Society of American Magicians Assembly 12

Every May, many SAM12 members head to Des Moines, Iowa, to attend Abracorndabra, and it often happens at the same time as our monthly meetings. This year was no exception. 

Nine SAM 12 members got together Friday afternoon, between lectures, at the Bennigans attached to the hotel. The “official meeting” was pretty low-key, and everyone had a great time!! Food, drinks, and friends!! 

Our next formal meeting is set for September, as we usually take a break in the summer. We’re thinking about doing some informal online hangouts during the summer, though. Check SAM12.org for updates on these and future meetings. Everyone’s welcome to join in.

See this in the July 2025 MUM Magazine

Our April SAM 12 meeting was our 2nd annual Movie Night!! 16 people were in attendance at Discovery United Methodist Church, with 3 more joining via Zoom. 

This year, we watched clips from the 1970s show The Magician starring Bill Bixby as Anthony “Tony” Blake, a wealthy magician who uses his magical skills to help people in trouble. Our special guest was none other than Larry Anderson! Larry worked for Mark Wilson, and together they were the technical advisors for the show. Larry, with Mark, planned the magic and the illusions used in the episodes, taught Bill Bixby, and even appeared in the show himself. Larry had many great stories to tell about being on set and on screen with Bill, deciding which magic trick would be featured, and how it would help thwart that episode’s bad guy. He talked about the individual episodes and gave us great insight into the world of television productions. He answered all of our questions, too! Plus, there was popcorn, pop, and chocolate to enjoy, thanks to Sandy Meyer. Another successful Movie Night, and a great meeting! We’ve already started planning for next year.

Many of us are attending Abracorndabra this year, so our May 16th meeting will be held there. Get the details at SAM12.org.

See this in the June 2025 MUM Magazine

Our March meeting was held at Eagle Magic in Burnsville, with 11 people in attendance and 1 person on Zoom (Hey Keith!!). Our theme this month: Spur-of-the-Moment Magic, or Impromptu Magic With Everyday Objects!

During the business portion of the meeting, Treasurer Adam Moore gave us the good news that SAM12 made money at the auction last month! Next up we launched into an lively discussion of our SAM12 Book Club we’re starting in the Fall. We’re going to start with the Hugard classic “The Royal Road to Card Magic”. Next we talked about upcoming conventions and the SAM 12 members planning to go: Several are going to the Gateway Closeup Convention in St. Louis in April, and many are attending Abracorndabra in Iowa in May–in fact, our May SAM12 meeting will be at Abracorndabra!

On to performances: SAM12 Vice President Larry Kahlow started us off with a card trick, and Adam Moore did a very smooth Crazy Man’s Handcuffs.  Paul Cook did a nice mentalism effect, like a Living and Dead Test with a twist (People I Like / Don’t Like). Next, Paul Ladig performed Key thru Bill, and Brad Gudim worked his magic with four coins.  SAM12 Scribe Paul Sedler made us gasp with his Penrose Pendant, and Tom Fagerstrom made a rubber band jump from finger to finger and a loop of rope pass through a spectator’s arm. Fiinally Jeff Kohagen performed the Al Baker coin thru handkerchief. 
The evening ended with the usual socializing and snacks. Next month is our annual SAM12 movie night. Join us in person or online from anywhere in the world via Zoom. Get the details at SAM12.org.

See this in the May 2025 MUM Magazine

For our February meeting, it was time once again for our annual SAM12 Auction. Twenty-one people attended this year at Eagle Magic in Burnsville. It was a chance to add to your collection or subtract, and often, people did both. Is $100 too much to pay for that book at the bookstore? How about $10 at the auction? SOLD!!

This year we had: books, DVDs, books, a card fountain, DVDs, needle through arm, books, sponge bunnies, and some books!! There were even some vintage posters!! Everything was sold at “I don’t want this anymore” prices. There was something for everyone during our very casual auction, with many laughs and stories. As usual, refreshments and socializing brought the evening to a close.

Join us for our next meeting, won’t you? Either in person or via Zoom. We meet on the third Friday of the month. More information at SAM12.org.

See this in the April 2025 MUM Magazine

Happy New Year from SAM12!! This month’s theme is “Magic with Heart” as we look ahead to Valentine’s Day. We had a large group of 17 people in person at Eagle Magic, with no one joining us via Zoom.

During the Business portion of our meeting, we reminded everyone of our annual SAM12 magic auction on February 21st. It’s a chance to sell unwanted magic and/or buy someone else’s unwanted magic. We also plan on having our 2nd annual Movie Night, complete with a special guest star. Finer details are still being worked out, but it’s scheduled for March 21st.  SAM12 President Kevin Smith threw out the idea of adding a book club section to our monthly meeting. After much debate we put it to a vote and it passed!! Now that it’s passed, we will work out the details and hopefully start the book club with our April meeting. Stay tuned!! Other magic news: Keith Hochstedler recently performed for 20 ten year olds and had to deal with a heckler in the front row the entire show. That led to a great discussion on how to deal with hecklers of various ages and what realistically “should” happen. 
Performances: Manny Betinis did an entertaining sponge heart routine, complete with awful puns. SAM12 Treasurer Adam Moore did a great performance of a borrowed ring appearing on a wand held by two spectators. Paul Ladig produced a huge bouquet of flowers from his Tora Rose Botania. Finally, Sandy Meyer brought down the house with a series of Valentine’s Day-themed tricks! Thanks, Sandy!!

The evening ended with the usual socializing and snacks. Next month we’re having our annual SAM12 Magic Auction. Join us in person or online from anywhere in the world via Zoom. Get the details at SAM12.org.

Look for this in the March 2025 MUM Magazine