February Meeting Report
President Tom O’Lenick got the meeting started by showing the “heavy weight (almost 11 pounds)” new book written and published by Richard Kaufman called Deland – Mystery and Madness. The book comes with a special deck of cards printed by the US Playing Card Company of tricks that Theodore DeLand created from 1904 until 1931. Some included cards are for The Yogi Wonder Cards; The Devil’s Own Trick; X-ray Pack, and Phantom Card trick. O’Lenick also show two additional decks that Kaufman reprinted; The Automatic Trick Cards (deck with a million marks) and Wonder Deck. Deland was very prolific creating and selling hundreds of card tricks during his lifetime. Theodore DeLand, Jr. died in a psychiatric facility in 1931.
The group also shared some upcoming regional events. On March 29th, Masters of Illusion will be at Mystic Lake Casino near Minneapolis. Piff, The Magic Dragon will be in nearby Madison, Wi. Jerry Martin will be attending and invited others to ride along. Also in March, Adam and Lisa Moore will be ending their year of performances at the Plymouth Playhouse.
Tonight’s performances began Larry Kahlow performing the DeLand Phantom Cards. Then a “show and tell” by Jerry Martin. He showed a double reel device made by P&L that allows the magician to “float” a spread of cards between his widely separated hands. The P&L device was sold since the early 1960s. He then showed a clever new version called “Suspenz” which accomplished the same effect.
Next up was Drew Hanson. He show a very clever new trick that utilized a Rubick’s Cube that was mixed and hidden. Drew then correctly predicted the Green side with 100% accuracy. A new technology that most had not heard allowed Drew to fool the group. He was kind enough to share the method with everyone in a short tutorial session. I’m sure Google was deluged with searches following his presentation!
Tom O’Lenick announced he had made a prediction and then continued by asking four people to each select a random digit from 0 to 9 from which they would collectively create a valid time that you would see on a clock. The volunteers decided upon 7:53. O’Lenick then directed their attention to a black cloth bag that had been hanging in full view throughout the entire meeting. Without going near it, he had another individual collect the bag and announce what was inside. Surprisingly, it was a wristwatch set to the exact time that had been randomly created moments earlier. This is a great new effect called “ShowTime.”
Our next SAM #12 Assembly meeting will be on March 15th. The meeting theme will be “Thumb Tips, Sixth Fingers, Sanada gimmicks and other false appendages with which you can create great magic.” Plan to attend. Until soon, best magical wishes, TomOL.
