Registration is now open for our 100th Anniversary Gala to be held on October 15, 2023! The last day to register is September 30th. However, don’t wait until then. Register by August 31st and receive a free drink ticket!
Our 100th Anniversary Gala is a little over 4 months away on October 15, 2023. We have reserved a beautiful venue (see below for some photos from our site visit). We have a delicious, catered Italian dinner lined up. Now we need you to really make the magic happen.
Dan Witkowski passed away peacefully on May 20, 2023. He was 67. Dan was a respected magician and businessman. He began his career in high school as a magician on the convention and banquet circuit throughout the Midwest. From 1974 to 1976, Witkowski worked at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis as a promotional assistant. During his time at WCCO, he produced the magical special “Abracadabra!”, as well as a documentary based on the life of Houdini. In 1977, Dan founded MagicCom, Inc., a company specializing in marketing strategies, product development, and stage and screen presentations. His company worked closely with numerous Fortune 500 companies, including: Procter & Gamble, Disney, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Hormel Foods, and Target. Additionally, Dan is known for creating the long running seasonal event, The Holidazzle Parade, which was a Twin Cities tradition for 21 years. Among other accomplishments; Dan produced “BeBop Bamboozled,” the 1989 Super Bowl XXlll Halftime Show for the NFL; he was an author for Random House with the unique imprint “AbracaDazzle!”; he worked on broadcast productions for CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS and BBC TV; and he completed special assignments for multiple administrations of the White House.
We are going to cancel the May meeting because quite a few people are going to be at AbraCORNdabra on our “normal” day (the third Friday of the month). We talked about having a hybrid meeting on the 19th with the in-person location being at AbraCORNdabra. Kevin and Adam looked into it, but logistically, it’s not going to work very well.
For those going to AbraCORNdabra, we are meeting at the hotel restaurant (Bennigan’s) on Friday at 4:30pm. Please send us a message if you’re going to be there so we reserve the right size table.
In case you’re curious, we didn’t meet on the second Friday because several others were at the Magic Collector Expo and weren’t sure they’d be back in time for a meeting, and several other people were unavailable. We’re not going to meet on the fourth Friday because there wasn’t much enthusiasm for meeting on the 26th since that’s Memorial Day Weekend.
One hundred years ago, a group of fourteen local magicians chartered the Society of American Magicians’ 12th Assembly. We will be holding a celebration gala on October 15, 2023, and you’re invited! Please save the date and watch for more details.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Magic Picnic originally scheduled for Sunday, July 17th has been canceled. So, we will not meet in July but will instead look to meet in August.
On Friday, November 20, 2020, at 7:00 p.m., we will host Starship Magic — a 50 minute science fiction themed magic show. Science fiction effects such as transporters are presented as magic tricks with humor and multiple references to Star Trek and other SF genres. The show is highly interactive, involving all the members of the audience.
“I really enjoyed STARSHIP MAGIC… this will be a fun and magical event!” — Jeff McBride
Vulcan’s Greatest Magician, S’kai, is presented by Dr. Willie Yee, who has attended the world famous McBride Magic and Mystery School in Las Vegas. Starship Magic has been presented at Trekonderoga, Northeast Trek Con, and Farpoint.
Following the show, Dr. Yee will join us for Q&A and conversation.
Connection info will be sent out by email. If you haven’t been receiving meeting/lecture invites, or have connection questions, please contact Kevin Smith at kjsmith@umn.edu.