you. Although we do all those things with such
a minor investment on your part, the truth is the magic of SAM 181 is you,
our members.
Look at how we have grown. Four years ago, there was only an average of
four people showing up at a meeting, now we have over thirty attend every
meeting. The friendships, the sharing, and the camaraderie is why we all
come. Let us not forget the brownies either (thank you, Reba). We are
getting new attendees every month and the magic has gotten better. There
is enthusiasm, joy, and giving. Who can ask for anything more? There
were bumps in the road of course but we persevered and moved forward.
As time goes on, we will be continuing to offer you, our members, more of
what you want, more of what you deserve. So, I would like to thank you all
for your support, your talents and most importantly your friendship. We are
always looking for contributions from anyone who would like to give. If you
have not ever given a workshop, try and do so, you may be surprised how
well you do. If you have any ideas that would benefit the club we are all
ears, we would be open to anything that would help its growth. Thanks
again for all that you do. It is appreciated.
Stephan Sloan
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SAM versus IBM
The Society of American Magicians, founded in 1902, is the oldest magical society in the world.
The International Brotherhood of Magicians claims to be the world's largest organization
dedicated to the art of magic. Traditions in December have always prompted the exchange of
gifts. At our Thursday meeting, members of IBM 165 traveled north to visit our Assembly in
Hightstown with the gift of a Magic Show.
Al Lloyd started as a seven-year-old assistant to his magician father and has been performing
ever since. When asked about his 63-year career in magic, he answers with a tongue in cheek
piece of advice “find a good job”. Al Lloyd opened the show with several effects including his
“Eye Through the Needle”.
John and Lorraine, a husband and wife team of 46 years, did an origami and egg bag routine.
They were followed by the Ring 165 President for the past seven years, Tom McDonnell. Tom is
an Educational Magician, but on this night Tom performed an “Invisible Coin” and his “Good
and Plenty” routine.
SAM PNP Mike Miller opened by unexpectedly producing a wine bottle before going into his
“Bill in Orange” routine. He finished the show with a mentalist coloring effect that matched a
predesigned still life.
Our meeting was completed with performances by assembly members. With the Dork of
Deception and his multiple phased Triumph-like card routine winning the prestigious “Coffee
Cup Award”, as voted on by the attendees, for the best member performance of the evening.
The follow Monday, Assembly 181 reciprocated with a Magic Show of its own taking a trip
south to IBM Ring 165 to entertain during their Holiday Party. Our troupe of performers
included Mitch Geier, Dennis Thomas, Les the Mentalist, Jimmy Brown and Jay the Magician.
Mitch Geier is a comedy magician. A collapsing chair, in the middle of his routine, catches
everyone by surprise. Dennis Thomas is a Childrens’ Entertainer for the children who attended.
Les the Mentalist does magic of the mind. While mindreading the serial numbers off dollar bills,
Les makes the routine quite comical when he puts a bucket over his head instead of using a
blindfold. The patriotic Jimmy Brown did the best “Mismade Flag” that you have ever seen. The
show closer, Jay the Magician brought along his pet dove Barnum to complete the silk fountain.
A perfect exchange of gifts, a magic show for magicians from magicians.
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Tricks Are For Kids - Magic for the kid magician
Cutie Mouse by Mikame
In May 2016, I sent out a newsletter reviewing
"Five Minutes With A Pocket Handkerchief" by
Quentin Reynolds. It's a great routine in which you
take out a men's handkerchief and perform a fiveminute show. The finale is that you ultimately tie
the handkerchief into a mouse which then comes to
life and scampers all over the magician and into the
crowd. The kids and adults end up on their feet
screaming. It is a clever use of such a simple item,
and it is really worth looking into. The only issue with it, is although they
are still sold in every department store, I haven't ever seen a man use a
handkerchief in fifteen or more years. The other problem with using a
handkerchief is that it is slightly too small which makes the tying difficult.
Well Mikame, a Japanese magic supplier, had come out with a sensible
substitute. It is called "Cutie Mouse" and it is basically a gray pocket
square with the folding directions on it. In addition to the directions, there
are strategically placed pink areas for when the fabric is folded correctly end
up where the ears and tail would be on the "mouse" thus making it more
realistic. The handkerchief is large enough to make the tying much easier
and if folded correctly can be used as a pocket square ever ready for when
you are asked to perform. If you don't perform, it sits smartly in your
pocket as an sartorial accessory. The original routine used a "key winder"
prop to add more magic to the presentation but if you don not have one it is
not a problem. Along with the pocket square, you get a DVD with subtitles.
The DVD is not of the best quality but enough to get you to fold and
ultimately bring to life your creation. As many of you already know, I feel
whether you are a magician or a mentalist, one should be prepared at a
moments notice to perform and "not having" your show props with you
should not be an excuse. Mikame's “Cutie Mouse" is virtually weightless
and packs flat.
You can watch Cutie Mouse
here....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rfqkHWPCZk
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Do You Believe In Magic - Magic for the all around magician
WATER WORKS by Uday Jadugar
You may not think it now, but eventually, summer
is coming and the warm weather offers
opportunities to perform magic which may seem
out of place in colder weather. We all know we
have to stay hydrated on a hot day so if you have
a bottle of water with you it will not seem out of
place. One such trick would be WATER WORKS
created and built by Uday Jadugar. Water Works
is a marketed trick by the famous Paul Harris. It
is basically a version of the hydrostatic glass (or
bottle) disguised as an everyday object which is an ordinary bottle of water.
What is nice about Water Works is the fact that you can show the bottle,
drink from the bottle and even pour out water from the bottle and only when
you are ready, the bottle can be turned upside down and the water remains.
It is a totally baffling trick and handled correctly it will amaze your audience.
In addition to having the water remain in the upside down bottle, you can
stick a object like a stir stick or chop stick in the opening proving there is no
object blocking the opening keeping the water in.
The nice thing about this trick is that with some planning, you can go into
other "bottle cap" type tricks such as SKYCAP by Luke Dancy, RATTLED by
Dan Hauss and CAP IN BOTTLE by Joe Porper. Beware, finding a bottle that
works properly is not easy. Luckily they provide a bottle to work with. The
bottle provided is unlabeled but that probably won't raise any suspicion.
Keeping that in mind, I would avoid the cap in bottle sequel if you have to
cut the bottle open to get the cap out. I've shown this trick several times
and it is a real fooler. If you plan to show this often, then it may be a nice
touch to have a belt supported bottle holder at your side in which the bottle
resides. This little touch leaves your hands free and makes you look like a
real health nut as well. You can get these holders with additional pockets
and put other tricks in there as well. WATER WORKS, check it out.
Watch Water Works here ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nslPn8mAE7c
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Psycho-path - Tricks for the mentalist
THE WORKERS DIARY by Mark Elsdon
Chronologue by Bob Cassidy is a classic effect whereby
someone looks up a date in a diary and reads the card
written in the box for that date. The mentalist removes from
his pocket the only card placed there and it matches the card
that was revealed. There has been a dozen versions of such an
effect since then. The problem is that it they either requires
multiple outs or multiple books. In addition, the date book itself can not be
scrutinized too much otherwise there may be some suspicion aroused. I
found what I feel to be the best solution to the "any card at any birthday"
concept. THE WORKERS DIARY by Mark Elsdon is an elegant, believable
and an easy handling solution to a complex problem. The spectator opens
the diary to any day they choose. They can look at a couple of pages before
and after their chosen date and there will be no repeats of any card written.
They call out the card and you simply place the chosen card on the table
face up. Once you turn the deck around and show all the backs are the
same, you flip the tabled card over and not only is the back a completely
different color but it is also the only card in which there is a message written
"Happy Birthday".
One of the nice things about THE WORKERS DIARY is that you can make
additional decks with other messages on it such as "Happy Anniversary" or
"Congratulations", etc. and still use the same diary. If you are like me and
hate carrying a deck of cards for only one effect. You can create a multilayer effect by mind reading the color of the card, the suit, the value and
finally the day of the week the birthday falls on this year and then finally
turning the card over revealing the message. Although all these other
revelations require remembering some algorithms to achieve the effect, they
all add up to a multi-phase mind reading routine with an incredible
prediction kicker at the end. If you plan to go this route the only issue is
that you will need to rewrite a new diary every year so it is current. I found
a day planner by At - A -Glance which is about the same size as the deck of
cards, hence the pocket space is minimal. The reactions are amazing and
the person can choose any date of the year, there are no limitations.
You can watch Workers Diary here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE8nZdsaKR8
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Affiliates & CONTACTS
http://www.mjmmagic.com/store/index.html?referrer=CNWR_67701383693799
Read Jeff Stone’s reviews at:
http://magicreviewed.com/
Visit Eric Jones at:
https://lostartmagic.com
Visit Joshua Jay at: http://www.joshuajay.com/
SAM 181 President
Stephan Sloan
[email protected]
SAM 181 Vice President
David Zboray
[email protected]
SAM 181 Treasurer
Dennis Thomas
[email protected]
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Magic Calendar
MON
FEB 6
I.B.M. Assembly 165 on Monday, January 2, 2017, at the First United
Methodist Church, 704 Garden Street, Haddon Heights, NJ 08035.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/611155958904304/
THU
FEB 16
S.A.M. Assembly 4 will be meeting on Thursday, February 16, 2017, at the
Bustleton Memorial Post 810 American Legion, 9151 Old Newtown Road,
Philadelphia, PA 19115, usual time; 7:00 PM. http://www.sam4.org/
THU
FEB 16
Masters of Illusion – Believe the Impossible includes grand illusions,
levitating women, escapologists, comedy magic, sleight of hand, and
beautiful dancers. Thursday, February 16, 2017, at 8:00 PM. State Theatre
New Jersey, 15 Livingston Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Tickets $35 - $75
https://www.statetheatrenj.org/event/masters_of_illusion
THU
MAR 2
S.A.M. Assembly 181 the next meeting will be on Thursday, March 2, 2017, at
the First United Methodist Church, 187 Stockton Street, Hightstown, NJ
08520. Workshop on Make It Yourself Paper Magic by Magic Mike and No
Judgment Zone performances, usual time; 7:00 doors open.
http://magicsam181.com
WED
MAR 29
It’s been announced, Wednesday Wizardry Show at the Ritz Theatre will be
on March 29, 2017. Tickets are $20.00, doors open at 6:30 with a 7:00 show
time. The theatre is located at 915 White Horse Pike, Haddon Township, NJ
08107 P:856-858-5230 http://www.ritztheatreco.org/
SAT
APR 8
Philadelphia 2017 LIVE MAGIC EXPO: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 10 AM - 4 PM.
See and buy magic you won't find anywhere else. Pre-register and get $10 off
the door price PLUS a $10 voucher to spend on any product in the room.
http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/7837
SAT
APR 8
Jeff Dunham returns to Trenton with his "Perfectly Unbalanced" Tour at Sun
National Bank Center, Route 129 on the corner of Hamilton Ave and South
Broad St, Trenton, NJ on April 8, 2017, at 5:00 PM
http://www.sunnationalbankcenter.com/event-detail.php?id=873
SUN
APR 9
SUN
JUNE 11
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Family Magic Show presented by members of SAM 181 for the benefit
of the Arlene Sharlin Memorial Scholarship Fund will be presented at
the Adath Israel Synagogue,1958 Lawrenceville Road (Route 206),
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 on Sunday, April 9, 2017, at 1 PM
Bob Little’s Super Sunday “The Best One Day Magic Convention in the
World” No Registration Required. Sunday, June 11, 2017 10:00 AM 10:00 PM All for a Low-Low Fee of $40.00
http://www.boblittlessupersunday.com/
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