Welcome to 2024 everyone!! Let’s make it a magical year! Fourteen magicians attended our January 19th meeting at Eagle Magic. Our theme was “Things You Found While Going Through Your Stuff For The Auction.”

During the business portion, we discussed who’s attending Abracorndabra in Iowa this year and the lineup of lecturers and performers. Several members of SAM 12 are planning on attending and are hoping for another great convention.

Paul Ladig is performing from his basement stage and got written up in the local paper recently, leading to more business. Old-school advertising for an old-school magician! BlackSmith Magic (SAM12 President Kevin Smith and SAM12 Scribe Paul Sedler) performed for an 8-year-old’s birthday party, with 16 kids and a handful of adults in attendance. Good show! Manny Betinis has been performing at various parties…for free. He’s just there. Might as well perform, right? The Amazing Hondo lecture is happening this weekend at Eagle Magic.

Peter Grendle joined us from the Minnesota Jewish Community Center. He’s hoping to put together a Houdini celebration in June and is looking for some help. That got us all talking about Houdini and things that can be done to help celebrate Houdini’s 150th birthday.

On to performances and show and tell: Eagle Magic owner and SAM12 Vice President Larry Kalow performed the Deception Paddle. Colored pips on a metal paddle. Larry says Eagle is the only place you can buy it right now. SAM12 Treasurer Adam Moore shared an old cigar box with some vintage magical treasures he got from his dad. Really cool! Paul Ladig performed a coin-in-glass vanish combined with his Mullica Wallet. The evening ended with the usual refreshments and socializing.

Next month is our annual auction! Sell some of your unwanted magic to other fellow magicians. Join us in person at Eagle Magic. More info at SAM12.org.

 

 

September was a busy month for SAM Assembly #12. On September 18th the group hosted a fun lecture with Steve Marshall from Florida by way of Tokyo Japan. Steve has been touring the Midwest Region for most of the summer. His lecture was filled with lots of clever magic inspired by Japanese magicians. The Ben-san Bowl routine with sponge sushi; the Color Changing Rubber bands and the Little Triumph were each remarkable in their own way. As well as being a former “Ringling Clown,” Steve is a very entertaining magician.    

Then on Sept. 28th,  President Tom O’Lenick called the regular meeting to order by reminding the dozen people in attendance that dues is due for the 2018-2019 year. If paid prior to the next meeting (which can be done on the website www.sam12.org), the assembly will pay (as a special perk) your admission to the magic show that Adam and Lisa Moore are presenting that the Plymouth Playhouse theater. Adam recently made the offer for SAM #12 to hold its October 19th meeting at their show. Following the show, Adam and Lisa will conduct a backstage tour and answer questions from the attendees.

Since the group has been on summer vacation without meetings in July or August, it was fun catching up on member activities. Some included discussions about the Sam National Meeting held in Orlando, the IBM in Grand Rapids, Magic Live in Las Vegas and FISM. During September, the Minnesota group had an excellent representation at the Houdini Club of Wisconsin convention in Appleton (the community where Houdini grew up).

Meeting performances this month included: a Rubber Band effect by Manny Benitis; a Enlarging Chinese Coin presentation by “Magic” Brad Gudim; a Vanishing and Reappearing Coin held high above his head by Larry Kahlow; and a quick coin routine by Drew Hanson. Presentations were followed by snacks broght by Jerry Martin and Tom O’Lenick and deserts hosted by Jennifer Kahlow. Magic chats and sessioning by everyone continued for another hour.

 

Summer finally arrived in the Twin Cities with scorching temperatures over 90 degrees but that didnt hinder a good turn out for the May meeting. Discussions about magic activities during the month included a report on Steve Daly’s AbraCornDabra regional convention in Des Moines which featured Gene Anderson, The Other Brothers, Tim Sonnefelt, Jonathan Burns, Bill Smith, David Charvet, Keith West and company and Rudy Coby!

President Tom O’Lenick also reported on his trip to the Knights of Sleights Magic Flea Market in Chicago just prior to AbraCornDabra.

Upcoming events announced at the meeting: Steve Marshall Lecture on September 18th (free to SAM members); Ben Trainer performance/lecture on June 10th for Sunday Night Magic.

The group also chose the theme for the June 15th meeting. It will be “Dice.” You know, those little square cubes in various sizes with colors and numbers on them. See what you can come up with that will qualify to win a performance prize.

MagicBrad Gudim began the performance portion of the meeting with a clever variation on the “Ramsey Stack of Coins” using a time shift story and a “magic crystal.” Adam Moore shared a trick that David Copperfield did on an early television special called Room Service created by Jonathan Neal Brown. Adam also asked for patter/presentation tips on the Penney to Dime trick and Coloring Book which his son is doing for a school performance. To qualify for the drawing, Drew Hanson then did a nice vanishing finger ring that kept reappearing on his finger. Drew also show his leather crafting skills to some members. He made leather cover tubes for the Ramsey Coin Routine. Finally, Larry Kahlow did a colorful Stiff Rope and won the performance prize drawing donated by Steve Goshman (www.MagicbyGosh.com).

Sandwich snacks provided by Paul Ladig, popcorn by Tom O’Lenick and cookies by Adam Moore were presented by host Jennifer Kahlow. Everyone mingled and chatted about magic until much later in the evening. On the subject of food, we are planning a fun picnic event for our July gathering. Keep an eye open for the details.

Paul Ladig gets ready to perform

a miracle for the group.

Magic Brad Gudim and Manny Betinis look on. 

Prior to performances, we paid tribute to Bill Von Stocken who recently passed away. Bill, aka Darnay, mentored Justin Flom (as a young magian) who created a brief video tour of the theater, pictures of magicians, props and books that Darnay kept in the basement of his home. It was a very sentimental memory.

We then discussed creating a “Tribute Page” of deceased SAM members to add to our website. Even though the idea was enthusiastically embraced, there were a lot of questions about how to handle the information and what should be included. So a committee headed up by Greg Broder was created to explore details and how to proceed. Steve Peer, who first suggested the idea, Adam Moore our web administrator, and Larry Kahlow will also be members.

Tom O’Lenick and David Stahl reported on their recent trip to work as Stage Manager and Production Supervisor for the 50th Annual Academy of Magical Arts (Magic Castle) Awards Show. David Copperfield was named “Magician of the Decade.” Numerous Showroom and Fellowship Awards were presented by Dick Van Dyke, Paul Reubens, John Gaughn, Mike Caveney, Michael Carbanaro and others. Notable recipients included Richard Turner, Johnny “Ace” Palmer, Shoot Ogawa, Collector Ken Klosterman, Historian Peter Lane and Shimada. Comedian and television personality Larry Wilmore was the host and Erika Larsen, Past President of the AMA was the Executive Producer.

The group also approved a lecture by Magician Steve Marshall on Tuesday, Sept. 18th. Steve, a former MUM columnist has appeared on Penn and Teller’s Fool Us and now lives in Japan. Mark your calendars. This will be a free event for SAM members. For all others admission will be $20.

“Rising cards and other ways to cause a card to magically leave the deck,” was the theme for our April Assembly meeting. Larry Kahlow started the performances by showing a technique for making a card rise from the deck using his little finger. Then, Paul Ladig showed a clever trick using a plexiglass holder with a rod penetrating the center. When the rod was removed, the deck “plopped” down and left the selected card rising out of the deck. David Stahl performed a Devano style rising cards finding two selected cards. Tom O’Lenick demonstrated Cardiographic Lite by Martin Lewis.

Treats were provided by Paul Ladig, Jerry Martin, Tom O’Lenick and Jennifer Kahlow. Magical socializing followed for about another hour.

 

Chatting after the meeting with Larry Kahlow, Brad Gudim,

David Stahl and Tom O’Lenick.

 

Our assembly had a very small, intimate group in December.  After a short meeting, Mike performed Sugar Rush (Search YouTube for “Sugar Rush”). Adam performed Daniel Garcia’s iCard. Larry added that the principle behind iCard comes from a Harry Anderson trick. The last 90 minutes was spent in interesting conversation and well-wishing.

The first meeting of S.A.M. Assembly #12 for the 2010-11 year took place September 17^th at Eagle Magic Store, working loosely around a “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” theme. Jerry Martin led off with a rope trick in which a knot tied in the middle appears to jump off; Jerry’s effect was published in M-U-M 35 years ago, and will soon be featured on the S.A.M. National website. Dave Taylor presented a pair of gospel-themed illusions: one – his Pastor’s fave – shows how a broken direct phone line to God can be restored, and the other – one that looked a lot like an Egg Bag – was intended to be a Blackberry Spoiler. Adam Moore showed off a video his employer produced, in which Adam did a quick presentation of two scooters from a newspaper. Then, Steven Peer gave a demonstration of his “Made in America” elevator trick. Jack Nordin was next, using a 130-year-old magic table to present a slow-motion block penetration originally marketed by Town House Magic. The one and only Darnay the Magician followed with a bit of mind-reading with jumbo cards that had been surgically bisected; somehow, the two half-cards matched each other, as well as matching Darnay’s prediction. Larry Kahlow showed around a “Hot Rod” decoration, and talked about the vanish of a marked coin from a drinking glass, only to be found in the cash register’s till. Finally, Jim Rue rounded out the evening’s performances with the slow but inevitable vanish of three half dollars – very visual!

Perhaps it was the theme of escapes or the lure of strait jackets that
attracted a record 20 people to our May meeting. Meeting notes of
interest include the reminder that we do not meet in June, July, or
August; and that valued member Geoff Williams will be moving to Florida.

Thanks to outgoing president Adam Moore and V.P. Steven Peer and congratulations to incoming president Jerry Martin and V.P. Mark Heinrich.

With the close of the meeting, Jack Nordin opened with the squeeze away blocks performed on a circa 1890 table that may have been owned by Houdini.

Darnay revealed the light and dark side of famed magician Jay Marshall.

Brent Andera performed a 5-phase ring & rope routine.

Dave Taylor, in full bi-wing pilot regalla, performed his rendition,
with permission, of Hank Moorehouse’s strait jacket escape (complete
with Dave Rose’s “The Stripper”).

In humorous style, Justin Alan performed two rope escapes.

Rick Ausland tap danced on a custom luggage-stage he’d invented. Adam Moore donned a strait jacket, but only for the 30 seconds it took to escape – the length of the musical excerpt from Mission: Impossible (see it here)

Mark Henrich, in homage to Indian- magician Kahn Be Singh, performed his “classic” ring-off-snake.

Geoff Williams performed a fiction-imitating-life version of cups and balls to poetry where three old men, in their “tubs”, somehow ended up retired to Florida.

Host and Eagle Magic Shop owner Larry Kahlow wrapped-up the evening retelling his 1970s death-defying antics of suspending “friend” Larry Anderson 5-stories over a downtown mall, in strait jacket, using only old, semi-rotten ski rope.

April 16, 2010, Burnsville, MN — The theme of our April meeting was to contemplate and celebrate the magical properties of the three of clubs (Tarot meaning of comprehension; also favorite forced card of Penn & Teller).

Adam Moore performed “Thinking Cap,” where the group “somehow” divined the 3C. Steven Peer premiered “Emote,” a mind-reading effect he’d just learned at a Tyler Erickson workshop. Dave Taylor shared his love of strait jackets and handcuffs; then flawlessly dealt out Don Allen’s “Big Deal.” Host and Eagle Magic Shop owner Larry Kahlow performed “Stop Trick” where, incredibly, the spectator dealt to the 3C! Darnay told a charming story-effect about his trip to NYC where he was introduced to the 3 card monte (Tonte’s version). Charlie revisited Zen’s classic card & envelope trick, “My Fifteen Card Trick.”

Last up, Jack Nordin took us back in time as he slowly assembled a beautiful, vintage, brass P&L magician’s table (just one in his vast collection). On that table, Jack performed his vintage, Thayer-made “Blue Phantom” effect.

Whether Karma, a poor night’s sleep, or unaccounted variables, things happen to undermine our otherwise “perfect” performances. Tonight was a retelling of such disasters.

Dave Taylor shared when 8-year olds – hopped-up on soda and confronted by the sassy patter of Hippity-Hop rabbits – rushed the stage.  Thank God for the chicken wire.

Jerry Martin told how he recovered from his finger chopper effect when he inadvertently selected a woman who was missing two fingers.

Sandy Meyer retooled some classic effects in St. Patrick’s day “clothing” including the Professor’s nightmare and Grandma’s necklace.

Steven Peer played the “Mr Obvious” role with his caution (from personal experience) never to accept a one-hour kid’s show.

Eagle Magic shop owner (and meeting host) Larry Kahlow shared “hip-hop” Hippity-Hop patter and a few dove disasters. He also explained how he controls children’s shows by playing past the kids to the parents.

Aaron Timmerman was brief, yet succinct in his observation that relatives can make the worst audience.

Towards avoiding problems with floating bill effects, Kenny Shank walked us through his quest to find the perfect ITR.

Adam Moore retold when his sub trunk nearly “truncated” the evening. Then he performed his multiplying billiard balls routine in order to replay one evening of heckler’s comments.

Darnay observed that heckling, over the years, has diminished as magic has grown in respect. From his newspaper archives, he recited some classic heckler-comebacks used by Henny Youngman.

Lastly, Jerry told us of a show he’d never forget for returning WWII amputees and one man’s resolve when he went to clap for the first time, realized he couldn’t, and instantly adapted by clapping his lone hand to his knee.