The Bristol Society of Magic

For the first time I can remember in the few years I have been with the Society, people were queuing up to enter the Club Room and to be honest it was no great surprise the club’s Halloween night following on from last year’s Extravaganza !! Unsurprisingly
the room was packed with a healthy mix of members, their families and friends with several of the younger ones (including Jayne!) dressed up in some fantastic costumes. When we (my sons, their friend, his dad/my friend Alan and myself)
entered the Club Room we were immediately impressed by the fantastic efforts Steve

(and his helpers) had gone to: On signing in Richard ensured we had collected our complimentary Halloween masks, we thenfollowed the “fake wall” corridor past a series since it was of candles in to a seating area where we noticed many things including smoke, fake windows, Spooky lighting including (real!) candles, jars/bottles containing various “things” and a fantastic backdrop in the form of a fake bookcase – they say a picture is worth a thousand words and this year I understand we have photographs of this evening which will show those who were unable to attend just how fantastic the Club Room looked. What is more amazing is that there was a problem
with the Club Room Keys being changed so the “setting up” could not start until 7pm on the night! So we sat expectantly in our seats soaking up the incredible atmosphere looking forward to the first act.

“Baron Von Blood” aka Scorpio aka Steve opened the evening in a very spooky outfit and of course acting in character to introduce the first act which was the Great Encanto aka Dave Ross. Dave and his assistant entered in costumes walking slowly and silently but purposefully around three sides of the audience to some back ground music building up the atmosphere. Dave produced some white paper which had previously been cut into

an elaborate pattern and then set fire to the paper before putting the ashes into a dish. He then performed a nice restoration, or should I say reincarnation/phoenix, effect where he pulled out from the dish the same shaped paper from the embers but the paper was now black and not white (as burnt). A great “warm up” (sorry!) to start the evening!

Scorpio aka Steve (Steve from now on!) re-appeared this time as Sweeney Todd and after offering some special “human” pie and other treats to some lucky audience members, he introduced the second act which was “The Ghost of Cowboy James Butler” aka our President Jim Hoyland.

Jim dressed appropriately as a cowboy and adopting a “cowboy’s voice” started by setting the scene explaining his character’s background and why he didn’t like sitting with his back to the door as that is how he had his head blown off and how he had become a ghost! A member of the audience was asked to play a game of cards with Jim after being asked to sit down so their back was to the door. Jim counted off 10 cards from a shuffled deck and then counted out those cards in smaller numbers apparently giving the volunteer the choice of which cards he wanted and which cards Jim would have until each had 5 cards. After Jim turned over his cards, the volunteer turned over theirs to show a “winning” hand of 2 Aces, Two Eights and the Six of Diamonds – however remarkably this hand was exactly the same as the “Dead Man’s Hand”
which Jim had explained beforehand that he’d had on the night he was shot dead! Jim finished his act in character explaining to the volunteer “Don’t play cards with a card cheat and don’t sit with your back to the door”. This was a very clever card trick nicely woven into another great story by Jim.

Steve re-appeared performing a quick effect where he apparently cut his arm resulting in blood appearing but then after wiping the cut with a cloth it immediately healed! Steve then introduced our Third Act Stuart Taylor. Stuart, aided by some very appropriate background music, started by explaining that he was going to try to contact a spirit. To

“confirm” the presence of the spirit Stuart had brought along a special “EMF” detector which would light up more LEDs (Green, Yellow & Red) on detecting spirit activity – this was given to a volunteer to look after. Stuart then started to tell the story of his great aunt Eleanor who was a medium and had been given a second hand doll when she was very ill and bedridden as a child. Basically it transpired that the doll had originally belonged to Alice Winters who had tragically died in a fire in a boarding house and that apparently
Eleanor explained that Alice used to visit her and they would play together with the doll. Along with the doll, Stuart had a door knocker, Bell and Music box which were all also tied in with the story, and so the scene was set! Well after this build up Stuart didn’t disappoint – he managed to contact Alice which was confirmed by the door knocker knocking, the EMF Detector lighting up like a Christmas tree and the bell ringing, all mysteriously – On top of all this Stuart even had a message from Alice saying that she hoped everyone was all having fun! Overall a very believable and entertaining “Séance style” story with some very mysterious effects to confirm the presence of Alice!!

Next up was Steve himself. Steve started by locating a volunteer who needed to be a woman who had children as Steve needed someone who could sense danger! He then passed a brown glass bottle around the audience before putting it in a bag then smashing it with a single blow from a hammer. Steve then took the broken neck part of the bottle, inserted it upside down in a block and then placed a paper bag over all of this. Steve then mixed up this bag with 3 other identical bags with blocks but without any broken glass. Steve then asked his female volunteer to also mix them around do as to ensure nobody knew which bag had the broken glass and which did not. Steve then numbered the bags and asked the Volunteer which bag she felt (remembering she could sense danger) was safe and after some build up Steve very suddenly and dramatically slammed his hand down on that bag - I noticed that a few of the audience visibly jumped in their seats! Fortunately this bag did not contain the broken glass bottle piece so the act continued using the same process successfully for a second time after
Steve confirmed the Volunteer was definitely sure that it wasn’t that bag! Steve explained he was pretty confident as the female intuition had only let him down 3 times in the 50 or so times he had performed this act. Finally with two bags remaining, the Volunteer was asked which bag she felt contained the broken glass bottle piece thenStevesimultaneously lifted up that bag with one hand whilst slamming the other hand down on the last remaining bag and you’ve guess it – the one with the bag
lifted up was the one with the broken glass bottle piece! A very entertaining routine!

So it was time for the interval during which a tremendous buffet expertly and generously provided by Steve’s wife Dawn was enjoyed by all in addition to normal cup of tea/coffee kindly served by Alan and Pete.

Steve started the second half by introducing Mandy who he referred to as a witch after showing some photographic evidence that she started the Great Fire of London! Mandy started off by explaining that Halloween is the night when women’s intuition
is heightened and they have a sixth sense but then on realising it wasn’t actually 31st October she said that it was near enough. Mandy explained she was going to perform a knife throwing act to burst balloons attached on a board and performed a couple
of not very impressive practice throws – the second of which she proudly pointed out had actually hit the board but then admitted that she should have practised the knife throwing! Much to my groups amusement my friend Alan was asked to assist
(coincidently last year he was also Mandy’s victim when she tried to cut him in half with a big electric saw). So “Alan the Brave” was asked to stand albeit nervously in front of the board and as some balloons were re-arranged Mandy reassured him
by saying that she had actually seen this done before then explained it was best if Alan wore a blind fold so he didn’t flinch and get hit by a flying knife! So Mandy paced a few steps away talking to Alan so he could hear where she was and then Mandy
proceeded to “throw” each knife one at a time (with the help of an assistant who appeared with some “additional knifes” by the board) and unbelievably every single knife hit and burst a balloon before “thudding into the board” whilst missing Alan!
This was very entertaining – especially Alan’s reaction when the first balloon burst very loudly, Mandy’s remarks e.g. saying “she hoped her luck doesn’t run out” and mentioning to the audience sitting near to the board that “she would be very nervous sitting there” and for me after the act when Alan came back to his seat and asked me “Mandy didn’t really throw those knifes did she?”!!

Steve then performed a couple of quick spooky effects including a bolt which mysteriously moved when the spectator let go of it and a light bulb that shattered inexplicably!

Steve then introduced Terry Ford. Terry gave us a lecture on 16th Century witchcraft and had even brought along with him a History of Witchcraft Book! Terry explained how witch detection had changed over time from when a 9 year old girl denounced her mother and
brother as witches and being believed to people being poked with a stick to see if it drew any blood: my favourite one was the person suspected to be a witch being tied to a chair and then thrown in the river – if they sank then the good news was they were not a witch and if they floated (i.e. didn’t drown) they were obviously a witch so were dried off
and then burnt on a fire! Terry then asked Darrell to help and said he would use a pack of playing cards to see if Darrell was a witch. The cards were dealt one at a time face down from the top and Darrell stopped when he wanted to select a card – Terry explained this was Darrell’s subconscious selection as Darrell couldn’t see the face of the card he was selecting. The remaining pack was turned upside down and the process repeated but with the cards dealt face up from what was the bottom of the pack – Terry explained this was Darrell’s subconscious selection as Darrell couldn’t see the face of the card he was selecting. So the suit was taken of one of the chosen cards (Hearts) and the value taken of the other (Jack) to give a single selection of the “Jack of Hearts”. Then the History of Witchcraft Book was opened to find that inside there was only one card which was the “Jack of Hearts” – sadly this confirmed that Darrell is a witch! (Note: up to then I had foolishly believed Darrell was a very good magician but now I know the secret!).
Darrell hurried away before he was burnt on a fire and Terry took a very well deserved applause.

As for last year, the evening was closed as it was opened with the Great Encanto aka Dave. Again Dave and his assistant entered in costumes walking slowly to some back ground music building up the atmosphere. Dave opened up a box and his assistant
then climbed in and sat down. Then one at a time Dave then pushed 5 metal sheet blades (about 2’ long and 1’ wide) through various slots on the front of the box with the sixth incredibly being thrust down through the top of the box. Hopefully there is a photo showing the box with all the blades in, as it was hard to imagine how the assistant would survive this – we knew she was still in the box as we could see her hands through some slots at the front and also (if I remember correctly) her legs/feet. Then for the moment of truth, slowly each of the blades was removed one by one before the box was re-opened and for the assistant to re-emerge unscathed! I must admit I really love seeing these “big magical” effects even though I only do small tricks myself and this was a great finishing act to a fabulous evening.

As for last year, the Halloween night was a tremendous success with the standard and variety of entertainment being excellent and the club room transformation being simply fabulous. So a very big thank you and also a very big well done to Steve, his helpers, Dawn and of course all the performers! You should be very proud of what you achieved this night!!##.

Matthew set the scene with two roll-up advertising banners promoting his websites www.professionalmagic.com and www.ninjaplus.com and a rather nice looking blue crushed velvet backdrop behind a card table. He chose to wear a long dress coat, shirt and waistcoat which is what he would wear whilst out working around table situations.

He indicated that he would be talking about walk around situations and a few practical matters.

Approaching tables.

Rather than going to a table saying “I am a magician, can I do a trick for you”, he prefers to go to one person at the table and start performing a trick with them. Eventually he finds

that others join in and watch. If there is a group of people talking, go to a person next to that group and start performing a trick, which tells those people that some-thing is about the happen. Soon the group talking will di-vert their attention to the magician to see what is happen-ing. Go around the table with different tricks. Don‟t start with a card trick. To gain interest on what you are doing at a table also, it is a good idea to hand objects out to
different people on the table this is both visual and colourful.

Matthew likes to start with something more visual like Ninja rings.

Ninja Rings.

Grant and Mandy assisted Matthew with his first trick where they held their Ninja Rings tightly ei-ther side and he passed a third Ninja Ring through their rings. Shoot Ogawa made a DVD of this trick. It is a self-resetting trick and ideal as an opener.

Tip: To assist in performing this trick with ease, he suggested holding the ring with the gap by the crook of the little finger. In this way, you don‟t need to move your hand at all as the other rings catch on the gap easily.

“Ninja+”

„Ninja Plus‟ uses a finger ring along with Ninja rings. The props are:

1. Finger ring
2. Ninja Ring with gap

Ninja Ring with finger ring attached.

Matthew showed a few effects using these props. For one trick, he suggested putting a finger ring either in the palm of your hand, or on someone‟s forehead or top of a wine bottle; you then press the open end of the Ninja Ring against the finger ring to pick it up. Another routine uses flash string on a Ninja Ring, where he lights the flash string and a finger ring appears as you drop it off the Ninja Ring.

Tip: Matthew said that at noisy venues Ninja Rings work well as they are visual. Ambitious card is also a good trick to do as you can gesture to people to write on the cards. Both tricks do not require the use of language.

Cards.

Matthew did a trick where he showed red backed blank faced cards, then showed them as normal packs. He also did the “Ambitious card” routine showing the Larry Jennings move.

People love to see a card spin from a pack. Tip: To aid practice when trying to make a card spin out from the pack, use a bank note thimble rubber to push a card up. Press on corner of stack of cards to make it spin.
Matthew talked about double lifts for a short while.

He likes to use the card in mouth trick. Tip: Wink to the rest of the audience if you‟ve put the corner of a card in your mouth as a plea to those watching to be quiet whilst you perform with the spectator.

Tip: Rule of two beats. If you have done something to a spectator, like card in mouth, wait two beats to let what you have done register with that person. Then move swiftly on to another person so they don‟t have time to re-spond to what you have done.

Ways to generate applause.

To work up an audience and prime them to applaud, Mat-thew likes to say “If I do …, I want you to applaud”. He then has to work for the applause by doing the trick. He also likes to increase the pitch of his voice to get cause excitement in the audience.

A few patter lines seemed to cause an uneasy feeling with some members of the audience – these included “Do these look like normal cards or magic cards? Do I look normal?” and “That‟s worth some applause”. This was a little aggra-vating as he frequently asked for applause in many round-about ways making the audience feel a bit controlled in this respect.

Omnideck.

Matthew demonstrated a routine involving the „Omnideck‟ (plastic block) after any trick where you have previously brought selected cards to the table.

After the break Matthew showed how you can use balloons at various events. At a wedding, interest can be created by producing a heart shape out of balloons. This is usually his first trick which is done to attract the attention of eve-ryone to his entrance and to focus interest on the bride and groom. Whilst he is waiting to go on, he inflates six long balloons (two of each colour) and ties them up in two sets of three balloons in a twist motion, then joins them into the shape of a heart. He then likes to walk into the reception room with this eye catching, colourful heart shape, beckon the photographer to the top table for a photo opportunity by placing the heart behind the heads of the bride and groom as a reminder of the magician at the wedding. This is a good way to get the whole of the room to clap. Do this first effect as people are finish-ing their meal. People will also dive for their own cameras to take advantage of this rather

attractive shot.

Tip 1: Inflate balloons to the side, rather than in front of you to prevent a burst balloon hitting your eyes.
Tip 2: Stretch and twist balloons (less likely to pop) and bend other end to make heart shape.

Balloons for Children‟s Parties.

Matthew made various shapes out of bal-loons including a bicycle, Mickey Mouse juggling, a toilet seat (like a figure of 8), snails and used long balloons to depict letters of the alphabet. Tip: Give birthday child something to hold, send them back to seat, ask them to come back and give them some-thing else. Keep doing this so they have their arms full.

Create the impression that you are going to do lots of dif-ferent tricks. Hold things in the air high up so people can see you are using a variety of tricks.

Magic Square

Matthew described his Magic Square quick trick (good for trade shows) using the „Out To Lunch‟ principle. Two digit number between 2 – 100. Make grid to add up to chosen number. Did Magic Square by Roy Johnson. Used small tear-off grids which can be put in jacket pocket. Uses code to know what to put in. Low grid 1 – 39. Medium grid 40+ number. Easily repeated trick.

Cabaret.

He prefers to arrive with all his tricks in his pockets. How-ever, he has found that some venues which employ you want to see the magi-cian with a briefcase. Generally he just brings a briefcase to hold his marketing material and a few tricks.
Tip: Take people‟s telephone numbers rather than just e-mail addresses.

Monty the Spiv.

Matthew performed his version of „Monty The Spiv‟ with Paul Macleavy and Tony Griffiths.

Joker in the Pack

Cut pack to place Joker in the cards in order. Then recalled a story using cards.

Deland Card Principle

Use in new deck order gaff. One card has 4 card symbols on it at top edge to create illusion of holding 3 more cards than actu-ally held.

Card Manipulation.

Finally, he did a 3 minute performance to music mostly do-ing card flourishes.

Finish.

Rounding off the lecture, he suggested that to boost your bookings, do some midweek work at hospices, old folks homes, etc.

Summary.

All in all, Matthew Garrett presented an informative, enter-taining and interesting lecture.

The explanations, philosophy and sage advice followed. Movement and choreography when using a Topit, you had to be there, plus advice on contact with an audience, and the importance of routining. Stuff on

card handling dribbling [ with cards] side steal, palming and spread control. Then followed a whole variety of ideas with business cards,including magical printing, haunted deck, and man ywallets.

To finish the first half Michaels roadie helper and salesman demonstrated his own shirt topit. After a break a series of ideas, gimmicks, quick tricks and gags to incorporate into routines. Handy sponge holder, handkerchief on curtain, wind up deck, vanish and production of glass

plus production from glass, coin through pocket, cut and restored silk, silk through anything and mini hand coin vanish.

Thats about it but the main benifit and message of the lecture was the detailed thinking philosophy and craft behind everything. Finally he gave ad-vice on treating an audience with respect to enhance the image of magic. This was not just a lecture given by a professional magician but a professional lecture given by a professional lecturer.

I hope that you al enjoyed the Coin and Currency evening. It was nice to see so many members showing different coin and currency effects. Hopefully we all learnt something new.

The lecture night by Thom Peterson, thank you for all the phone calls showing how many enjoyed it. I thought that it was an excellent night and felt that it was very practical magic every-one could do.

Dear Club Members,

November is almost upon us with Halloween and Bonfire Night to look forward to. This will give us all extra work.

In October, the Best of Card Magic by Paul Preager, was an excellent night. I’m sure we learnt some really good card magic
and shuffles thanks to Paul and his helpers.

The New Members Evening was of a good standard. Us ‘Oldies’ had better keep our foot on the pedal or these youngsters
will soon catch us up!

I am off to Las Vegas early in November for the Mind Convention. Simon will be keeping an eye on the club on my behalf.

We are enjoyed the Close Up competition organised by Jim Hoyland.Congratulations to Jayne Corrigan who won first place and to Simon Hawking, a worthy second.

Steve

Isn't it surprising how quickly our summer break is passing? It will soon be September when we qill all meet up again, for the season 2008-09.

Thank you all for your votes in regards to my post as president and to the Council as a whole. I will endeavour to give a good account of myself throughout my term of office.

I hope that we are all looking forward to the events printed on the new fixture list, which has just been completed. We start the new season with a lecture from Andrew Murray.

Hope you all had an enjoyable Easter.

March has bought us visits from Davenports and the Cardiff Society. Roy Davenport had a large display of goods, books etc. He also gave a very relaxed and entertaining chat about Davenport’s history together with demonstrations of various items. He finished up with his stunning linking ring routine. A super evening.

On the 20th March we provided a varied audience and Cardiff provided the entertainment. You can read the full report in this issue of Focus. Always a popular event everyone enjoyed this social evening, everyone having fun.

This year at the auction some very good props were on offer, influenced perhaps by Paul’s warning that all rubbish would be burnt in the car park! There were a few bidders and some bargains to be had.

Look forward to seeing you all in the clubroom.

Regards,
Simon.

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