Published by the International Brotherhood of Magicians

Honest Sid Gerhart Ring 76

Editor and Publisher - Malcolm Campbell, Editor@ring76.com

Photography — James Thayer, Proofreaders — Bob Pozner, Sherry Luft

San Diego Ring 76 February 2016 VOL. XXX #2

© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76

MagiCurrents

PRESIDENT’S

MESSAGE

Our “Technology Magic”

experiment seems to be a

success with it seven

participants. All did a great

job.

February’s meeting

features the annual Close-Up Contest. Pre-

registration of contestants already includes

former winners and first-timers. Good luck to all!

It’s not too early to think about March’s

Kids’ Magic Night. We hope to perform to a

group of kids.

Our library continues to grow and is avail-

able to all members. Please email me at

magicjugglerks@gmail.com if want to check out

books or dvds. A list of all library materials is

available on our web site at ring76.com.

We regret the passing of Jim Patton (1940-

2016) who was a regular at the Castle performing

mostly at the bar in the inner circle. Jim hosted

tha “Magicana” column for Genii magazine from

1989-1992

Don’t forget that Magicurrents is always

looking for your review of any magic-related

item including tricks, books and dvds you’ve

purchased, shows you’ve seen, etc. Please

contact the editor at timeformagic@att.net if you

have something to share with the membership.

……… kenny

Ring 76 2016

Calendar

Feb 8 Close-up Competition

Mar 14 Kids Magic*

Apr 11 Story telling (skit/movie) Magic*

Apr 10 or 12 (TBD) Free to members

Martin Lewis Lecture

May 9 Stand-up Competition

Jun 13 Food Magic*

Jul 10 Installation Banquet

Tentatively Cottonwood CC

Aug 8 Bag Night*

*Opportunity for Members to Perform

San Diego Ring 76 meets the second

Monday of the month. For the foreseeable

future, general meetings will be held at:

Denny’s at 4280 Clairemont Mesa

Blvd. San Diego 92117.

Direct any questions concerning the

calendar to VP Entertainment Richard Ustick,

ring76ibm@yahoo.com.

MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 2

San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians

© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76

Focus On THE LINKING RING

Each month, MagicCurrents features an

item in the current issue of The I.B.M.’s

The Linking Ring in which we feel the

members might be especially interested.

I sometimes have to force myself to take

time to read through TLR and sometimes get

a few months behind. But, I know for sure,

you cannot at least leaf through any recent

issue of the magazine without becoming a

better magician in some way.

I went online to skim through the

advanced electronic copy of the January issue

to get some ideas for this column and could

hardly put it down.

The first thing that caught my eye was

Genii Magazine’s ad for a FREE COPY of a

DVD containing the fully lecture Di Vernon

did in Japan in 1969. Just subscribe to the

magazine and it’s yours!

Then there is a very inspirational message

by our Executive Editor, Sammy Smith, the

British Parade with how-tos from a chain

escape to building a portable table, Chris-

topher T. Magician’s “Making Kids

“ROTFL” (Roll On The Floor) — featuring

his secrets for filling a performance with

laughter, and a walk-around pocket effect by

Andrew Woo where a ring is passed over a

floating card.

Sammy and his staff continue to produce

one of the finest magic magazines in the

world. A subscription pays for itself over and

over. Once you subscribe, reading it is free!

……. editor

MINUTES OF THE JANUARY

MEMBERSHIP MEETING January 11, 2016

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by

President Kenny Shelton. Prior to 7:00, Members

took advantage of the Denny’s menu.

Announcements included information from

Malcolm Campbell and Bob Meigs about the

schedule for the second round of “Wizard”

training at Nativity Prep. Members were

encouraged to participate in the training.

Greg Wauson made the members aware of cds

by Roger Love that help train your voice for better

stage presence and control. He highly endorsed

them.

Sunday magic sessions are starting to be a

regular thing at the Pearson residence. Typical

schedule is Sunday afternoon at 1 pm till close.

The Close-Up competition next month was

announced and arrangement of the room to

accommodate it was discussed. Because of the

limited space, we will have only one performance

table and each entrant will do his act just once.

Finally, the members chose Martin Lewis as

our next lecturer.

V.P. of Entertainment Richard Ustick got right

to it and introduced this month’s theme,

“Technology Magic!” This new topic for meeting

presentations was an experiment on the part of the

Board to switch things up. And the members

responded with invisible gadgets galore!

Terry Lunceford opened with a baffling card

prediction by turning his back on the crowd and

correctly identifying a selected card in the

audience. Then he went for the low hanging fruit

and performed his own Viper the Basket Snake

routine, which is a bona fide classic.

Next came Malcolm Campbell, with a

different card prediction Sadly Malcolm’s battery

died mid effect (at least, that was his excuse for

blowing it) and we will never know what to

expect.

(Continued on page 3)

MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 3

San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians

© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76

Greg Wauson was next with a very strong

statistics-twisting effect. He predicted the toss of a

coin six times correctly, in sequence. The

prediction was a photograph!

The Herr Meigs, der Re-Animator-Meister,

demonstrated the Frankenstein machine! A dead

bat was seen to re-animate as Bob explained we

were witnessing the prototype defibrillator.

Sherry Luft defied years of avoiding the

limelight and performed a wonderful card

prediction that used a clock face as the interface

with the audience.

Alex Greenbaum set up a computer and

projector to run us through some clever magic

affects that were performed by the computer.

Dr. Jeff Pearson did a clever demonstration of

Mental Deck using a virtual deck on an iPhone.

Something about that screen image is captivating.

Our final performer was Loch David Crane

making his bid to do the anti-technology magic and

performed a sweet sequence of three rubber-band

effects.

We then adjourned to clean up the meeting

room and put the chairs away.

…….. jacques lord, secretary

(Continued from page 2)

Emcee Richard Ustick, VP of Entertainment

Malcolm Campbell

MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 4

San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians

© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76

Greg Wauson

Bob Meigs

Sherry Luft

MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 5

San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians

© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76

Alex Greenbaum

Jeff Pearson

Loch David Crane

MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 6

San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians

© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76

THE HOPEFULL CONTESTENTS

AND THE WINNER IS …..

TERRY LUNCEFORD !!

CONGRATULATIONS TERRY!!

MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 7

San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians

© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76

FEBRUARY CLOSE-UP CONTEST REMINDER Our annual Close-up Contest will be held at this month's General Meeting. on February 8th.

All members in good standing are welcome to

enter the contest to become Ring 76's Close-up

Performer of the Year.

Due to the limited space in our meeting room, the

set-up, procedures and rules are different than they

have been in the recent past so, please, review the

following carefully. The rules will be strictly

enforced.

Table Set-Up & Contest Format

There will be only one performance table. Each contestant will perform once in front of the

whole body of members attending.

Time Limit Ten minutes with a 1-Minute Warning. When the contestant has signaled that he is ready, the

1st Vice President, Richard Ustick, will call, “Go!” and the timer will start. At the end of nine

minutes, “One minute” will be called. At exactly 10 minutes, “Time! will be called and the

contestants must stop completely.

If a contestant continues to perform after “Time!” has been called, the judges will be instructed

to score that contestant with a “0”.

Maximum Number of Contestants Due to time constraints, our competition can only allow for 10 contestants total. The 1st VP

must be contacted to reserve a spot if you wish to compete, Even if there is an open spot, no late

entries will be accepted at the meeting.

Scoring

Each contestant’s performance score will be determined by a combination of a judges’ score and

member votes. Judges will score each of the following categories on a scale of 0 to 10.

• Technical Skill

• Showmanship/Presentation

• Entertainment Value

Total Judges’ Score for each contestant will be the sum of the scores assigned by each of the 4

judges. This will count as 60% of the contestant’s final score.

Each member will get to vote once for his or her favorite contestant. Member votes count

for 40% of the final score.

Additional Information/Reservations

Contact Richard Ustick, Ring76ibm@yahoo.com

MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 8

San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians

© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76

SHAVINGS FROM THE BOARD MINUTES OF RING 76

BOARD MEETING

January 25, 2016

Summary of Actions: No noteable resolutions

------- The meeting was called to order by

President Kenny Shelton at 7:21 pm.

Present were Treasurer Bob Meigs, VP

Membership James Thayer, Member at Large and

Newsletter Editor Malcolm Campbell, Secretary

Jacques Lord, President Kenny Shelton, Past

President and Member at Large Sal Barajas, and

Member at Large Mago Ruly. Sargent-at-arms Jeff

Sargent was absent.

Approval of previous minutes

November 2015 Board minutes were approved

as submitted.

Treasurer’s Report

Bob presented the Ring 76 Treasury Report.

Cash balance as of November 23th is $2,369.54.

with $890 in the Honor Ring account for a net of

$1,469. We are essentially paying our way month

to month so long as we use the free Denny’s room

every other month or so. Treasurer’s Report

approved.

Library

Charlie Gott and Malcolm Campbell made or

are making contributions to the Library. Not

much else to report this month.

Membership

66 active members. Michael E. Johnson and

Gary Desmukes both re-upped.

Old Business

December’s Meeting was the Holiday Potluck.

The banquet was held at St. Bartholomew’s

Episcopal Church in Poway. Space was adequate

except for lack of a stage. Kitchen and food

service were fine. Attendance was good, but the

location was hard to find for some or simply

inconvenient for others. Still, the event was a

success. Raffles were held and prizes awarded.

Mr. Rich Crowley of the Magic Castle was an

excellent performer.

Castle Trips/Carpools. Action: Jacques will

publish some dates to go to the Castle. Newsletter

readers can respond to Jacques and arrange to tag

along. Free Lecture by Martin Lewis. The Lecture

will be April 2016, either Sunday the 10 or

Tuesday the 12. To be decided in the next month

or so.

New Business Installation Banquet: Sunday July 10, 2016 at

the Cottonwood CC at this point in time. Details

including food, entertainer, and location to be

firmed up in the next month or two.

Holiday Banquet. The 2016 Holiday Banquet

is tentatively scheduled for December 12,

Monday, to be held at Nativity Prep. Plan B is

possibly returning to St. Bartholomew’s in Poway.

Judging for the Close Up contest. Need 4

judges. Sal Barajas will be is one. Need three

more. Jacques Lord to find one and Bob Meigs to

get the other two.

Stand Up Contest: Need a stage. Denny’s and

St. Bart’s will not do. Date is set as May 9th.

Location possibilities are Nativity Prep, and The

Queen B theater in North Park. The Community

Room in the La Jolla Village Square mall is

another potential Free Room.

Newsletter Assignments Need to get Malcolm info by Wednesday for

newsletter. Entertainment and themes through

July, Location for meetings. Contest Rules and

locations. Castle field trip.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted.

….. jacques lord, secretary

MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 9

San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians

© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76

BEHIND THE SCENES

A brief look at members’

contributions to the success of the

Ring, professional backgrounds

and other interests.

SHERRY LUFT ex-

emplifies the "Behind the

Scenes" themes of this

column. Despite keeping a

low profile, Sherry is an

accomplished magician

and has participated in

Ring 76 in many capacities

for 28 years. She recently

was awarded lifetime membership, receiving the

recognition she deserved for her many years of

exceptional service.

The positions Sherry has held in the Ring

include being one of the few female Presidents of

Ring 76, Vice President of Entertainment, Vice

President of Membership, Secretary, Sergeant at

Arms and Member at large. She was recently

added to the Magicurrents editorial staff. Sherry is

also an I.B.M. Order of Merlin member (25 years

of continuous membership).

She caught the magic bug as an adult and

considers herself a hobbyist. In the 1990's, Sherry,

along with other magicians, performed weekly at

Balboa Hospital’s orthopedic ward for several

years.

She was raised in upstate New York and has

lived in San Diego for over 35 years. Sherry has

dual BS degrees in Children's Theater and

Elementary Education Certification. One of her

various occupations was as an administrative

assistant for an environmental consultant company

where she performed magic for the clients. She

operated a camera for "Magical Moments", a local

cable show, for 2 years.

Currently, Sherry is working as Office

Manager in the security field. Her hobbies are:

magic, reading crime novels, visiting Balboa Park

museums, watching TV comedies and movies, and

learning handwriting analysis.

You can always count on her to help at the

monthly meetings, whether it is with Richard and

Cristina at the auctions or cleaning up or vol-

unteering with the magicians on stage.

NATIVITY YOUTH

PROGRAM UPDATE

With the successful completion of the premier

youth development program at Nativity Prep

Academy, a second phase has been planned.

The format will be similar to the first phase

with the exception that the children will be taught

short routines rather than just a single trick, and

the focus will be on presentation and patter.

A few more volunteer instructors from the

Ring are needed to support the program which will

include the following sessions and events:

1 2/25 1-2 PM Organization (Demo)

2 3/3 1-2 PM Paper Magic Demos

3 3/10 1-2 PM Paper Magic Workshop

4 3/17 1-2 PM Rope Magic Demos

5 4/7 11:30 -

12:30 Rope Magic Workshop

6 5/5 1-2 PM Cards & Miscellaneous

7 5/12 1-2 PM Workshop

8 5/19 1-2 PM Two-Routine Rehearsal

9 6/2 1-2 PM Selected Show Routine

Rehearsal

10 6/9 1-2 PM "The Big Show"

Please contact Bob Meigs if you can help.

Robertmeigs@sbcglobal.net

………. bob meigs

MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 10

San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians

© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76

Thanks to all who contributed to this issue of MagiCurrents!

….. editor

NOTES AND REMINDERS

The intended publication

date of each issue of

MagiCurrents is the Fri-

day 9 days before the

monthly meeting. Sub-

missions from officers,

reporters and other members are due the

Thursday before the publication date. If

you want your newsletter on time, please

be prompt!!

Have magic to sell, stage equipment to

rent? Looking for something to buy or rent?

Need a ride or have room for a passenger to

an out of town event such as the Magic Cas-

tle?

Have a special skill another member

might use? Need a temporary assistant?

Advertise it at no cost to Ring 76

members in MagiCurrents

LIBRARY REMINDER

Ring 76 has a large library of books dvds, even

VHS tapes covering every phase of magic. All of

the Materials are available for members to check

out and use at home.

Kenny Shelton, our Librarian, regularly brings a

sampling to our meetings and those are available for

immediate check out. But you may not know that

the “Library” link on our website leads you to a

complete list. If you find something there that you

would like to use, contact Kenny at magicjug-

glerks@gmail.com. Tell him what you want and he

will bring it to the next meeting.

Remember, we are looking for prod-uct reviews. It doesn’t matter if you liked what you paid for or not, we want your opinion for the benefit of the rest of the members. If you’re not a writer, we can arrange a short sit-down to gather the facts and write the review.