Society of American Magicians Assembly 12Our Sept. meeting will be held on the 18th at Eagle Magic in downtown Burnsville. The dues are due. The theme is magic you have bought at Eagle so rush out and buy something between now and then. Remember it’s BYOSTS (bring your own snacks to share). Eagle is located four lights east (or north) of 35w on 13. It’s right under the remax sign.
Bruce Russell Jensen, DDS a.k.a Bruce Russell, Magician died on July 2 in Bloomington, Minnesota at the age of 67. He is survived by his wife and magic-assistant, Gigi.
Born in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, Bruce attended Chetek, WI schools, Superior College and University of Minnesota Dental School to graduate in 1967. Performing magic since age 11, Bruce retired from dentistry in 1989 to pursue his magic career.
Bruce was a friend and mentor to many magicians. His expertise and perfection in the art of manipulation were respected and honored among his peers. A graduate of the Chavez Studio of Magic, Bruce was also a serious student of magic history. He attended many conventions including Magic Collectors’ Weekend, the Yankee Gathering, and Abbott’s Get Together and was a Member of S.A.M Assembly 12 and I.B.M. Ring 19 for 36 years.
Bruce performed a Vegas style show with his wife Gigi. Honored by Winnipeg I.B.M. Ring 40 in 1967, Bruce always had fond memories of his fellowship with the Canadian magicians.
Bruce demonstrated his flawless execution in manipulation in 1965 when he won first place in the S.A.M. national competition. In 1967 Bruce flew to Miami for the I.B.M. convention. He did not bring an act. Rather, he bought a pack of cigarettes, performed his cigarette routine and won first place again for his manipulation at the convention’s contest.
Bruce was meticulous about keeping his magical apparatus in pristine condition. Not only could he repair and refinish just about any prop, he could show you how to perform it properly and hand you a copy of instructions if yours were missing.
Bruce touched the lives of so many magicians, family and friends. From Las Vegas to Minnesota, the legacy of his magic will continue. The full broken wand ceremony was conducted by Fred Baisch at the July meeting of I.B.M. Ring 19.
Elections were held for Assembly 12 officers. The current officers — Adam Moore, President; Steven Peer, Vice President; Dave Taylor, Secretary/Treasurer — were voted in for a second term. The National Council ballot was subsequently reviewed, and Tom O’Lenick was selected as a delegate to the National Council Meeting.
Bruce Jensen is doing well according to Larry and Jennifer Kahlow who had just come from visiting him. Dave reported on his recent trip to Des Moines, IA for Magic Maynia where he saw Fielding West, Justin Alan, and Steve Daly. Larry attended Magic Collectors Weekend in Chicago where Minneapolis-based Tad Ware gave a presentation on Nicola showing never-before-seen photos of the sinking ship that was carrying Nicola’s show.
Jack Nordin gave a mini-lecture on magic tables focusing on P&L flanges, casters, and dragons. Aaron Timmerman performed Extreme Burn by Richard Sanders while telling how he ended up doing this trick in a Vegas casino. Donn French was on next with his trained fleas. Darnay then shared an impromptu card prediction with a borrowed deck that he uses in social situations. Adam performed Art Emerson’s Color Monte which reminded Larry of the time Art sat next to him at a convention, poured a glass of what turned out to be Vodka from a Mr. Clean bottle, and offered it to Larry. Dave performed Card Warp. Dwight Exe threaded Jennifer’s ring on a rubber band and caused it to move uphill. Tom wrapped things up by showing the program from the Tenth Annual Conference on Magic History (held in Los Angeles in November 2007) on Dr. Hooker’s “Impossibilities and Rising Cards.”
Jack Nordin performed his Classic “puzzle” Chinese sticks. William “Darney” VonStocken showed us the shrinking sandwich sign, a snake fakir trick and a magic square.
Jerry Martin introduced us (by bio) to the magician-mathematician Percy Darconis and described a long-distance card trick where a mailed deck is shuffled by the recipient and a card selected. Mailed back, the magician calls the spectator with the name of the selected card.
Dave Taylor entertained us with a four-ace production from Card College. Bruce performed Oscar Munoz’s version of reversing aces (un-gimmicked, impromptu).
Kenny, with Don McLean’s American Pie playing, performed an illusion where, just as the “music died”, so did a music CD disappear from a wooden frame. We were also entertained with the bill-to-matchbook classic.
President Adam Moore, also with musical accompaniment, performed a routine from the November 2008 issue of M-U-M inspired by Robert Service’s poem, “The Shooting of Dan McGrew.”
Remember, starting September 18, 2009, Assembly 12 will meet at Eagle Magic in Burnsville, MN — 4 lights east of 35W on Hwy 13 and CR 11, the southeast corner; look for the Remax sign.
-Steven Peer
We will meet on the 15th at 7:30pm at St. Mark’s in Bloomington. We will be meeting in the lounge due to a garage sale. First order of business is election of officers. Please bring magic and food to share. Dan Witkowski’s presentation originally scheduled for this month has been postponed.
We will not meet in June, July, or August. Starting in September our regular meeting place will change from St. Mark’s to Eagle Magic in Burnsville.
Our April meeting will take place on the 17th of the month. The theme is magic from M-U-M. Next month we will have Dan Witkowski as our guest.
Reminder: Twin Cities Assembly 12 begins meeting at the new location of Eagle Magic Shop, Burnsville starting Sep, ’09 (same day/date).
The past presidents of Assembly 12 representing 27 years of leadership joined us for a special evening where the leadership performed for the members.
William VonStocken (72-73,93-95) opened with a version of “cut here” as a newspaper prediction.
Jack Nordin (74-75, 76-77), in tux, presented Gospel stories using the juggling ball transposition and Chinese rice bowls.
Jerry Martin (86-88; 99-2001) opened with comic juggling. A humorous rendition of the 3 rope trick including a shoelace conundrum.
Bruce Colton (88-90) entertained us with a three card illustration of the classic story of the wool sweater, a party, and an emaciated Mexican Chihuahua. Bruce closed with a dual, any card at any number routine.
Mike Arazi (95-99) performed a great poker routine.
Current president Adam Moore performed the teach-a-(teach-a)-trick version of the vanishing silk (& egg).
Jim Kostick (04-05) had us laughing with his giant (hula hoop) linking rings.
Dave Taylor (05-07) complete with stripping music, performed the classic Hank Moorehouse straightjacket routine.
Theme: Magic I saw/learned from Television
The assembly moved that we accept the gracious offer of Larry Kahlow to host the meetings at Eagle Magic. It was decided that (with Larry’s final approval) we would start meeting there in September, after the three-month summer hiatus.
Adam and his lovely wife (and capable assistant) Lisa performed a wonderful version of metamorphosis. Don French used two chairs and a rope to illustrate a story about a one-semaphore town in the 1940s.
Jack Nordin (left) demonstrated his latest moves in the now-infamous rope routine.
Darnay “took us home” (literally) with video of a complete performance from his home-theater during a SAM Assembly-12 meeting in the mid 1980s. In that Halloween-themed performance, Darnay performed death defying illusions and a levitation with (then teen-age) Suzanne.
Justin Alan was our featured guest.
Prior to Justin’s lecture, we applauded the success of the November meeting held at Eagle Magic. We voted against having meeting-locations rotate between member-homes.
The obituary that Darnay had graciously prepared for Jerry Johnson was read aloud.
It was agreed that the March meeting will feature and acknowledge past presidents of SAM Assembly-12.
Then it was time for Justin. In addition to a delightful sampling of his routine, Justin also shared some of his observations and rules on restaurant magic. We saw a here, then there signed-card routine, a card-to-wallet using his preferred “Real Man’s” brand wallet, and a vanishing tissue sucker routine using a roll of toilet paper (one-ply). We also were entertained with a teathered-folded card illusion and the “Instant M.C.” routine. Justin closed with a tic tac toe prediction. Thank you Justin.
March 20th is the date of our next meeting, and we will be honoring past presidents; most of whom will be performing. This should be a memorable event. Pizza will be served.