Ring 76 Chartered by the International Brotherhood of Magicians in 1948

MagiCurrentsSan Diego, California

Recipient of the IBM's Quality Ring Award

Honest Sid Gerhart Ring 76Website

www.ring76.com VolumeXVIII IJanuary 2004

Jack Evans & Joe Bertuzzi votedLife Achievement Honors by Ring 76

The Ring 76 board of directors has voted to inducttwo longstanding members into our Hall of Fame andmake them Honorary Lifetime Members of the Ring.This award is given to veteran members of Ring 76for their dedication to magic and efforts on behalf ofmagicians everywhere. We are making theannouncement in January; these nominees will beofficially installed in July at our regular installationbanquet and ceremony.

Jack Evans, who ispresident and founder ofRing 292 in San Marcos,is our first honoree for2004. Jack has beeninterested in magic sincehe was a little boy inMontana and hisgrandfather took him tosee Master MagicianMacDonald Burch, whosefeature illusion wascausing a pony todisappear. Years later,Burch wanted Jack Evansto take over his hugeshow and tour with it.But at the time, Evans was busy with his own show.

Jack is best remembered for his many years as acruise ship magician, having traveled around theworld many times, having made 40 trips to Alaska,and through the Panama Canal 70 times. All told hespent 14 years on cruise ships as an entertainer. Hehas worked the Magic Castle many times with hismagic and comedy. Evans has built most of hisprops, and those he has purchased he has modified

Jack EvansLifetime AchievementHonoree

or elaborately decorated. Jack has always madehis own wardrobe, and it was rumored years agothat Liberace got his costume ideas from JackEvans's creations.

Over the years, since settling in Oceanside, JackEvans has worked diligently to increase theawareness of magic and magicians. His talentswere put to work creating our special backdrops forRing 76 a year or so ago. Jack has a beautifulcollection of magic, most of it one of a kind items, aswell as a sensational collection of playing cards. Inaddition to keeping Ring 292 together and adding tohis amazing collection, Jack still finds time to playmany dates each year .always coming up withsomething new for his audiences.

Jack Evans is a grand performer and a great guyready to help anyone who needs an idea or asuggestion or two in order to work out a kink in aroutine. Ring 76 is honored to have him as one ofour special Honorary Lifetime Ring members.

The Board's second honoree is Joe Bertuzzi, whobecame a Ring 76 memberafter watching Roy Shankpresent his beautiful silk act ata retirement party for a friendin the late 60s. Over theyears, Joe held several officeswithin Ring 76. In 1978, theIBM Convention Committeeasked Joe if he would be theConvention Coordinator forthe first San DiegoConvention. After theconvention, Joe became the

Continued on Page 5

Joe BertuzziLifetime AchievementHonoree

Page 2 MagiCurrents

December meeting and holidaytribute to past Ring presidentsattracts 65 members & guests

~

The December meeting for Ring 76 members isalways our traditional potluck feast and a show. Thisyear the membership honored past Ring 76presidents, who were all given the new InternationalBrotherhood of Magicians Past Presidents medal.There were 12 past presidents in attendance andeight of them presented a brief act.

This year the Ring purchased two turkeys, RichardUstick fixed one of them and Peg Marcus preparedthe second one. Each member drew a tagdesignating what he or she should bring to thepotluck dinner. The serving linewas set up and people startedeating at 6:45. It was a time forgood fellowship and meeting andtalking with the various members.Pat Hannum, an early president ofRing 76 and an Honoree LifetimeMember, attended along with pastpresidents Fred and Ursula Rohrer,who both served as past presidentsof Ring 76.

Pat Hannum3rd Ring Pres.

We were also happy to see Phil Turtle, who returnedafter open-heart surgery inlate October, is looking andfeeling much improved.Armando Torres and MagoRuly presented twobeautiful awards to DianeLane and Jack White fortaking part in the "MagicFestival" in Tijuana in

\rmando Torres & November.Mago Ruly

Holiday Dinner in Pictures

MagiCurrents PageS

Past Ring Presidents

Past presidents (L to R) Bob Pozner, Jack WhiteGreg Wauson, Jeff Marcus, Rich Robertson, J.RJackson, Jim Riley, Fred Rohrer, Sherry Luft,Ursula Rohrer, Don Soul, andin front, PatHannum.

During our show presented by past presidents ofRing 76 Bob Ingalls was themaster of ceremonies and did hisusual superb job of holding thingstogether and keeping the showmoving. First up was PastPresident Bob Pozner, who servedduring the late 1970s. Bob did aversion of Gregory Wilson's "FistFull of Dollars." Bob has greattiming and always manages togive an effect a lot of polish and fun.

Next up was Rich Robertson, whom we don't seeenough of these days. Rich waspresident in the 1980s. He did avery nice six-bill repeat with realdollar bills. Then he wrapped uphis very nice act with a very cleanpoker prediction. Nice job, Rich.

Rich RobertsonJack White then took over the

stage and presented several magic gags, includingthe old dirty hand towel bit of business and the giri-to-rabbit gag. Then Jack, with the help of ChristinaUstick, did a card stab with a jumbo deck and a knifewith a blade 12 inches long. Jack was president ofRing 76 in 1976 & 77.

Then came longtime magic collector and historianJ.P. Jackson, who brought outa giant Die Box and gave us abrief history of this trick withinformation that dated back tojust after the Civil War. J.P.went through the usual routineand then suddenly turned thedie box into a tray featuring Jp_ Jackson

nine wine glasses filled with liquid. It was acomplete surprise, and you could hear the audiblegasp of surprise from the audience. It was a niceroutine, history lesson, and surprise ending rolledinto a quick five minutes.

Greg Wauson, who was Presidentin the early 1990s was on stageto present a clever little mentalroutine with cards that hadpictures of animals on them.Gre9 9ot everyone in theaudience to make animal sounds,which had everyone laughing.Then he wrapped this act up witha very well-done card-in-balloon.

Greg has been a longtime asset to Ring 76.

Greg Wauson

Don Soul

Next came immediate Past President Don Soul,who did his award winning"Shaman Don" act. Don hasadded some new twists to this act,making it even funnier than in thepast. Dressed in a bathrobe withbadly painted-on eyebrows andmustache goes into his one-manmagic skit where he calls on the"spirits" which reside in a bottle ofJack Daniels. It gets more "spirited"as itgoes along.

Jeff Marcus, who is our current TVP and pastpresident from the late 1 980s, was joined on stageby volunteers Kate and Phil King, who help with avery clean and well-presented version of "ThreeCards Across." Jeffs routine has the cards thatpass from one person to another the same cardsthat were selected by various members of theaudience. It was also nicely done.

Sherry Luft, who was president of Ring 76 in theearly 1 990s, changed an ordinary brick into one thathad her name one it. It was a quick routine but veryvisual and clever.

We salute all of the cooks and those who broughtspecial dishes and shared them with our members.We had many guests joining in with a large turnoutof regular members for the 2003 Holiday Potluck andTribute to past Ring 76 presidents.

February brings a new format to the annualclose-up contest New rules and format makingit truly a close-up performers event will beannounced at the Jan 19th meeting.

Page 4 MagiCurrents

Magic Book ReviewBy Dr. Joel Moskowitz

So that is how it's done!A review of Jim Steinmeyer's book:

"Hiding the Elephant"

Once Adam bit that apple, Gutenberg invented the print-ing press, and magicians began writing and demon-strating their secrets, knowledge became available toall who cared to learn. Jim Steinmeyer, a master ofsecrets, has elected to create an illusion in print. Thereis a maxim that "if you want to hide a secret, publish it.'

In his latest book ("Hidingthe Elephant, or How Ma-gicians Invented the Impos-sible and Learned to Disap- jpear" Carroll and Graf,2003, 362 pp.) penned forwhoever has the thirst tolearn, Steinmeyer tells whoand how and when. An-other ancient maxim is thateach of us gets out of abook what we see in it.Laypersons will think tnowunderstand "how it is done."Erudite conjurers will mar-vel at the history of their craft.Psychologically savvy readers will muse about the per-sonalities of those masters of mystery who are dedi-cated to deception.

In the history of modern illusions, many will know ofHenning, Copperfield, Siegfried and Roy and LanceBurton. Fewer will have heard of Blackstone andJarrett. For some, Houdini is synonymous with magicand

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escape. Few know of Robert Houdin, Thurston, andKeller. Focusing on roughly half a century some sev-enty years ago, Steinmeyer, who himself is a creatorand consultant to the star illusionists of our time, de-scribes how stage magic was, once upon a time. Andmaybe still is. It is likely that current devotees of the arthave never heard of the Bangkok Box performedby Jarrett. Revealing how Jarrett accomplished thiswizardry shouldn't pain even the World Alliance of Ma-gicians, organized foes of exposure.

Read how Brian DeKolta carried his wife in a small box.Or ghosts floated on stage and interacted with live ac-tors.

The principles of deception, Steinmeyer tells, have,however, not changed all that much. Much of it is donewith mirrors,. Magicians can stop gnashing their teeth.Steinmeyer lifts the curtain, making the backstagevisible but it doesn't damage the deception.

We have, hopefully, begun to understand the mecha-nisms, many dealing with psychology and perception.Science has become more marvelous andavailable, the audiences more sophisticated and skep-tical, yet the art of magic thrives.

Hidden in plain sight in Steinmeyer.s text is the criticalrevelation: good magic entertains. It does not cheatyou (read politicians and their trickery with words), con-fuse you (aka rapid action finger flicking cardmanipulators) or perpetrate a fraud upon you (19thcentury spiritualists; "caution, there are some of thesestill around").

Steinmeyer causes the personalities and adventuresof such illusionaries as Davenport and Maskelyne andDavant to float off the page and into the reader's sen-sorium. Their rivalry led to theft of secrets, competitionto excel and, for those who were privileged to watch,marvels beyond belief.

The era was punctuated in 1917 when at the Hippo-drome, Harry Houdini astonished all when he vanished

Magician

Terry Luncefordsupports

The IBM & Ring 76

MagiCurrents PageS

Book Review continued from page 4

an elephant. Such wonders have since beensuperseded. Example: causing the Statue of Libertyto disappear (Steinmeyer had something to do withthat).

When this writer spoke with Jim Steinmeyer about thewriter's plans to develop a program that would exposestudents of the theater to principles of magic frequentlyemployed in many Broadway type productions, Jimsuggested that there was a thin line which whencrossed would engender the ire of fellow magicians.His very fine book is cognizant of this and rather thanexpose, enlightens the readership. That group shouldinclude most literate magicians. Highly recom-mended.

Lifetime Honors Con't from page 1

Territorial Vice President for all of California; he heldthat position for 10 years.

The then President of IBM Dr. William Spoonerasked Joe if he would be willing to fill a vacancy onthe IBM Executive Board. Joe was subsequentlyelected to three consecutive three-year terms as amember of the Executive Committee. While servingon the Board of Trustees Joe also served on theYouth Committee, and Membership Committee andwas appointed as Chairman of the Endowment andDevelopment Foundation.

Joe is best remembered in the IBM as the manresponsible for developing and implementing theLinking Ring on CD Rom program, the IBMMasterCard program, the group Health Insuranceprogram, and many other important programs formembers.

Many years ago during a board meeting Joe and thelate Karrell Fox roomed together, Karrell asked Joewhat influenced him in magic? Joe told him thatwhen he was in grade school he would rush homeevery day after school and turn on the television setand watch "Milky the Clown" do magic. Suddenly,

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Karrell had tears in his eyes, and Joe asked whatwas wrong? Fox replied, "I was Milky the Clown."

Joe Bertuzzi now lives in Orange County to the northof San Diego but continues to keep his fingers onthe pulse of our Ring and often corresponds withlocal magi ,as well as keeping an interest in themagic activities for all Southern California. For hislong association with our Ring and his continuedefforts at helping magic world wide the Board of Ring76 is proud to include Joe Bertuzzi as an HonoraryLifetime Member of his home Ring 76.

This year's honorees will join Pat & Art Hannum, Roy& Betty Armstrong, Al Knox ,and Jim Swoger ,whoare our special Lifetime Achievement Honorees.Jack Evans and Joe Bertuzzi will have all rights andprivileges of regular members of Ring 76 always!

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Page 6 MagiCurrents

View from the Cheap Seats

By Jon A. Hand

Risk-Free Ring Flight

Ring Flight is a popular trick among close-upmagicians. The effect is that a borrowed ringdisappears instantly and appears in the magician'skey case. The usual method is a reel and agimmicked key case. However, the trick isdangerous in that sometimes the ring comes off theclip and goes flying, often across a darkenedrestaurant. In a recent discussion of Ring Flight onone of the Internet magic bulletin boards, onemagician stated that he lost a $5,000 ring overboardon a cruise ship! Here, then, are two risk-free, reel-less versions of Ring Flight, one for close-up andone for stage.

Close-up version: Sew a metal ring into atiny pocket in a corner of a handkerchief. Procure akey case that folds in thirds and snaps closed. Openthe key case and hang a key on each key clip exceptfor the one in the center. Open the center key clip,rotate it out, and close/latch the case with the cliphanging out, sealing the rest of the clips/keys intothe closed case. Place in jacket right breast pocketwith the open clip hanging out of the pocket.

Borrow ring from Spec 1 in right hand. Holdhank in left hand, saying, "We'll place this ring whereno one can get to it." Place the borrowed ring underthe hank and into the left palm, simultaneouslypushing the sewn ring to the center of the hank.Hold the substituted sewn ring from the outside ofthe hank with the right hand, and give it to Spec 2 tohold.

Reach into right breast pocket, threadingring onto single loose key clip. Remove the key casefrom right breast pocket with left hand covering thering and clip, and hold the case in clear sight,saying, "If I lose your ring, I might need a quickgetaway." As the hand exits the pocket, the key clipend of the case is automatically turned to the bottomof the hand as the hand turns palm up. Themagician reaches over and whips the hank fromSpec 2, and Spec 2 verifies that the ring is gone.The hank is replaced in the magician's pocket.

Left hand holds up the key case. Right handopens the inverted key case, and the key clipsclatter out in a row. There, in the middle of the keysis the ring on a key clip. After the spectator verifiesthat it is his/hers, the magician removes it from theclip to return it.

Stage version: Procure a small wineglass. Insteadof sewing the ring into a cloth pocket, hang the metalring from a short thread sewn to the middle of thehandkerchief.

The magician might write a receipt for the borrowedring to give to Spec 1. Substitute the threaded ringfor the borrowed ring as before. Hand Spec 2 thewineglass, guide Spec 2 to cover the whole bowl ofthe glass with the hank, and tell Spec 2 to drop thering into the glass "for safekeeping." As Spec 2 thendrops the sub ring into the glass, the magicianreaches into his pocket for the key case. All eyesand ears are on the noisy clatter of Spec 2 at themoment of the drop, and the load of the ring shouldbe well-covered. Spec 1 is then told, "If I lose yourring, I might need a quick getaway," as the key caseis removed from the pocket. Then the magiciansnatches the hank away, taking the sub ring with it,and places the hank into a pocket. The wine glass isempty, and Spec 2 verifies that the ring has vanishedfrom the wineglass in his own hand. Spec 1 thensees the key case opened, and verifies that his ringis hanging from the key case. It is important that themagician direct the audience's attention carefullyduring the ring's vanish and its reappearance, asthese are quick moments that the audience mightmiss. Also, anticipation is important to have theeffect make solid impact, so the magician must notneglect a bit of recapping and build-up, yet nottelegraph the final effect.

I would think that this second version of Ring Flightwould play better than the venerable Bill to Lemonon stage, as it is more magical for the distantaudience due to the clatter noise of the dropped ringinto the wineglass and the very visual/aural drop ofthe keys from the key case.Give one of these a try, and let me know how it goesfor you. Email: 'jonahand@hotmail.com

-0-

Please donate used magic books and pockettricks to 9-&-10-year-old Danielle and Hanna.Their family lost everything in the recent fires.Loch David Crane will accept all donations andsee they are delivered to the girls who lovemagic! Bring your donation to the next meeting.

*

MagiCurrents Page?

The Village Wizard morethan just another magic shop

By Michael E. JohnsonHearst Castle might be better known, but a newmagic shop called The Village Wizard is destined tobecome a favorite stop for magicians in CentralCalifornia. Owned by Rick Bruce, a former presidentof Ring 76, the Village Wizard is located in the quaintcoastal town of Cambria, in San Luis Obispo County.

After reading about Rick's shop in MagiCurrents, Idecided to drop in while traveling north alongHighway 1. What a pleasant surprise! This magicshop had real personality. Here was the largestselection of magic greeting cards and wizardmaterial I have ever seen, and not a fake dog pilegag in sight.

Even more impressiveis the magic inventory.There are large displaysof videos and books,tricks, and colorfulprops. Severalgorgeous Norm Nielsenposter reprints in framesgrace the walls of thisenchanting magic

emporium. The shelves are stocked with qualitymerchandise. It is obvious from first glance thisstore is operated by a magic professional, with real-world experience.

It was interesting to hear Rick counsel a youngteenager on what magic to purchase. Recently I hadvisited the Magic Shop in Disneyland, and wasdisappointed to see row after row of light-upthumbtips and off-color gags, with no books or propsin sight. That store seemed more interested inpushing stripper decks and whoopee cushions thannurturing the art of magic.

Village Wizard ShopCambria, California

What would The Village Wizard recommend to apotential teenage customer? Well, rather than sell"Flash for Cash," Rick recommended a single book,Mark Wilson's Course in Magic, my own personalfavorite. The youngman seemed disappointed, buthe followed Rick's advice and avoided the expensivelevitation effect.

After introducing myself, I discovered that Rick is asnice as his magic shop. He insisted on giving me abag of donated stuff to bring back to Ring 76 for afuture raffle. He even offered to help book mytheater show, "Magically Yours," in the same venuewhere he recently had a sell-out audience for hisown production titled: "Pandora's Carnival of Chaos."

During my brief stay at hisstore, I could see that Rick hadactively involved himself in thecommunity where he lives. Inthe span of fifteen minutes, hedemonstrated tricks, ran thecash register, loaned out toolsto a neighbor, took phone calls(one to support a localfundraiser, to which he agreed)and made a phone call to hisbabysitter to check on the well Rick Brucebeing of his youngsters. Businessman/

MagicianNow, Rick is assuming evenmore responsiblity by taking over the ownership ofthe Rumpelstiltskin Book Gallery. That businessstocks children's books and features "tales ofenchantment and toys of the imagination." The newstore is down the street from the magic shop.

If you ever travel near the community of Cambria, besure to visit the Village Wizard. It will be part of myitinerary, whenever I am on old Highway 1. Theshop is located at 746-B Main Street in downtownCambria. Drop by and say hello; Rick would love tosee you.

Loch David CraneSays:

Thank Youfor your support during hisrecent illness and troubledtimes.

Planting seedsfor a new generation.

Caring,Sharing,

Giving back to the community.

Fellowship of Honorable Magicians1657 Palomar Dr.. San Marcos, CA 92069

PageS MagiCurrents

Magic Notes from Jack White

Magic marketing plan for the first part of 2004For years I have been jotting down ideas for magicshows for various times of the year. In looking overmy notes and the notes of a few friends, I have puttogether a magic marketing guide for the first fivemonths of the year 2004. If you take the time toread through this column, I think you will find acouple thought's that might help motivate you inbooking some new magic dates for the monthsahead.

I urge everyone to keep a database of people youwork for, and contact those people regularly for newwork. Keep names, dates, phone numbers, e-mail,and street addresses. This file will pay off, so takethe time to set up such a filing system today.

January

Traditionally, January is a dismal month for parties.Everyone is tapped out following the holiday frenzy.The only holiday in January is Martin Luther KingDay. This can be a good time to book some libraryshows because the kids are not in school. Manytimes you can get a Friday, Saturday, and Mondayout of this holiday. Also check for Martin LutherKing Day celebrations and festivals; there are oftentimes opportunities for bookings at these events.

January also has Super Bowl Sunday; mostmagicians have never considered Super Bowlparties to be the sort of event that neededmagicians. Let me tell you that in the past fewyears many people are throwing more and moreelaborate parties and are inviting not only beerdrinking football fans, but also entire families.Anytime there are families, there's a potential marketfor magic. The best way to promote yourself forSuper Bowl parties is word of mouth. So get theword out to your friends and past clients and let'shope for some bookings.

February

Once again Presidents' Day means schools are outand libraries are looking for performers to bringyoung people in for some culture and entertainment.

Valentine's Day, although not normally much of aholiday for magic, can be a bonanza if you are aballoon sculptor. I recently heard the story of amagician/balloon worker who opened up a merchant

credit card account specifically so he could doballoon deliveries on Valentine's Day and made abundle of money. Be creative in this area. Thereis, of course, the potential of some extra restaurantwork during the Valentine holiday.

Another overlooked holiday is the Jewish Festival ofPurim, which is the most festive of Jewish holidays.It's a bit like working an indoor carnival. Find out ifany synagogues in our area are planning largecelebrations for Purim and find out who is bookingthe event. For more information about Purim, go towww.holidays.net/purim: this will help you plan yourprogram.

One last thought for February: consider approachingretail stores running "President's Day" sales. Askthem about doing strolling magic or balloon sculptingas part of an in-store promotion. Most stores pay afee for your work and let you keep all of your tips.

March

Dr. Seuss's birthday is March 2nd; many schools,libraries, and bookstores run special eventscelebrating the birth of this famous children's author.A magic show is a great way to get more kids in forthe celebration target libraries and bookstoresspecifically. Put your ideas for a show on paper andsend book stores a package to consider.

March is also International Mirth Month-the purposeof IMM is to show people how to use humor to dealwith stress and difficult situations. This could be agood time to break into motivational speaking, usingmagic and comedy. For a great resource in puttinga program like this together, Doyne Michie's audioand videotapes - "The Therapy of Laughter" isavailable from Flora and Company atwww.floraco.com/othfam.htm

Don't forget the Irish and St. Patrick's Day. Here isanother opportunity to work a pub, a restaurant, orparty. I do recommend you know how to handledrunks and whatever you do know the words to thesong "When Irish Eyes are Smiling." Just being ableto sing that one song can get you out of a lot of tightspots on St. Pat's Day. I learned that the hard way.

How about March Madness? For those who haven'theard the expression, March Madness is when all ofthe college basketball teams play for the NCAA

MagiCurrents Page 9

Championship. March Madness has become a timefor a reasonably enterprising performer to be able tofigure out any number of tie-ins with local business.Think restaurants, sports bars, and sporting goods.

April

The days are longer and the weather starts to turnnice, and this is the time that many areas begin tostage street fairs and festivals. Drop by the frontdesk at City Hall and pick up a list of street fairdates. They also have contacts for each street fair.If you work as a street performer, do more than justpass the hat, have something to sell, Svengalidecks, Twisty the Worm or the magic mouse. Agood street magician with a pitch can do well at aone-or-two day street fair.

Here is an idea for Tax Day April 15th. There arealways long lines at the post office with peoplemailing tax returns. Check with the postmaster andsee if he will let you do some free close-up magicwith money for people standing in line at the postoffice. You may get a few tips but most of all youwill get your face on a television news program.News crews cover the post office like a rug on taxday and you doing some magic for those in line, andusing the green stuff as a prop is sure to get you afeature story on TV and possibly the newspaper aswell. Just a thought.

Easter is a natural for Brunch with the Magic EasterBunny. Head down to the Buffalo Breath CostumeShop and see if they have a rabbit costume in youror your assistant's size and put a hold on it. Line upa restaurant for the Sunday before Easter andEaster Sunday and plan to work fast for eachcustomer and you can turn this holiday into ajackpot. The restaurant can advertise the MagicEaster Bunny will appear and perform during brunch.This is a win-win promotion for you and therestaurant.

Spring Break-again, as we've discussed, wheneverschool is out is a good time to work libraries.Approach libraries in January or February with your

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Holy Communion ceremonies, the biggestdifferences between a birthday party and acommunion party is there will be adults present, soyour act needs to be able to play for families, not justkids; and most communion parties will either becatered at a hall or in a backyard, so you also needan act that will play bigger than a living room show. Iwould contact all the major catering companies inSan Diego County and leave an advertising packagethey can give their clients for these parties.

After Prom Parties are very lucrative both private in-home parties, and school sponsored "grad nights."A recent issue of "Magic Menu" has a great featureon working this rapidly growing market. MarkStrivings has a market-exclusive audiotape set thatwill give you everything you need to know aboutworking them. E-mail Mark at MarkyApril@aol.comyou will find his ideas very helpful.

Well, that gets us to early summer. We will talkabout more booking opportunities for the rest of theyear in a later column. There are manyopportunities to perform and make money in themonths ahead. Get out there and promote yourself,and the jobs will follow.

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Page 10 MagiCurrents

MessageFrom thePresident

Dear fellow Ring76 members,

I hope that everyone had a greatholiday season!

I really enjoyed myself workingthe various clubs and holidaydinners. I'd like to thank all of thepast Ring 76 presidents whomade the effort to attend theDecember meeting and performfor us. They each did a wonderfuljob! A "special thank you" is inorder for Pat Hannum, the"grandam" of Ring 76. It is alwaysa pleasure to have her at one ofour functions.

Now that we are into January2004, it's time to set goals for theNew Year. Jack White has puttogether a very interesting magicmarketing plan in this issue ofMagiCurrents. Please take a lookat it; there are some good ideasfor new shows. I would love tosee our club joining together anddoing more volunteer shows forcharity, as well as becoming anactive part of the "Healing withMagic" program, which is an IBMsanctioned activity. Read moreabout it online atwww.magician.org.

Our "Close-up" contest is inFebruary. This year we are goingto try a new format. We will havefour different tables and eachcontestant will perform at eachtable. Audience members will beable to see each performer close-up, not on a big-screen television.The contestants will rotate to eachtable, performing their routine fourtimes. The voting members willhave some guidelines to follow forthe judging process. Sign up with

Bob Ingalls for the contest.Members have requested thisnew system for several years, andwe have decided to try it this yearand see how it works.

The board is happy to announcethe appointment of "LifeAchievement Memberships" toJack Evans and Joe Bertuzzi.Both of these gentlemen havetouched Ring 76 in positive waysover the years. They now join avery select group of Ring 76Lifetime members.

Do you know someone who wouldlike to be a member of Ring 76?Invite them to a meeting; let themknow about our club.

Remember our January meetingis the IQ^A week later than usualso those going to Las Vegas andthe World Magic Seminar will nothave to miss a regular meeting ofthe Ring.

*Resident Magician &Gocdw.i! Ambassador sthe Corvette Diner1S87-2GQ24Member of Hollywood'sPrestigious "MagicCastie"Since 1981

VMember ofInternsSiona! Broihernooof Mag^osnsSince 1S7S

<*>Member cfSociety of AmericanMagiciansSince 1974

"Magic"Mike Stilwcll(619)660-9662

P.O. Box 1166Rancho San Diego, CA 91979email; magicmikeofsd@aol.com

Board of DirectorsDiane LanePresident858-278-1669dvlane@san.rr.com

Bob Ingalls1st Vice President858-571-3340bailysgp@san.rr.com

Joel Moskowitz2nd Vice President858-587-8951jamoskowitzmd @ pot.net

Jack WhiteSecretary619-299-9037prestoone@cox.net

Richard UstickTreasurer619-463-2407rustick@flash.net

Sherry LuftSgt. at Arms619-543-0354

J.P. JacksonMember at Large858-569-0096

Don SoulImmediate Past President858-484-3492dsoul@san.rr.com

MagiCurrents Page 11

News

San Marcos-based Magician MichaelE. Johnson received a $2,000 grantto bring his Life Skills Magicprogram to the Children's Hospital inDallas, Texas. Just TechnicalAssociates, a computer ServicesCompany based in Dallas, providedthe grant During a tour of variouscancer wards and clinics, Johnsonperformed close-up, interactive magicto provide distinctive therapy forchildren who face serious healthchallenges. He did his famous phonebook tear at least a half dozen timeswith the 1,300-page Dallas telephonebook, as an example of overcomingobstacles. For the past several years,Johnson has brought magic to theChildren's Hospital in San Diego,sponsored by the Starlight Children'sFoundation of Los Angeles.

Rick Brace, past Ring 76 president,reports that his magic shop "TheVillage Wizard" is near the epicenterof the 6.5 earthquake that rolledthrough the central Californiacommunity of Cambria, Dec 22nd.Rick says his shop had a lot ofmerchandise fall off shelves but onlyone item was broken. Best of all,there were no injuries. Rick's storerecently sent some nice raffle itemsour way, and we thank him for thekind thoughts. See Michael E.Johnson's review of Rick's store onpage 7 of MagiCurrents.

According to magic merchants,during the Christmas Season thehottest item on their shelves wasMichael Ammar's "BusinessCard" DVD. It features a dozeneffects with business cards formagicians.

The Western Fair Association will beholding their annual meeting in SanDiego in January. Terry Godfreywill showcase his magic act during

Briefs

that event and will be one of the fewentertainers performing during theconference. The Western FairAssociation is where performers goto get booked for the fairs held in theeleven western states. Terry willalso go to Oregon and present his actfor the Oregon Fair Association inlate January. Godfrey says he hasalready booked a number of dates forfairs in 2004. If you would like tosee Terry in action ,he will beworking Seaport Village, doing hisact the afternoons of February 5th,12th, 17th, and 26th. Stop by and sayhello and see some great magic.Show times are 12 noon and 1:30 pm,at the West Plaza.

In case you haven't heard, Ring 76President Diane Lane will grace thecover of the January issue of"Linking Ring" magazine in 2004.The magazine's Executive EditorPhil WHJmarth told MagiCurrentshe was impressed after reading aboutDiane's achievements in magic andher health challenges and wanted tofeature her story in the magicmagazine that is read world wide.Ring 76 is also proud of our presidentand fellow member and wish her wellin the year ahead. Congratulations onthis great honor, Diane!

David Eldridge, manager of BradBurt's Magic Shop tells us that, aftermore than a year of editing andwaiting, his new DVD"Fundamentalism" will be released inearly January. The DVD is a basictraining session in how to present

good mentalism. It will of course beavailable through Brad Burt's MagicShop.

If you are looking for some goodclose-up magic and a good meal atthe same time, drop by "TheGathering," a family restaurant at thecorner of Washington and GoldfinchStreets in Mission Hills; TomMcCarthy and Craig Stone workthe tables Thursday through Sundayevenings. Both of these performersare excellent entertainers. Drop byand enjoy their work. You mighteven be able to talk the restaurantowner, Dan Thomas, into doing aquick routine for you.

Longtime Ring 76 member IsinaelSanchez, now in semi-retirement, hasrevived his skills as a portrait painter.At the December meeting he broughta very beautiful painting of magicianDick Dale, and let the membershipsee his work as an artist. Anyoneinterested in having a similar paintingof themselves should contact Ismaelat 619-440-4823. His art work isoutstanding.

Bob Ingalls celebrated his birthday atthe Magic Castle in Hollywood onDecember 19th. The staff at theCastle Restauranat came out and sangHappy Birthday to Bob.Ingalls was joined by Ralph Mauzy,Jason Latimer and Jason's fiancee,Morgan. In case you are wondering,Bob is 39, again. FISM GrandChampion Jason Latimer told Bobhe is returning to college in Januaryafter taking the fall semester off totour with his magic act. Latimer willbe performing at the IBM Conventionin Cleveland, Ohio, next summer.

Surait Dna, former Ring 76 member,has just completed his first semesterof medical school in Los Angeles.Hang in there, "Doctor Dua"!