IT WAS FABULOUS! Yes, the I.B.M.
Ring 39 Annual Flea Market was great. On Monday, July 26, we had over 50 buyers
pouring over a dozen tables of new and used magic. People came from hundreds of
miles away including Rob Jenkins from Shreveport,
LA. Lots of good deals were had
and the camaraderie and friendship was overflowing. Lots of magic and ideas
were exchanged. It’s always FREE for Ring 39 members and only $5.00 for
non-members. Everyone is always welcome! Don’t miss out next year!
Top Talent Productions presented
“Champions of Magic”
featuring the magic of multi-winner Ben Jackson at the monthly installment of live
magic shows on July 25th at the Hilton Americas. Ben entertained with coins,
cards, ropes, borrowed finger rings and the production of a full glass of lemonade!
Jamie Salinas closed the show with a variety of entertaining magic including a
rope routine, red and white silk transposition, ring in gumball machine, the
snake basket and closing with his floating table. Scott Wells filled in the
duties of Master of Ceremonies as he kept the program moving along and
entertained in between the two featured performers. Production quality of these
events continues to improve as Scott Wells has joined forces with Jamie Salinas
to make this monthly event ever better.
Zing, Zang, Zoom is the
name of the Greatest Show on Earth. Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey presented
three rings of magic like you’ve never seen before. And nearly 150 local
magicians and our families enjoyed a “Magicians’ Night Out”
on Thursday July 15th. We had a great time and after the show Larry Clark (the
head clown) and Alex Romero (the “Zing” Master) chatted with us
about the circus. Due to the size of our group and security reasons they were
unable to give us a back stage tour. But they answered all of our questions and
lots of photos were taken, too. Many families made it a MAGIC DAY by going to
the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the magic exhibit then attending
the circus. Zing, Zang, Zoom ran through July 25.
Jamie Salinas Productions (JSP) presented “Soiree Enchantee: An
Enchanted Evening” on Saturday
June 12th that featured Magic and Music.DeceptionistRichard Hatch and Violinist Rosemary Kimura was accompanied by pianist Jo Ellen Hubert for a very special evening. This marked the
first time JSP offered a cash bar along with strolling close-up magic by Rick Hebert.
Magic! Comedy! Las Vegas Illusions! “The Curt
Miller Magic & Comedy Show” came to Houston's Hobby
Center for the Performing Arts for one weekend only, May 28-29! Magician &
Illusionist Curt
Miller blended dazzling magic with great CLEAN comedy in a
theatrical show that left the whole family amazed, amused, and most of all,
entertained.
Richard Hatch reported that the
Friday night show started promptly at 7:30 p.m. and was neatly divided into two
60 minutes halves with a 15 minute intermission between them. Attendance was
solid with a large number of families in attendance, which is appropriate as it
is a very "family friendly" show. Those of you who have enjoyed
Curt's MoodyGarden performances the last two seasons
will recognize some familiar and very polished sequences from that venue, but
there is also a fair amount of new material, the highlight of which is surely
his world premier "self sawing" which looked great this evening. I
don't want to spoil it for those who are going to see it, but it is a very
baffling and entertaining new illusion that will surely generate talk in the
magic community as word gets out about it.
Jamie Salinas Productions presented “International Magic” featuring Jamie Salinas and John
Star on Saturday,
May 8, 2010 at the Hilton Americas located in downtown Houston. John
Star opened with clever bits of business including a borrowed
ring in a nest of boxes and a borrowed bill to grapefruit. Jamie entertained
with an excellent coin routine and a chop cup routine. He finished with asnake basket and a Houdini
séance.
Have you enjoyed Sam
Gainer playing the piano for our annual magic banquets and
Memorial Day BBQ’s? Well, the
Houston CPA Society hosted an extravaganza that honored both Sam and his wife,
Norma, on May 1, 2010 at the J.W. Marriott. It was a charity event to
raise funds for college scholarships and to fund other programs in Houston area public
schools in which CPAs are involved. The donations were raised through
sponsorships of this event, raffle tickets, and a silent auction at the
event. Several local magicians provided strolling magic during the
cocktail hour including Scott Hollingsworth, Trixie Bond, Richard Hatch, Bill Palmer and Scott Wells.
Jamie
Salinas Productions
presented a SOLD OUT performance by Scott Hollingsworth and Scott Wells on Saturday, April 10, 2010, 7:00 PM at the
Hilton Americas located in downtown Houston.
To quote Jamie, “Thank you so much
for coming out to my latest production and making it a BIG success. Scott
Hollingsworth was charming, witty, and or course amazing. Scott and Kathy Wells were funny, uncanny and
remarkable!”
We are saddened
to report the passing of Jerry Grey, 88, the Dean of Houston Magicians. Jerry passed away
on Tuesday morning March 23, 2010. As a friend and mentor to so many of
us, the influence that Jerry had on the local and national magic community
was immeasurable and he will be sorely missed by all who knew him. We extend
our deepest sympathy and condolences to his family in this time of sorrow. Services were held Thursday March 25, 2010 at 10:30
a.m. at WoodlawnCemetery with his immediate family attending
along with about 20 members of his extended family of our local magic
community. Gene Protas gave a moving Broken Wand ceremony for Jerry breaking
the same wand that he used at the ceremony for Jerry’s wife, Blanche.
I only seem appropriate that we revisit and re-post
the short video tribute (below) to Jerry Grey
prepared by Gene Protas on the occasion of Jerry’s 83rd birthday in 2005.
Here are a few of the outpouring of comments and
condolences from our magic community received via e-mail to the
HoustonMagic.com group:
“So
sorry to hear Of Mr. Jerry Grey's
passing. He was a very nice man and a wonderful example of how Magicians should
encourage, support and work with each other. Houston will not be the same.” – Cherie
Kay
“I'm
new to the magic scene and only met him a couple of times, but in those brief
moments he was clearly a good soul with a passion for magic. I know
he will be dearly missed. My most sincere condolences to Jerry's family and
friends.”
– Ted Biggs
“Jerry Grey was one of the most sharing magicians,
and always kept a positive spirit. His love of performing, and interacting with
people, was unsurpassed, and he truly will be missed....but we all have our
memories of him. I for one, will hold those memories close.” –Danny Hurwitz
“Jerry Grey was, indeed, one of the shining stars of
the Houston
magic community. He loved to perform, and he loved to teach. There was very
little we could do to honor him as much as he deserved to be honored. So a
group of us put our heads together and decided that we would find a way to
honor him while he was still with us. This is why Jerry became the Dean of Houston Magicians. If
anyone ever deserved the title, it was Jerry Grey.” – Bill Palmer, M.I.M.C.
“At last
Saturday's Junior Meeting, a parent of one of the new kids came up to me and
told me that her son had started by being taught by "Mr. Grey". One
of the things she told me was how the magic had helped her son - self
confidence, self esteem, etc. Jerry had literally touched that kid's life. No
one will ever know how many kids he helped that way. We've lost a very good
man.” –Michael
Satterwhite
‘I asked Jerry to
come to my séances and tell me what he thought.He did not tell me how great I was.He did not tell me how clever I
was.He did not tell me how great
the séance was.He told me
what was wrong and what needed to be corrected to take my séances to a
higher level.This is exactly what
I needed to know and Jerry knew that!I made the changes and Jerry was pleased as well as my audiences
were.That is the kind of man Jerry
was.” – Jamie Salinas
“There aren't many people that
were able to go over to Jerry Grey's
house once a week and stay there for at least 3 or 4 hours and learn magic and
talk about life and how much we enjoy it with him. I was one of those lucky few
who were able to become best friends with Jerry Grey
and learn things about his life and his views on every single thing that
you would ever be able to imagine. Jerry was the kindest and most charitable
man that I have ever met, and I don't believe that will ever change. He may
have taught me more magic tricks and ways to perform them than I will ever
be able to remember, but what I will remember is what he taught me about how to
live my life and help others (the way that he was doing throughout his entire
life).
“I
thank God for giving me the opportunity to spend time with him during last
hours while being there with Robert
Berry and his girlfriend Karen. We were the last people that he talked to and
the best thing is that he was still telling jokes and smiling (as
always) and even laughing once or twice. We made sure that he was as happy
as he could be and gave him every single bit of love left in our hearts to him.
He told us how much that he loved us over and over again, and that is a memory
that no one will ever be able to take away from me.
“Today
was one of the hardest days that I have had in a very long time because it was
my first time to ever have one of my best friends pass away. The night before
he passed away I asked God to take him up to Heaven if he was going to join Him
and go up there to be by His side, and to keep him down on the earth with us if
we still needed to help him find the way to get up there. Jerry Grey was one of the best men that I have ever
known and I believe that God took him out of all of the pain that he was in to
be in the best place possible, right by His side.” – Jordan
Merrick
“I
think it’s all been said and I’m not going to try to add to this
other than to say Jerry will be missed. God Bless Jerry
Grey.” – Phil Kampf
“I
am so sorry to hear about Jerry. He was one of my magic teachers and definitely
one that made you learn it right. I am so glad that I made it to Robert Berry's Hypnosis show last week and got
to see Jerry one more time and shake his hand. Thank you Gene and your wife for
bringing him. I can just picture Jerry showing magic to the angels in heaven
right now. He will be truly missed. I wished I could make the funeral but can't
get off of work. Please give his daughter and family my
condolences.”
– Johan T. McElroy
Daniel Garcia was
one of the featured speakers at the all new Magic Con 2010 in San Diego over the weekend of March 18-21. This was an all new
type of convention that did not feature shows and contests but rather scholarly
presentations in the manner of TED. Daniel was advertised as: “Extremely creative and entertaining
magician leaves his busy schedule as a David Blaine creative consultant to
mystify our convention attendees!” Indeed Daniel is a very busy young
man and this is just one of his many recent accomplishments and convention
appearances. In fact, both he and Alex Rangel
just returned from performing and lecturing in Argentina for their first
“Buenos Aires TieneMagia”
held over the weekend of February 26-28. We are
so fortunate to have such a talent in our local magic community.
Main Event USAin Webster, TX1125 Magnolia Avenue,
Webster, TX77598 hired
magician/hypnotist Paul Carpenter for spring break. Paul Carpenter performed on Sunday March 14 through
Friday March 19, 2010 at the top of each hour from 1:00 – 4:00
p.m.
Jamie Salinas Productions presented Robert Berry, Hypnotist on Saturday, March 13, 2010, at 7:00 PM at the
Hilton Americas located in downtown Houston.
Jamie Salinas opened the show with
his variation of Three Fly and a very funny gumball machine routine. Robert was introduced and proceeded to hypnotize
about ten willing subjects who entertained the assembled group with their dance
numbers and funny reactions while under hypnosis.
Congratulations to our own Ben Jackson who won first place at the 33rd
World Magic Seminar for the international close-up competition. The convention
took place at the Orleans Hotel and Casino. Ben said, “It was great to win this coveted award for the Houston community.”
Magician Robby Bennett gave two performances on March 6th
(6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.) at the Bayou Theatre at
the University of Houston – Clear Lake, Bayou Bldg., 2700 Bay Area Blvd.
This new show, WHERE'S THE RABBIT?benefited Sunshine Kids.
During the course of one show Robby
told gripping stories as narrations to astonishing magical feats, altered your
conception of time and the impact of your own imagination. He also took a woman
from the audience on a first date in front of the rest of the
crowd…that's one you had to see! All of this was done without the use of
large props and theatrical elements, making everything that much more magical
as it happened.
Unlike what you might expect from
typical a "magic show," Bennett created the perfect blend of fantasy
and comedy which has left preview audiences on their feet in applause. Bennett
has made the typical evening of theatre disappear as he takes stage with his
routines involving metaphor, allegory and powerful storytelling. All of which
is brought full-circle throughout the evening.
Banachekwas the featured performer on Saturday January 16th,
2010 at the Hilton Americas Hotel (third floor), 1600 Lamar, Houston, TX77010 as part of Jamie
Salinas Productions. There
were two sold-out performances of Banachek’s
show, one at
7:00 and the second at 9:30 p.m. Each show was approximately one
hour and twenty minutes long.
Harry Maurer, who spends most of his professional life traveling
around the world on the top cruise lines, made a rare public appearance in Houston on Saturday,
January at 9th at Congregation Beth Israel. He provided an outstanding evening
of entertaining professional magic for a special fundraiser.
2009
The Houston Museum of Natural Science presented a sneak preview of MAGIC: The Science of Wonder
on December 27-30 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This preview featureed
walk-around magic by Scott Hollingsworth
and Scott
Wells and the stage magic of Michael Blanco and
Jessica presenting the “Rhythm
of Magic”. The strolling magic went on throughout the main hall with
three 20 minute stage shows presented at 12:00, 1:00 and 2:00. There were not
any magic exhibits at this time but those will come when the exhibit officially
opens on February 26, 2010.
The Evening of “Smoke and Mirrors” continued
at Cigars of the World with Scott Wells who
performed his mentalism and mind reading show on Tuesday
December 15th at 8:00 p.m. at Cigars
of the World, 4505 Highway 6 N, #1500, Houston, TX77084 (Phone 281-656-2424). This
special event include complimentary food and beverages plus a sack of cigars.
The sold out event cost $25.00 per person and $40.00 for couples.
Michael
Satterwhitereprised his Renaissance character, Cardinal
Woolsey (who also does magic) at the Texas
Renaissance Festival during the Fall of 2009. He
appeared on all weekends from October through November 29 including the Friday
after Thanksgiving.
Please join us in celebrating the Presidential
appointment of Jerry Greyas "Dean of Houston Magicians". Jerry
received a framed certificate at the regular meeting of I.B.M. Ring #39 on
Monday November 23rd. The appointment was passed by the Board of Directors
of SAM Assembly 19, IBM Ring 39 and the Houston Association of Magicians.
Jerry was unaware that he was going to receive this honor so his surprise was
genuine and his appreciation was heartfelt. Refreshments were served and a
special video was shown with some vintage photographs of Jerry dating back to
the 1920's. This was a wonderful event and a memorable night for the entire Houston magic community.
We had a wonderful turnout for this special presentation with over 30 people in
attendance. Another presentation will be made at the annual banquet and
Installation of Officers on Sunday February 21, 2010 when we expect to have
well over 400 people attend.
Jerry’s first proclamation as
Dean of Houston Magicians was to request that each I.B.M. meeting begin with
one magician teaching one trick. It was accepted by acclamation and President
Michael Thomas proclaimed that this “teach-in” will begin with the
next regularly scheduled meeting.
Rob
Berry performed his High Class Hypnosis show at Hoot County
Saloon, 444 FM 1960 Road East, Houston,
TX on Saturday, November 14th
beginning at 9:00 p.m. He performed his hyp act again
the next night, Sunday November 16th at Cigars
of the World. This promises to be a regular venue for local magicians to
showcase their talent.
Jamie Salinas
performed a one-man show on Saturday November 14th at the Hilton Americas
Hotel in downtown Houston. The show ran approximately one hour and twenty
minutes with one interval and included Close-Up Magic, Magic of the Mind and
routines from his corporate events as well as material that he performs at
comedy clubs. This was an intimate setting with limited seating.
Jamie plans to make this a regular event featuring other local magicians with
their shows.
Banachekwill be the next performer in 2010 at this venue
presented by Jamie Salinas
Productions. Others lined up for this intimate venue next year will includeRob Berry and Karen with their hypnosis show and Scott Wells presenting the “History of Mystery”.
Ben Jackson…congratulations are in order (again) for another win
for his close-up magic. Ben took first place in November’s “Daytona
Festival of Magic – The Florida State Magic Convention” held in
Daytona, FL. It is great to see Houston
being so well represented beyond our borders by an up-and-coming (or perhaps
“already-there”) young performer. I know we will hear a lot more
about Ben as he competes in more conventions this year which will hopefully
lead up to him getting to compete in FISM in 2012. Good luck, Ben and keep the
faith.
Jimmy Fingers made
a few appearances during October and November at the Laff
Stop that were postponed due to Hurricane Ike last year.
The Fort Bend Junior Service League
and MethodistSugarLandHospital had a magic theme this year at
the Sugar Plum
Market (similar to the Nutcracker Market) on Friday and Saturday November 6th and
7th. Featured performers were Rob Berry and Karen plus
Scott Wells. This was at the Stafford Centre Performing Arts Theatre
& Convention Centre, 10505 Cash
Rd. in Stafford
, TX. It was a fun-filled,
two-day shopping extravaganza featuring over 85 vendors, entertaining fashion
shows, a catered luncheon each day, a wonderful Friday evening dinner,
delicious concessions, exciting raffle, and much, much more! Since the
Market’s inception, the net proceeds have always been given back to local
charities. 2008 proceeds from the Market accounted for $110,000, the largest
amount raised from a League since its inception in 2001.
During the Fall
of 2009 Robby
Bennett presented Where's the
Rabbit? This was launched as the first show of the $1 Million Charity
Challenge and as a Vegas/Broadway preview tour for Illusionist Robby Bennett.
Unlike what you might expect from your typical "magic show," Bennett
has created the perfect blend of fantasy and comedy which has left preview
audiences on their feet in applause. Bennett has made the typical evening of
theatre disappear as he takes stage with his routines involving metaphor,
allegory and powerful storytelling. All of which is brought full circle
throughout the evening. This is a new type of show the theatre has been waiting
for. The impossible is simply overlooked and all logic is forgotten as this new
production opened in 2009.
Ivan Amodei
just finished writing his new book entitled, Magic's
Most Amazing Stories. It is a collection of stories from world
famous magicians detailing "the craziest thing that ever happened to
me" scenarios. Here is how Ivan describes it: "Reports from the road, at the airport, technical problems, hecklers,
lost props, fire, animal mishaps and anything else you can think of IS ALL
HERE! Get an inside look to what happens to the pros while they travel and work
in this exciting profession. Great entertainment and a fantastic read for the
entire family."
Our own Ben Jackson contributed something to
the book and he is flattered and honored to be included among other celebrated
magicians in the book such as Max Maven,
Mac King, Dai Vernon, Dana Daniels and many others. Ads will appear for the
book in the December issue of Genii and MAGIC Magazines. For more information,
visit: http://magicsmostamazingstories.com/
Congratulations, Ben!
S.A.M. Assembly #19 and
the H.A.O.M. presented their annual Magic Auction on Sunday October 25, 2009.
Click on the picture of the treasure chest to see how we did this year! We had
a fair turnout and incredible deals for buyers. Lots of great prices for
wonderful, slightly used magic books, props and
ephemera. Don’t miss it next year!
Scott Wells appeared for the fourth consecutive
year at the Circle S Vineyards annual “Hallo-wino” Party on
Saturday October 31st in Sugar Land,
TX. This was a fun costume party
that grows in numbers every year. Circle S says this is their second most
popular event of the year among all the other special events they hold almost
weekly.
Brett Man performed
“Monster Magic” every Saturday and Sunday in October at the Kemah
Boardwalk.
HoustonSeance.com – Scott Wells and Jamie Salinas
hosted séances during the month of October on Sunday nights. This
year marked their third year performing these séances. This show
has evolved from a raw “spooky magic show” to a true theatrical
presentation.
The T.A.O.M. 2009 convention is history! Wow, what
a convention! President Scott Hollingsworth and his team put on a great event.
Some of the comments heard by attendees were;
1.“This
was even better than Magic Live in Las
Vegas!”
2.“Houston is so friendly and
I have made so many new friends!”
3.“I
must say, I have been to four I.B.M. conventions and a World Magic Seminar and
the T.A.O.M. was a very good convention to attend. You have top of the
line entertainment and great lectures. We just LOVE Oscar Munoz (what a
great man). In any case, thank you for all your help.”
4.“Danny Garcia was great! He took the time to
talk, inspire and amaze me!”
5.“The
Omni Resort and the personnel provided the best venue ever for any T.A.O.M.
convention.”
The numbers are being tallied but
it appears that we had over 700 people in attendance plus we sold enough public
tickets to the evening shows that had people standing in the overflow area! The
local media helped to bring in people with live news segments, recorded
stories, video blogs and newspaper stories. Here are links to those you can see
on the Internet:
You can also visit The Magic
Newswire at http://www.linkingpage.com/
and click on the audio number MNW #146 to hear Ken Scott conduct several short
interviews of T.A.O.M. performers / lecturers. If you don’t already
subscribe to their free podcast, then I highly recommend you add that to your
iTunes store and download new material every week. For a review of the
convention, be sure to read Scott Wells’ report on the Magic Café
by Clicking
Here.
Next year’s convention will
be in Austin, TX on September 3-6, 2010. Be sure to sign
up today. They already have a super line-up of talent booked with special shows
by Max Maven at Austin City Limits. BTW, their registration will be limited to
500. You don’t want to be left out so sign up today! Visit their website
at www.taom2010.com
Congratulations to Dennis Castro
who took first place in the amateur competition on June 16, 2009 at the Improv.
The event was emceed by Katie Turner and sponsored by the Women’s Council
of Realtors. The professional performer at the event was Oscar Munoz, who has won many other
magic awards.
Curt Miller was back in the news and back in
action this summer. Curt returned with, ”The Curt
Miller Magic & Comedy Show” at MoodyGardens in Galveston from June 18 – July 5.
The 90-minute Las Vegas-style magic show featured large-scale illusions,
comedy magic, audience interaction, and professional sound and lighting.
This year’s show also featured four brand new magical segments,
including several original illusions and routines. The show is amazing,
fun, clean, and great for the whole family. For a video preview, please
visit: http://www.curtmiller.com/MoodyGardens.html More information is on his website
at www.curtmiller.com
Rex Crago sponsored the annual BBQ for the 13th
consecutive year. We had nearly 70 in attendance this year that again featured
wonderful BBQ catered by Pappa’s
plus the delicious cabrito (that we almost
“didn’t” have
due to the smoker catching the fence on fire just prior to the party…the
fire department came out and everything, but all went on as planned.) We have
had wonderful entertainment from around the state over the past dozen years
including Cody Fisher,
Brian Brushwood, Diamond Jim Tyler, Claude Crowe, Jeff Lee, Doug
Gorman, Peter Studebaker, Oscar Munoz,
Brad Henderson, Banachek and many
others. This year we reached outside the great state of Texas
all the way to California
to bring in the hot young Turk, Wayne Houchin.
Wayne Houchinentertained our group for about 45 minutes with some
of his original material that included the thread from his eye, signed coin in
sealed can, evolution of a Ring on Arrow trick, a couple card tricks and a needle
swallowing effect. The audience was responsive and loved every minute of it.
Thank you Wayne Houchin and thank
you Rex Crago for opening your home once again. This proved to be another great
fundraiser for the magic club.
Congratulations…AGAIN,
to Ben Jackson
for making such good use of the media. That young magician is a media machine.
He appears on the home page of the A&MUniversity’s
website at www.tamu.edu that flashes up with
the title “Hocus Pocus”. You can go directly to the article by Clicking Here.
Way to go, Ben! We will miss you while you are in Dallas for your internship. Good luck and
enjoy the magic of Dallas!
Jazz
It Up Café was the short-lived host venue for Third
Thursday Night Magic. Cinnamon Vallier
coordinated this activity to feature some of the best in magic that our city
has to offer. After a short hiatus, it re-opened under new management and a new
name…Jazz Bistro. This monthly event is a fundraiser activity for our
group and will is planned to be much the same as the
old days when we had Magic At The Mausoleum. The Jazz Bistro, 2899 Dulles
Ave. located only a block away from Hwy 6 on
Dulles, bordering SugarLand and Missouri
City. This $5.00 per person monthly event will
showcase magicians and benefits OUR area Houston magic clubs.
Your $5.00 per person admission at the
door into the restaurant will get you one hour of superb close up and
stage magic donated by professional magicians signing up
to appear every third Thursday of the month. The Jazz Bistro
menu is steam table home style food, beverages, beer and wine.
Doors magically open at 7:30 PM, magicians perform from 8 PM - 9
PM. Tell your friends, family, coworkers, etc. there is plenty of FREE parking
and the general public is invited to purchase dinner with
their magic show admission. www.jazzitupcafe.com If
you would like to donate your time or talents to this worthy endeavor
please contact Jeff Lanes. Please do not
miss these opportunities to support the art of magic, your
magic club and fellow magicians.
Robby Bennett was scheduled to
perform “Where’s The Rabbit?” at Cullen Hall on the University of Houston campus this month. On Wednesday
morning the U of H informed Robby and the production team of an unexpected
requirement of a $15,000 deposit fee for the Friday April 17th premiere. While
the show has sponsors, they were not able to come up with the fee by their
deadline of 5:00 p.m. that same day. As a
result, the Houston
show is being delayed. Ticketmaster is in the process of notifying and
refunding ticket sales to those who had purchased advance tickets.
Curt Miller is back in the news and back in action
before the whole Houston
community. There will be at least three opportunities to see Curt perform.
1.He
will appear along with comedy magician Chris Blackmore (from Los Angeles) at the Sugar Land Town Square on April 23 at
7:30 PM. The event is “Minute Maid: Painting the Town Orange,” celebrating Minute Maid’s
move to SugarLand. Curt will make the mayor of SugarLand
disappear and then perform the first half of the show. Chris will do the
second half. There will be a lot of great comedy magic and large-scale
illusions, and the event is open to the public. It’s family
friendly, and it should be a lot of fun.
2.Curt
will be on Fox Morning News (KRIV) either the morning of the 22nd or the 23rd
to promote the show.
3.Tickets
will go on sale soon for Curt’s return with his big show at MoodyGardens
in Galveston
from June 18 – July 5. MoodyGardens is running a
great special: if you book two nights at the hotel, you get four tickets
to my show! Curt reports that he is working on some really cool new stuff
this year, so make sure and bring the family. More information is on his
website at www.curtmiller.com
Rick Hebertwill be
doing strolling magic at the 103.7 JackFM Block
Party in TuscanLakes,
League City on
Saturday, April 18 from 11:00 to 3:00. This will be a great family
event. For more information and a map, please visit their website by Clicking
Here.If you are in the area
then stop by.
The I.B.M. Web Portal has discontinued all blogs
including Scott
Wells’ weekly column on the Houston Magic Scene. If you have
any comments or suggestions, then you can send them to The Linking Ring Editor,
Sammy Patrick Smith at linkingring@mac.comBe sure to check out http://www.magician.org/portal/en/blog/9081for an archive of Scott’s weekly updates
on the Houston Magic Scene.
“The Great Buck Howard”
premiered inHouston on March 20th with a sneak peek free
screening on the 18th. Many local magicians were in attendance including Paul
Driscoll, Richard Hatch, Harry Maurer,
Charlie Randall, Doug Kornegay, Dick Olson,
Roger Johnson and many others. In an effort to help promote the film and make
the evening a bit more festive, the movie promoter asked Scott Wells to perform
a ten minute magic act before the movie began. All went well and some remarked
that they liked the live entertainment more than the movie!
FIRE! We have been informed that
there was a fire at the Bayou Manor where we hold our I.B.M. Ring #39 meetings.
Although the damage was contained it did mean that they used our usual meeting
room while their cafeteria was being remodeled. This took a few months to
repair before we returned on March 23rd. Thanks to Doug Kornegay who arranged
for an alternate location on short notice.
Sad news continues as we begin a new year. I
received word from Chuck Lehr in Dallas about
the death of Bob Torson, who was a charter member of
the Dallas, TX IBM Ring #174 back in 1964. Bob was also
a member of the Houston
magic clubs in earlier years, too. He passed away on January 1, 2009. His
funeral service will take place at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at the
Jeter and Son Funeral Home, 4830 W. Illinois (at Duncanville Road) in Dallas on Tuesday. The phone number for the
funeral home is 214-330-4700. More information will be published as it
becomes available.
Gerald Torregosa was an active magician in our
community for a number of years and worked as a demonstrator at Frankel’s
Costume and Magic Shop here in Houston.
He grew up with Daniel Garcia and is a very good magician in his own right. In
recent years, he started performing stand up comedy. He will perform this
Wednesday night February 4th at the Laff Stop at 526
Waugh, Houston, TX77019.
He doesn’t do one magic trick in his set but he promises that it will be
a great show. He is asking any and everyone in the local magic scene to make it
out to see him! The show starts at 8:00 p.m. and you can get tickets at the
door.
2008
Houston
– December 31, 2008: We lost a few fellow magicians and friends from
our midst this past year including David Inkster, Russ McGee and Freddy
"Butch" Burton
(son of local magician, Fred Burton). And though not technically a member of
our local clubs, Roger Klause was thought of as a close friend of all Houston area magicians
and is sorely missed.
On another sad note this past year, many magicians in the GulfCoast
were impacted by Hurricane Ike in September that devastated Galveston and much of the coastal area. Some
magicians are still relocated in temporary housing while their homes are being
repaired. Still other magicians lost performing venues that were closed or
destroyed. Everyone felt the impact in some form or another. The MagicIsland
is still closed for remodeling due to the damage caused by Hurricane Ike and a
resulting fire.
We had a few local magicians who had health issues including our
octogenarian magician, Jerry Gray who is battling cancer and recently broke his
arm in eight places. Also, Daniel Garcia suffered a severe break in his heel
during a TV shoot with David Blaine. Jerry and Daniel are both recovering
nicely from their injuries.
Local magicians really made the news in the magic world this year, too.
January kicked it off with a feature article in MAGIC Magazine that focused on
magic and magicians in Houston.
Banachek was featured on the cover
of M.U.M. magazine in February with a lengthy article inside that caused some
controversy regarding his TV consulting for Criss Angel and perhaps led to
their parting of the ways. There was an interview with Banachek
in the June issue of MAGIC that cleared it all up. Becky Blaney qualified as a
contestant on the "reality" TV program, "America's Got
Talent" and she learned a hard lesson that was discussed in the August
issue of MAGIC as she dished the inside scoop in a "behind the
scenes" article. Her father, Walter "Zaney" Blaney was featured
in a great spread in the July issue of MAGIC magazine. He was also feted at the
annual T.A.O.M. convention in Ft.Worth as the convention
was dedicated to Walter. What an honor!
This year Houston
has hosted many fine lecturers including: Barrie
Richardson, Nathan Kranzo, Joe Lefler, Aldo & Rachel
Colombini, Eric Anderson, Bob Sheets,
Jeb Sherrill, Fielding West, Dal Sanders, Kostya Kimlat and David Soloman. That is a lot of really good magic!
And speaking of good magic, this past year saw Curt Miller successfully
draw thousands upon thousands to his twice daily magic show for two summer
weeks in Galveston.
It was a wonderful family show that will no doubt be repeated in 2009. And John
"Cash" Carpenter presented two excellent stage productions including
"Death and Harry Houdini" and the original "Edon"
which were reported on here this past year. There were several other local
magicians who performed at public venues from parks to libraries to restaurants
and even some who got publicity on television and in the newspaper! Many local
magicians took the magic of Houston
to far away destinations such as Trixie Bond who made her third appearance at
the White House Easter Egg Roll.
Local magician, Rachel Dunn, took first place at the Ft. Worth T.A.O.M.
convention. This was significant because at 14 years of age she was the only
contestant in the Junior Category so she competed in the Senior Category...and
won! Ben Jackson, winner of the T.A.O.M. 2007 Close-Up Award, competed and won
first place in the Strolling Olympics at the MagicCastle in Hollywood.
Our annual banquet hosted a record number of people with over 400 people
in attendance. This event has grown by leaps and bounds every year to where we
had to find a larger venue to accommodate the masses. This is a good
situation. Many of the performers from our banquet were asked to
entertain at the Austin, TX club's annual banquet this past month. Austin will reciprocate
and supply the stage entertainment at our annual banquet in February.
2009 holds great promise for local magicians with the big event being
the T.A.O.M. convention which we will host from September 4-7 at the Hotel Omni
here in Houston.
The MagicIsland is also hoped to be open by April
Fool's Day so we can again entertain the public with quality magic shows. We
will begin our lecture series in 2009 with the return of John Calvert and Tammy
in February. So we have much to look forward to in 2009.
Several area magicians traveled to Austin on Monday December
15th to entertain at their annual officer installation banquet.
Trixie Bond coordinated this effort with Austin’s
President, Hull Youngblood. Over 100 magicians from in and
around Austin
came to enjoy a potluck dinner, fellowship and some magic.Trixie Bond and Rick Hebert provided the strolling magic to
appreciative groups while they dined. Much laughter and applause was heard
throughout dinner. Around 7:00 President Hull
Youngblood welcomed the guests and made some presentations
and awards then introduced Scott Wells as the emcee. Scott brought on Phil
Kampf with his dove act (assisted by Rachel Dunn) followed by the wit and
comedy of John Star. Rachel Dunn
returned to present her T.A.O.M. Award Winning fairy princess act then Richard Hatch presented some classics of magic
including the cups and balls, Hofzinser’s “Everywhere and
Nowhere”, Powers of Darkness and Gypsy Thread. Phil Kampf closed the
evening with his comedy magic show that is so popular with the MagicIsland
audiences.
This was a wonderful evening and will long be remembered
by both the audience and the performers. Everyone was so pleasant and fun to
work with and the audience was one of the most appreciative we have ever seen.
The Austin
group promises to return the favor by providing the entertainment at our annual
Installation of Officers’ Banquet on Sunday February 15th. We don’t
want to miss that. It should be great fun.
The annual holiday party
for Houston area magicians was hosted
again at the home
of Gene & Betty Protas on Saturday January 3rd from 6:30-10:00
p.m. Nearly 60 magicians and their families attended this annual event
including visitors from Australia.
This year’s
H.A.O.M. Annual Magic Auction was a record breaking success. Sales exceeded
$5,500 raised from 52 attendees. This is at least 50% greater than any previous
auction. We generated over $700.00 for the club from attendee fees, seller
commissions and donations of $136.00. This will help us for T.A.O.M. 2009.
Congratulations are in order to
Doug Kornegay for doing a superb job of promoting the event and coordinating
the auction hall. Dick Olson was our
treasurer who kept track of all the sales and accounted for every dime. Others
who deserve accolades include everyone who helped people check out: Donnie
Kornegay, Judy Donaldson, Jeff Lanes,
Chris Williams and Gene Protas. Also
kudos to Scott Wells for providing his auctioneering talents and the auction
handlers who helped up front: Carol Ann Maurer, Don
Wiberg and Dick Hatch.
Wednesday October 29th was the last of this
year’s annual séances hosted by Scott Wells and Jamie Salinas. As we near Halloween, the audiences
have been getting larger though 26 is pretty much the maximum seating capacity
for the intimate setting. Check out their website at www.HoustonSeance.com for more info
and interesting videos on haunted appearances that have been reported
there. Scott Wells performed at Circle S Vineyards in Sugar Land, TX
on Halloween. Robert
Berry entertained on Halloween at Lazy Brook
Baptist Church. Our local enigma and mysterious recluse, Steven Wallach,
performed at the Houston Museum of Natural History at the annual "Spirits and
Skeletons" mixer. This event brought in 1,700 people last year.
Where to begin? There has been so much said and
done and so many people who have helped others during Hurricane
Ike and in its aftermath, perhaps the best thing I can do is to direct
you to my weekly column on the I.B.M. Web Portal where I updated it on Monday September
22nd with the status of how our members are doing.Please Click Here to see
what’s going on after Ike.
The T.A.O.M. convention is in the history books.If you
missed this year’s convention then you missed a really good one. I would
rate it a 7 out of 10 with lots of variety with a tip of the hat to the past
and a view to the future. For a complete written by Scott Wells, then visit
“Scott’s Thoughts” on The Magic Café by Clicking
Here.
Most of you who read The
Linking Ring are no doubt familiar with the monthly articles penned by our
own Julian Franklin. He delivers sound marketing advice every month that helps
all magicians become better business people. Well, Julian joined a crew
of other motivational speakers at sea (including Barry Mitchell and Tim
Sonefelt) in September for the Creativity at Sea cruise out of Galveston aboard the
Magnificent Carnival Ecstasy. This cruise promised five days of
brainstorming, the creative process, script writing, creative marketing,
creativity exercises and contests. Although this year's ship has set
sail, check out http://www.timsonefelt.com/cas/
for future opportunities to get aboard.
Daniel
Garcia broke his heel while shooting
some promo photos with David Blaine at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX.
Doctors told him to keep weight off his foot for the next couple months, but he
still attended the T.A.O.M. in Ft.Worth over Labor Day
weekend and he plans to be at the David Blaine live TV show later in
September.We all wish Danny a speedy recovery.Give Danny
a call or drop him a line when you can.
Jimmy Fingers was to have
appeared on three nights at Houston’s Laff Stop
on Thursday through Saturday September 18th – 20th if
it hadn’t been postponed due to Hurricane Ike.Jimmy will be presenting the Magellan Master Levitation
that was performed during the Roger Klause Memorial Midnight Madness at this
year’s T.A.O.M. convention.Please see the reviews and effect at www.jimmyfingers.com/magsolo.htmThis features an enthusiastic review by our own Bill
Palmer.The show also features
original mentalism from Houston’s
“other” mentalist, and the new levitation and arm chopper by Houston’s
“other” levitation inventor.The Laff Stop moved earlier this year and is
now located in a strip mall at the corner of Waugh and Allen Parkway.
I want to take a moment to remember one of
magic's truly great masters, Roger Klause. Certainly the words
"master magician" and "legend" are frequently thrown about
when referring to many people who might questionably deserve such a
title. But there is no doubt when it comes to using those terms when
referring to Roger. He has done so much for so many for so many years that only
the internet may be able to contain the words. I know that there will be many blogs
and online tributes to the greatness of this gentleman and my few humble words
will but be a grain of sand in the beautiful sandcastle that will be built for
Roger Klause.
The news came as a real shock when
news ran through the T.A.O.M. convention on Saturday morning. His good
friend, Lance Pierce, sent text messages to a few friends who quickly spread
the news. And indeed the sad news spread to the rest of the convention
registrants within a short time. We knew that he was in poor health and
would not be attending his beloved convention where his "Midnight
Madness" was always a fixture and a highlight. We knew that he was
getting worse so I guess it shouldn't have come as such a surprise, but
still... It is like waiting for the phone to ring and when it does,
you're startled even though you know it was going to ring. You just
didn't know when it would ring.
An announcement of Roger's death
was made prior to the evening show on Saturday and following a moment of
silence, spontaneous singing broke out with a heartfelt chorus of "Amazing
Grace" by the assembled group of 500 led by Lisa Menna.
During the "Midnight Madness" on Sunday night, Ron Wilson (from Wichita Falls, TX)
hosted the event and said he had been in contact with Roger prior to the
convention. His hope was to have Roger provide a taped introduction to
some of the performers who would be on the bill that night. But alas, Ron
told us that Roger's health deteriorated so quickly that it was impossible for
him to even speak. Following some incredible magic by some great
performers (from local magicians Scott Hollingsworth and Gary Ward to David McGee to Tim
Conover and others), Ron showed us a video montage of photos taken of Roger
down through the years with many of us who were close to him. It was a
fitting tribute and a good way to end a late, late night session. And
indeed it was fitting that Roger died this past weekend when so many of his
friends could mourn on each other's shoulders and exchange their favorite stories
of this "master magician". Click
Here to read Roger's obituary from the Amarillo Globe News. Aloha, Roger my
friend. I'll see you down the road.
The annual Flea Market for I.B.M. Ring #39 was held on Monday August 25th. This
was our big event that allowed everyone to recycle their magic treasures by
putting them in the closets, cabinets,
drawers and garages of other magicians.This is always a popular event and we had a pretty good turn-out with
nearly 40 people attending including one who traveled from Austin, TX
(thanks, CJ Johnson). We had five tables of good stuff most of which went for
low prices.
We are saddened
to hear of the passing of long time member, Russ McGee
from our roster of magicians.As
many of you know, it Russ’s ill health has been reported here over the
past year or so.He succumbed on
Monday August 25th.A
memorial mass for Russ McGee was held at St. Mary's Catholic Church in La Porte on Thursday
August 28. A "Broken Wand" ceremony by close friend
Trixie Bond, a eulogy by best friend Herman Willie and other short remembrances
were given at a reception at the church following the mass. We are all
lucky to have known this wonderful, gentle man.
Daniel Garcia is
featured on the cover of the August 2008 issue of MAGIC Magazine
entitled “Footnotes from the Overground”.
Congratulations, Danny! Stan Allen
says it is one of the shorter articles on anyone they have featured, but the
material is all first rate and well-written. And who better to write about
Daniel than a former Houston
resident and Danny's roommate, Ricky Smith,
who (incidentally) was featured in the October 2007 issue of MAGIC Magazine.
This is just the first reason you need to get your hands on a copy of this
month's magazine.
John "Ca$h"
Carpenter presented a 55 minute, full-scale magic show entitled
"The Magical Realm of Edon" that ran from August 7-9. This was a truly magical show and it is a
shame that too few people actually attended the production. For a complete
review of the show including photos, please Click Here to visit the
I.B.M. web portal. Don’t miss his next production which will be Death and Harry Houdini on October 16-19.For further details, please call
281-765-7963.
The
July 2008 issue of MAGIC
Magazine had a
long feature article on Walter "Zaney" Blaney. For those who may
not personally know Walter, you should get a good flavor of his Texas humor and
down-home personality after reading this excellent article. The feature,
written by Rory Johnson, is entitled, "Walter Blaney - A ‘Zaney' Kinda Guy". We congratulate Walter for adding yet
another feather in his otherwise hefty chieftain headdress. Don't forget that
we will be honoring Walter later this month at the T.A.O.M. convention.
And
while we are on the Blaney family, I reported several weeks ago about Becky Blaney
going to Los Angeles, California
to compete on the "America's
Got Talent" network TV show. Well, I could not give any updates on
that report because she was sworn to secrecy as to whether or not she moved
forward. The recent August 2008 issue of MAGIC
Magazine includes a "behind the scenes" peek at what it was like
to be on this show penned by Becky Blaney as well as two other magicians who
did not advance, Dan Stapleton and Bizzaro. Not
surprisingly, there is no "reality" to "reality"
shows. I have heard this time and again about other supposed
"reality" shows where the outcome is known before the show is
shot. It's all about 1) record companies making money, 2) embarrassing
someone even if it means careful editing to select the worst parts to make them
look bad, and 3) seeing someone suffer even if it is unjustifiable suffering.
Houston’s
own Curt Miller
completed a successful two week run with two shows daily at the Moody Gardens
Hotel, Spa, and Convention Center in Galveston,
TX from July 2 – July 13,
2008. He presented a 90-minute two-act illusion show in the evenings and
a slightly shorter matinee in the afternoons. For a full review of his show
including more photos, Click Here.
I reported here about Curt
Miller performing for
the public later this summer (July 2-13) at MoodyGardens
with his illusion show. Well, he recently appeared on Great Day Houston with Deborah Duncan
which is televised on KHOU, Channel 11. Curt first made Ms. Duncan disappear
and then he performed some close-up magic for the studio
audience. Curt’s performance was followed by someone previously
unknown to me, Steve Wallach (is he living in Houston?),
who performed a mentalism segment that promoted his weekly show at Ruggles Dinner Theatre on Westheimer.I didn’t know about that either,
but according to the KHOU website, he appears there each Sunday night at 7:30.
As part of this magical morning segment, cut away and went to a live remote at Frankel's Costume Shop where they featured Scott Hollingsworth and some of the youth from the Young Magicians’
Club who taught some magic. Click on the link to Great Day
Houston to watch video
segments of the entire show.
Bob Fostok performed his stage act on Friday July 4, 2008 at the Intercontinental
Hotel in the Galleria.Although this was part of the Arab
American convention being held there, it was open to the public so all are
invited to enjoy the magic, other comedians and a full dinner all for only
$25.00.
The Ta Da Comedy and Magic Night was slated
to return to Houston
on Wednesday on July 9th; however, management issues continue to be a
problem. Magic Mike (from
Dallas) says, "the club in Houston
is still not sure about the attendance, has not gotten the publicity for the
show up and rolling (not even on their website)...long story short they
informed me there would not be a July show." Mike goes on to state
that, "August will be our last shot for this venue." I will
give you another update as anything, if anything, unfolds.
Paul
Driscoll celebrated his
“30 years and 240 months” birthday party with real class on
Saturday night, June 21st. He rented out a downtown club and hired a
gatekeeper, a cigarette girl as well as a "Rat Pack" vocalist, Dan
King that kept the atmosphere cool while the temperature baked everyone else
outdoors. The party began at 8:00 p.m. but the martinis flowed until well
after 1:00 a.m. Magic guests included Walter and Becky Blaney and Richard Hatch. Everyone enjoyed not only the
traditional cake but also lots of great hors' dourves
and snacks. Paul had special match books printed with Club Paul and Dan
King even had specially designed labels of his CD for Club Paul. It was a
truly cool night for one of our popular and successful local magicians.
Banachek was in the
magic news again.Unless you have
been under a sponge rock for the past couple of months, you know that he is no longer associated with the Criss Angel “Mindfreak”
television team.What has made for
interesting speculation and gossip throughout the magic community is why they
parted company.“Creative
differences” is the reason given for the split but for more of an
in-depth discussion you will need to read all about it in the June 2008 issue
of MAGIC Magazine.For a little teaser, click here to read a paragraph or two.
Scott Wells and
Scott Hollingsworth made news in the
Houston Chronicle along with a story about the MagicIsland.There was a nice photo of Scott Wells
and an even cooler video (only on the website, of course) of Scott
Hollingsworth.Click
Here to read that story, see the picture and
watch Scotto doing a card trick.
The annual I.B.M. Ring 39
Memorial Day BBQ was
held again this year at the home of Dr. Rex Crago. Nearly 60 magicians
and family members enjoyed BBQ, drink, fellowship and magic.We particularly enjoyed the fun when Jeff Lee began his show.He thoroughly entertained with lots of audience interaction that brought
tons of laughter and applause.Well
done, Jeff, and thanks for making our annual event so special!
I
recently reported on a scheduled show on Saturday May 4th with Robert Berry and our
octogenarian magician, Jerry Grey, performing their mentalism show at Cigar
Cigar.All went well with that engagement, but following that show, Robert was involved in a tragic car accident when
another car traveling at 90 MPH struck his vehicle.The two in the other car were killed and
Robert had to be extricated from his
vehicle by the “jaws of life”; however, he only suffered bruised
ribs and was treated and released.
I am sad to report that local magician, Fred
Burton’s son, Freddy (Butch) Burton,
50 years old, died on April 5, 2008. He had four children and two
grandchildren.Also in the
“Good and Welfare” news, we are saddened by the news that Russ
McGee’s pancreatic cancer has metastasized to a point where no further
treatment will prolong his life.His physicians have given him two to nine months to live.Russ has been a long time fixture on the
Houston magic
scene having created, crafted and built many props and helpful devices for
several local magicians.Russ does
not have e-mail but I know he would appreciate a card sent to his home at: J.R.
McGee, 2122 East Sam Houston
Parkway, #4209, Pasadena, TX77503.
This item may
have been overlooked, but if you read on page 114 of the February issue of The
Linking Ring magazine (Linking Ring Awards 2006-2007), Scott Wells won a
plaque for his One Man Parade on emcee bits that was published in the April
2006 issue of The Linking Ring.For those who might be interested in reading that Parade, then Click Here for a PDF copy.
Congratulations
AGAIN to Ben
Jackson on his recent win at Hollywood’s MagicCastle
of the Strolling Olympics award.He
competed in a field of 16 international competitors in a typical strolling
environment among about a dozen tables where there were lay people and some
judges.At the end of the evening,
Ben took home the top prize.Way to
go, Ben!
April 23rd was the opening of
the “Ta Da!
Comedy and Magic Night” at Houston’s
Improv Comedy Club.Nearly
300 guests packed the house to see close-up magic by Richard Hatch and Jamie
Salinas followed by a fun magic and comedy act by Magic Mike and Jeff Lee (both from Dallas) and Richard Hatch hosted by Jamie Salinas.
This column mentioned the failing health of our
octogenarian magician, Jerry Grey.Well, nothing keeps him down including
three kinds of cancer.Magic works
wonders and magic is alive and well in Jerry’s life.He and Robert
Berry performed a parlor show on Saturday May 3rd at Cigar
Cigar in Sugar
Land, TX.Robert
followed the show with a close-up performance at Olives Martini Bar & Grille
(located next door to Cigar Cigar) immediately after
the show.
Discovery Green is a new “Go Green” park right in
front of the George R. Brown convention center in downtown Houston.It opened on April 12th with a Grand Opening ceremony on
Sunday, April 13th.The Mayor made
it official with a ribbon ceremony and there was a ton of entertainment
including the Carranza Puppets,
local celebrities, local sports mascots and several bands as well as our own Cherie Kay with three magic performances.
Cherie also be performed at the “Art is Mysterious” event at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, TX on Saturday April 26th.This was a
“costume-optional” masquerade party complete with art, food, fun,
prizes, games, music, murder, mystery and illusion!
The Incredible Pizza Magic
Show Disappears!Sadly and rather
abruptly, the corporate offices of Incredible Pizza
decided to close down the 1960 location in Houston
and move it to Mesquite, TX
just outside Dallas.Sales were up and rumors were they had
plans to renovate; however, as we know...stuff just happens! So, if ya had plans to come see us...well, don't until we find a
new location. Management of the now closed location is working on moving the
magic night to a new location....we hope soon.As soon as we know we'll keep the magic
and the pizza rolling.
Congratulations and
good luck to Becky
Blaney who qualified for NBC’s new season of “America’s
Got Talent”. Becky is traveled to Los Angeles in early April to tape her first
leg of this competition.Well,
maybe not just her leg, but 90 seconds of her show.Well…you know what I mean.
Wow! The Annual
Magicians’ Banquet was absolutely incredible with a record attendance of
over 400 guests!To view a
slideshow of the event, then Click Here to see all the shots taken
by Eric Frodesen.For anyone
wanting a free JPG file of any of these pictures, please contact Eric at Frodini@aol.com and he will be glad to send you a copy of any and all
the shots you want at no charge.And soon Gene Protas will
have a DVD prepared from video taken that evening. Thanks Eric and Gene.
Scott Wells
has joined the staff of the I.B.M.’s new web portal.He will be writing a short column each
week featuring local magicians and what’s going on around town that
week.Be sure to contact Scott at Scott@ScottWells.com to let him know what you’re
doing or planning.Send any
pictures and web links you might have, too.To check out the new portal, visit www.magician.org
If you
haven’t already received your copy of the S.A.M.’s
February issue of M.U.M., then be sure to click here to read
the cover article written by Richard Hatch
on our own Banachek.What a nice job guys!
Congratulations
to our own Ben Jackson for not only winning the coveted trophy for Close-Up
at the 2007 T.A.O.M., but also for being able to parlay that into some
tremendous publicity.He has it all
going on and he knows how to use it.Click Here to view his
television interview on “Wild About
Houston” and Click Here to read
his front page publicity on the 1960 Sun.He talks about his performance at Hollywood’s
MagicCastle and the Brotherhood of Aggie Magicians
(which he co-founded.)BTW, if you
are interested in lecturing in College
Station, Ben is anxious to talk with you!Way to go, Ben!
Also be
sure to read how one of our young performers is promoted his performance at the
banquet.Click Here to read
the great article on our young Andy Guinea that was
published in the Longview News Journal.Congratulations Andy!
Be sure to
turn to page 50 of the January 2008 issue of MAGIC Magazine to read all about Houston
area magicians.There is a
three page feature mentioning quite a few local magicians and including a few
photos of people you know, too.Although not credited at the end of the article, I want to thank Doug
Kornegay for his help in providing background material of magical years and
magicians gone by.
Going,
going, gone! The 21st Annual Magic Auction is now a
memory…and a successful one at that.Despite the nice weather, or perhaps because of that, we had a lower
than expected turnout for the auction which meant better deals for the buyers (woohoo!)Click here to see how much in sales we
saw go under the auction gavel this year!
The 2007 Directory is now available.This year’s Directory again
combines all clubs into one booklet: I.B.M. Ring #39, S.A.M. Assembly #19 and
the H.A.O.M.If you are a member of
at least one of these organizations and have not yet received your copy, then
please contact Dick Olson.If you are not yet a member, then you
can pay your dues and receive a copy.We will not have this available online, though you can request a PDF
copy by contacting Dick Olson.
Going,
going, gone! The 21st Annual Magic Auction was held on Sunday
October 28th at 1:00 p.m. at the I.A.T.S.E. Hall (usual meeting
place for the H.A.O.M. and S.A.M. meetings) located at 3030 North Freeway
(I-45).As usual there were
two auctions running simultaneously and at the same time JScott Wells again provided the voice of
the auctioneer and was assisted by Richard Hatch at his side.
Jamie
Salinas and Scott Wells hosted the
first ever magic and séances in Houston throughout the month of October
2007 at La Carafe, 813 Congress, Houston,
TX.Scott performed one hour of close-up in
the bar then a limited group of about 20 brave patrons ascended the steps to
the second floor where Jamie conducted the 30-40 minute séance
(depending upon the appearance and mood of the spirits).Information and videos are available at www.HoustonSeance.com.
Tony Brook and Scott
Wells were two of the magicians featured at the annual Castle of Magic
event at StirlingCastle in Stirling,
Scotland.Other magicians performing there were Ali
Bongo, Pat Page and many other international magic celebrities.For a complete report click here to read
Tony’s review.See some of the photos at the PHOTOS page.
On Sunday September 23rd there was magic benefit show for Adopt-A-Cat
featuring Jamie Salinas,
Paul Driscoll, and John Star on Stage, Bob
Fostok, Shane Wilson,
Denis Castro, and Richard Hatchon close-up
and Andrew Scott as
Master of Ceremonies. It included a mini Casino and gourmet cuisine.
MAGIC Live!
was a great convention and you can hear personal anecdotes from any of the many Houston
magicians who were present.Take at look at the PHOTOS
page for a glimpse at who was there.
Tony Brook lectured for the Houston magicians in August and he was feted
at Cherie Kaye’s home for a
royal birthday celebration.See
photos at the PHOTOS
page.
Harry Houdini may be exhumed from the
grave!Could he have been
poisoned?First a spy for the U.S.
Government and now this?Oh Harry,
you were the ultimate showman.Your
legacy lives on.Click Here or Click Here and read
two different news stories.
H.A.O.M /I.B.M.
/ S.A.M. Annual Banquet was an outstanding success with a record 280 people
in attendance! The movie and music industry has their nights, but the night of
February 11th belonged to the Houston
area magicians.Congratulations to Gene Protas, the Magician
of the Year for 2006! Also, special lifetime achievement awards went to
Donnie and Doug Kornegay and Jerry Grey.Congratulations to one and all.Among the many luminaries in attendance
and on stage included the national President of the Society of American
Magicians, Andy Dallas.Thanks to Eric Frodesen our club
photographer for the picture below.To download a complete slideshow presentation of Eric’s great
photos, Click Here. You can either “Run” or
“Save” the file to run this virus-free EXE program.If you save it to your computer, then
you can right click to get some options to save any of the photos you want and
send them to friends or post them on your website, compliments of Eric
Frodesen.
Jamie Salinas appeared on ABC Channel 13 and performed some pretty
cool magic.If you missed him, the Click Here to watch the
clip on YouTube.comIf you are interested
in his “Emergency Magic Kit”, then you should contact Jamie at magic@jsmagician.com Congratulations
Jamie for helping to make magic great in Houston!
Jerry Grey and Robby Bennett appeared on Fox Channel 26 on
Halloween.Did you miss it?Well, Click Here
and watch a Windows Media File of their clip from the morning show recorded on
October 31st.Congratulations gentlemen for helping to make magic great in Houston!
The Great Magic Auction in 2006 was another
unmitigated success and proved to be a worthy follower to the succession of
being the longest running magic auction in Texas. We had over 50 bidders and I
don’t know how many sellers we had.Click Here to see how much money this year’s
auction brought in.Thanks to all
who participated and made this auction work (Doug, Donnie, Jeff, Dick, Lindsy and so many more).
H.A.O.M. 2005 Directorynow
online.Paid-up members should have
received their copies by now, but if you want to download and print out an
additional directory, then click here.
The 2006 annual I.B.M. Ring #39 Memorial Day BBQ Banquet was held on Monday May 29th at the home of
Dr. Rex
Crago.The party began at 1:00
and went until 6:00 p.m.Food was
served from 1:30 – 3:30.Our
own Jamie Salinas was our entertainment for the event.His show was great and entertained
everyone!Thanks to Dr. Crago for
hosting our annual party and also a big thanks goes out to Sam
Gainer who
entertained us with his artistic alchemy on the keyboard.His piano playing gave the banquet a
lively flair.
I am very sad to report thatBlanche Grey passed away on
Friday, April 14, 2006. Blanche was a member of the S.A.M. and I.B.M. for
over 35 years and a strong supporter of the Houston magic clubs, especially Bob Blau Ring
39. Blanche attended virtually every I.B.M. and H.A.O.M./S.A.M.
meeting during the past several years along with her husband and distinguished
magician and past Vice President of Ring 39, Jerry Grey.
Blanche was Jerry's constant companion during their decades of
marriage, attending all of his shows, lectures and performances.
Congratulations to Richard Hatch
of H&R Magic Books on his appointment as Associate Editor of M.U.M.
magazine. Richard will be reviewing new products among his other duties.
Be sure to listen
to the interview of Banachekon Go Magic Go on
Episode 16.This is a wonderful
show that you should bookmark and hear every week.Download the Podcast for free and listen
at your leisure.These guys do a
great job and it is great quality, too. Plus they have a Beginner Series where you
can always learn some basic tricks that all magicians should know.You can always go to the Important Links link
on the frame to the left to see more on that website and many other cool links.
The T.A.O.M. annual convention in San Antonio was one of
the best on record.Not just one of
the best conventions in San Antonio, and not just one of the best in the
T.A.O.M., but one of the best magic conventions in the country.Once again rivaling the national
conventions, the crew in San Antonio
hosted a great weekend with outstanding talent on the stage and in the
lectures, too.Scott Wells
contributed a detailed day by day review of what was going on at the
convention.If you have the time
and want to know ALL of the details, then grab a Dr. Pepper and click
here to read Scott’s report on his blog on The Magic Café.
Walter “Zaney” Blaney gave a wonderful
interview to our foreign member, Tony Brook for the Magic Web Channel.For an interesting look at
Walter’s life, click here
to read an insightful interview.
Chris Angel TV Series on A&E – So,
why is this on our website? Local mentalist and the
World’s Number One Mindreader, Banachek was
one of the creative consultants on this series which will run for 12
episodes.Be sure to see them
all.Check listings for an episode
guide or click
here.You can click here to go to the A&E website.
Wow what a banquet.A new record with 262 people in attendance.Congratulations to Doug Kornegay who receivedHouston’s Magician
of the Year – 2005. To see an Acrobat Adobe PDF slide show of the
evening, click here. We
want to gratefully acknowledge and thank our official photographer, Eric Frodesen for taking the photos
and putting together this slide show. Gene Protas took
video of the evening and a DVD will soon be available for $10.00 each (proceeds
to the club).Come back to this
page later for more details and information on the banquet, but below is a
picture of the entertainers from our installation of officers banquet on
February 12th.Left to
right, Jamie Salinas, Sir Charles, Carter Blackburn, “Nitro” Neil,
Paul Driscoll with his assistant, Stephanie Preston standing in front of him,
Scott Wells kneeling, John “Little Red” Trower,
Roly, Bill Palmer and Nick Wells.
Psst!Can you keep a secret? There was an underground magic convention
happening in Houston
this spring.The Second Deal Convention is limited
to 52 card aficionados and held annually around the country.On March 17-18, 2006 it was held at the
Doubletree Hotel at BushIAHAirport
with a midnight lecture by Tyler Wilson on March 16 for early arrivals.Alan Ackerman, Tom Frame, J.C. Wagner
and Tyler Wilson and others were featured lecturers.
It is with great sadness that we must report the
passing of one of our senior members of the Houston magic community.Gene De Gene (Gene McIntosh) passed away on Sunday February 19, 2006.He will be missed by us as he was known
and loved by us all.A regular
attendee at our magic meetings, he always had things to say to everyone.A
Broken Wand Ceremony was conducted by Bill Palmer at the joint S.A.M. /
H.A.O.M. meeting on Monday March 6th.
Nick Wells, the fire eater from our 2006 Magic
Banquet, appeared with Brian Brushwood
on the Food Network’s television show “Unwrapped” for the
episode entitled “Atomic” on Monday February 27th at 8:00 p.m. Central time and rebroadcast again later that
evening at midnight and again the following Friday evening March 3 at 6:30
p.m. For more information, Click Here.
The Annual H.A.O.M. Auction was Sunday November
13, 2005 and was a big success thanks to YOU!We had 46 people attending and $2,600 of
magic paraphernalia exchanged hands.
Paul Driscollwill
be appeared at the Theatre Under The Stars gala
on Saturday,
August 27th at The Plaza Club high
atop OneShellPlaza.
Paul brought his magic to the Vegas themed night benefiting TUTS.
Harry Potter Book Release Parties! Jamie Salinas,
Eric Falconer and Julian Franklin
performed for Wizards and Muggles at Barnes &
Noble Bookstores in Houston and The Woodlands stores on Friday night July 15th.Hundreds of children and parents lined
up to be the first to buy the new Harry Potter book and enjoyed the wily ways
of these fine wizards while waiting for the strike of midnight.
Thelma Blau dies.Thelma
Burton Waltrip Blau, widow of the late Bob Blau,
passed away on March 27, 2005. She was 94 years old. She is survived by Bob's
son, Dr. Robert Dean Blau and wife
Doris, two grandchildren, Cathy Venable and Bruce Blau; six
great-grandchildren; and one great-great- grandchild. Visitation was March 31
at Corl Family Funeral Home in Pearland, Texas.
The funeral service was at 2:00 PM, April 1, 2005 at Corl
Family Funeral Home, followed by interment at Forest ParkLawndaleCemetery. Dr. Bob Joiner
and Dr. Phyllis Riney of First United Methodist
Church of Pearland conducted the service. Thelma had been in poor health during
the months before her passing. She was very hard of hearing, which made her
difficult to communicate with.
Bill Palmer, M.I.M.C. was well-received at the MagicCastle
presenting his Renaissance Magic lecture on March 13th.He will also participate in the Magic Collectors
presentation which will take place the day before the start of The Magic Circle
Centenary in London
this July.He was asked to perform
the cups and balls using props appropriate to the time of Henry Evans (Evanion).He
was a collector of ephemera and an early member of The Magic Circle.There is a big display of part of his
collection at the BritishMuseum.
The annual I.B.M. Ring #39 Memorial Day BBQ will
be held again this year at the home of Dr. Rex Crago.The date will be Monday May 30th.
This year’s entertainment will be provided by Doug
Gorman from San
Antonio.For more information on Doug, click
here.More information will
follow as it becomes available.
It is with deep regret that we report of the
passing of Roy Gilbert
our beloved and dedicated I.B.M. Ring #39 Librarian. We received word
that Roy passed
away on March 1, 2005. He will be sorely missed by his family, friends
and our organization. Roy
did a terrific job in organizing, cataloging and managing our valuable Ring
resources. A Broken Wand ceremony was given during the service on
Saturday March 5th.
Congratulations to Trixie Bond who
was one of only eight magicians from across the country participating in the
annual Easter Egg Roll on the lawn of the White House.Yes, THE White House in Washington, D.C.!We look forward to seeing some great
photos from her adventure “up the Hill.”
Wow! What a Banquet!Over 200 people enjoyed magic and the
food on Sunday February 13th.Thanks go to so many people who helped make the event the major success
it was including David Inkster who contributed the festive balloons.To enjoy a PowerPoint Show created by
Scott Wells of over 100 photos (taken by Eric Frodesen and some by Scott
Wells), then click here.To keep this from taking so long to
download, Michael Rog with XoneLabs.com has compressed the file (Thanks,
Michael).It shouldn’t take
too long to download now, so give it a try. You will need to have Microsoft
PowerPoint to view this presentation. If you can’t wait, then click here to see at least one
picture of the stage performers taken backstage following the show.
Congratulations to Dick Olsonas Magician of the Year –2004 and to Jerry Grey as this year’s recipient of
the Bob Blau – Ring 39 Achievement
Award and toRobbie Bennettas Young Magician of the Year
and to Gene Protas
as the recipient of the Outstanding Service Award as I.B.M. Ring
#39 President.
Houston: January 2, 2004 - As we
reflect on 2004, the Houston Magic Community has seen a lot of changes and
experienced good times along with some divisiveness and hardships.Our community has grown stronger and
holds great promise for 2005 and beyond.We have a lot to be thankful for and we have hopefully learned some
lessons that will serve us well in the future.
During 2004, we had 14 lecturers perform
for us and teach us some of the best, most current tricks in the land.These lecturers were part of the
H.A.O.M. Lecture Series, the free I.B.M. Ring #39 lecture, and those provided
by H&R Magic Books; however, on a down-note, 2004 saw the closing of the
lecture room at H&R Magic Books as they had to give up the space to the
owner.But there was something for
everyone in the lectures this past year from close-up to stand-up to stage to
mentalism to comedy to children’s entertainment to theatrical deportment
and costuming and developing a character.Not all lecturers appealed to everyone, but at least we had
variety.So if you didn’t
attend even one of the lectures this past year, then you should let us know
what subject we could have possibly missed.The lecturers came from across the
country and from across the sea.They included (chronologically): David Hira, Ted Lesley, Jay Scott
Berry, Tony Daniels, Pit Hartling, Manuel Muerte, Max Howard, Troy Hooser, Jim Swain, Robert
Baxt, Mark Mason, Jay Sankey,
Cellini and Dan Fleshman.
And along this line, we had some
fantastic mini-lectures at our meetings mainly provided by our own talented
members.Some of the lecturers even
provided free lecture notes to all.Our presenters included: James Kent talking about packet tricks, Scott
Wells on origami with folding money; Bill Palmer on the history of paddle
moves; Dick Olson on rope magic;
Bill Palmer taught us how to use “story magic” in our scripts; Charles (of “Charles
and the Lady”) presented a mini-lecture on the dancing cane; John Haque talked about using magic to teach lessons to your
audience; Scott Wells gave an historical perspective on the famous painting,
“The Conjuror”; Doug Kornegay presented a slide show of “The
Magic of Houston” featuring local greats of the past and present; Bill
Palmer presented several mini-lectures on chop cups and cups and balls
including a special presentation on how metal cups are made; also, a useful,
commercial chop cup routine was given by Jamie
Salinas; and Scott Wells talked about magic Christmas cards.
Scott Hollingsworth was proclaimed
Magician of the Year at our annual banquet in recognition of his outstanding
service to the H.A.O.M. during 2003.Some of our other members received accolades from the broader magic
community during this past year.Walter “Zaney” Blaney was presented the prestigious
“Performing Fellowship” Award from the Academy of Magical Arts
(The Magic Castle) for his 55 years as a professional magician and his
contributions to the magical arts.Julian Franklin received second place in “The Funny Paper”
publicity photo contest.Julian
also continued another year as a contributing writer for “The Linking
Ring” with his monthly column on “The Business of
Magic”.Other members have
received recognition among their peers as they have lectured and performed at
magic conventions across the country (and indeed the world) such as Trixie
Bond, Scott Hollingsworth and Bill Palmer.Scott Wells was appointed as the I.B.M. Territorial Vice President for Texas and also elected to a three year term on Executive
Committee for the national I.B.M. Steve Burton
served as President of the T.A.O.M. and he performed in the Persian Gulf and in
and around Bahrain
for our troops.
Houston played host to the annual T.A.O.M.
convention that brought in nearly 800 magicians and their families for an
incredible line-up of talented performers and lecturers.Although successful from the
attendees’ viewpoint with myriad dealers, a plethora of lectures and
top-notch professional shows in an excellent venue, the convention lost money
thus causing high emotions and putting the financial burden on the H.A.O.M. to
bail out the local Ring with a short-term loan.Activities are planned to raise funds
including a January 2005 lecture by Michael Close.The S.A.M. Assembly will host the
T.A.O.M. convention in 2009.
Magic flourished as the wounds of
September 11th slowly heal and people again hire entertainers.Although Scott Hollingsworth, Lanny
Kibbey and Jay Schwausch continued as house magicians at the MagicIsland,
magic was regularly seen at many restaurants outside of the MagicIsland.Shane Wilson,
Jerry Grey, Bob Smith, Jamie Salinas and Scott Wells entertained at some of
the local are restaurants.Both
stage and close-up magic was seen at Gatti-Town by
Vikki Skelton, James Austin Banner and others including Eric
Falconer.And
charity shows were regularly provided to numerous hospitals and organizations
throughout the year by Steve Shain, John Laws, Hy Penn, Richard
Hatch, Richard Lucas, Jerry Grey,
Bill Palmer, Scott Hollingsworth, Danny
Hurwitz and Gene Protas among so
many others. We are thankful to all those who “shared the magic”
with others this year.
We celebrated the good times in
2004 with a surprise birthday party for one of the oldest performing magicians,
our own octogenarian, Jerry Grey.We also had a wonderful magic banquet
with nearly 200 in attendance who enjoyed professional close-up and stage shows
rivaling many of the magic conventions.We gathered at the home of Dr. Rex Crago for our annual Memorial Day BBQ
and magic-fest that featured Claude Crowe from San Antonio as our entertainment. Doug and
Donnie Kornegay hosted an open reception for Bev Bergeron.We also had a wonderful holiday party at
the close of the year at the home of Gene and Betty Protas that was attended by
a large group of local magicians.
2004 saw the untimely passing of
two of our members, Sarah Crago and Randall Whitworth.Sarah was the loving wife of Dr. Rex
Crago and she had served on the I.B.M. Ring #39 Board of Directors as well as
co-hosting our annual Memorial Day BBQ party.Randall Whitworth was an unselfish,
giving magician and the owner of the Mississippi Card Company that made
specialty playing cards among other things.
The H.A.O.M., I.B.M. Ring #39 and
S.A.M. Assembly #19 drew closer together this year as the two newsletters were
combined under the editorship of Vikki Skelton.We saw our publication, The Wizard’s Report go to color
and expanded pages plus it became available electronically.We officially recognized the members of
the Wizard’s Circle with the presentation of new, special lapel pins.
As we look into the coming year,
we have great expectations for our clubs and for our membership.We are putting together plans for our
annual banquet in February, we have five lectures already planned for next
year, our website at www.houstonmagic.com continues to keep us updated with
relevant activities in our community, and magic performances will continue to
be seen throughout the area.And as
we approach the winter banquet, the mystery grows as to who will receive the
coveted Magician of the Year award.If you aren’t in the running, then you have all of 2005 to get in
line for next year!
Wow, what a meeting! At the July 5th,
2004 meeting of the H.A.O.M./S.A.M., Scott Wells presented an interesting and
informative look at the Hieronymus Bosch 15th century painting, The
Conjurer.For those who are
interested, the link to the PDF file on The
Conjurer is here.
Come one, come all to I.B.M. Ring 39's 8th annual Fantastic
Magic Flea Market! On Monday July 26th join us for an evening
of magic trading and bartering with magicians throughout the GulfCoast
area. This is open to any magician in the Texas area who wants to turn their unused
magic into cash!! You won't want to miss this year's Fantastic Flea Market.
Sellers
of things arcane and magical come from all over the great states of Texas and Louisiana
to display their wares in this once a year trading event. This is not your
typical club auction as you'll have an opportunity to trade your magic directly
with a willing buyer. The cost per person selling is $10.00 and that is all you
pay! There are no percentages charged to either buyer or seller which makes
this event one of the most affordable in whole realm of magicdom.
So
mark, July 26th on your calendar and give us a call to reserve your space!
Phone (281) 528-9170 for reservations and more information. Or Email
danny@thefunplace.net for more info!You can also get more info on the I.B.M. Ring #39 website by clicking here.
Special fundraiser announcement.Magician and Illusionist Cherie Kay has teamed up with the Main
Street Project of Llano, Texas
to present Vaudeville
2004. This event's proceeds will
provide much needed funds to help in the restoration project of the Historic Lantex Theater. Built in the 20's and used as a live
theater for traveling Vaudeville greats for several years this theater needs a
facelift...to say the least. A troupe of professional entertainer's including
Vegas style Illusionist and very funny guy Lanny Kibbey, the extremely versatile antics of Chuck Montgomeryand the audience participation fun of Ms. Cherie Kay will perform a special Variety Show on Sat.
April 24th 2004 at 7:00 p.m.For more entertainer information please visit: http://www.topsecretmagic.com/
It is with great sadness that we report
the loss of one of our fellow magicians.Randall Whitworth, owner of Mississippi
Card Company and generous friend to many magicians, passed away Monday, March 29,2004.
A memorial service was held at Santana Funeral Home on Monday, April 5.Over 100 people celebrated
Randall’s life during the service as many friends, co-workers and family
spoke about their association with this gentle, caring and loving man.He was unselfish and gave so much of
himself to others in deeds and services.Among those magicians in attendance were Jon Hatfield, Peter Studebaker,
Trixie Bond, Charlie Randall, Richard Hatch,
Paul Driscoll, Frank Price, Bob Smith, Scott Wells and Delaine Goddard.
Dateline: Appleton, Wisconsin,
March 25, 2004 - Houdini is back in the news with front-page attention on The
Wall Street Journal and assorted broadcast
support from around the world.Former
President Emeritus of the World Alliance of Magicians, Walter “Zaney” Blaney
has been keeping us abreast of this story as it developed over the past ten
months (he is also quoted in the attached article).Now the world knows all about it and the
clock is ticking.Will the chief
expositor carry her one-woman campaign to expose?It seems that Houdini’s secrets
are soon not to be so secret.Thousands of children will get the chance to see the inner workings of
the substitution trunk and see if they can beat the great Houdini’s
record.For more information all
the hubbub, click here to
read the story.
Pictures of the 2004 Magic Banquet are
now available on this website.Follow the link on the left to the S.A.M. Assembly #39 and H.A.O.M. (or
just click
here) then click the link to the photos near the bottom of that page.
More of Andrew Schneider’s magic collection are available for sale on the Magic Classifieds
section of this website. Check out his collection of books and videos for sale
then contact his mother, Lisa, with
your offer.
The
Annual Magic Banquet on Sunday February 22, 2004 was an unprecedented success! Many said this was one of the best ever…even exceeding
last year’s fun banquet. Nearly 200 dinners were served this year with a
completely different seating configuration that seemed to work much better than
in years past. Thanks goes to so many people not the least of which are the
entertainers who gave of their time and talents to make this a success.Also for those behind the scenes including
Trixie Bond, Dick Olson, David Inskster, James Kent, John Trower,
Bill Palmer and so many others too numerous to mention so let me say to
all…THANK YOU!
Congratulations are in order for Scott Hollingsworth who
won the coveted title of “Magician of the Year – 2003”
from the H.A.O.M.Among other
honorees included Scott Wells with the Bob Blau I.B.M. Ring #39 Achievement Award while Alex and Sarah Crago were awarded (in absentia) a
special plaque by Ring #39 for their dedication and hospitality to the Houston
Magic Community.Scott Wells also received the
President’s Award from S.A.M. Assembly #19.
Always a good
ole time second only to the T.A.O.M. convention.The Lone Star Auction was held on
Saturday February 28, 2004.Click HERE to
go to their website for more information.
The Houston Magic community was saddened by the
loss of one of our more dedicated and supportive members.Sarah Crago passed away on
Thursday February 12, 2004 at MethodistHospital following a
prolonged illness.She will be
remembered by all of us for so many things.She served on the I.B.M. Ring #39 Board
of Directors for many years providing guidance and good counsel.Perhaps most will remember her as a most
gracious hostess as she and Rex opened their home every year for the annual
I.B.M. Ring #39 Memorial Day Banquet.For more information on this inspirational woman, you may read her
Obituary that was published in the February 15, 2004 issue of The Houston Chronicle by CLICKING HERE.Should you be interested/able to attend the private service scheduled
for Saturday February 21st, then please call the family home at 713-661-7620
for specifics.
With the passing
of 2003 we see the sad demise of Meir Yedid's
"Magic Times". After six years of daily updates, he has decided
to call the non-profit operation quits. All that time and effort (nearly
five hours per day) and getting nothing for it. Too bad for the magical
world. But perhaps someone will pick up his mantle.
Also 2003 marked the end of the World Alliance of
Magicians (W.A.M.). After five years of battling exposure and shining the
light on the importance of ethics and "doing what's right", the
organization has decided that it, too, took up more time, talent and money than
the few officers could continue to handle. Although expecting nothing in
return for W.A.M.'s good work, it was disappointing
to see the relative lack of support by the general magic community and in
particular by the magic magazines and organizations that supposedly
"help" our art. It was frustrating that even many of the creators
themselves showed so little support for W.A.M.'s
assistance in protecting their own proprietary inventions.
Lots of other things happened in our general magic
community of note during 2003, not the least of which was the Roy Horn's tragic
accident that marked the end of an era in Las
Vegas. The future of magic on the strip is now
in jeopardy and successors to the throne are vying for the crown. Other
items of a broader interest will be reported by the magic rags, I'm sure, so I
won't recap them here.
As it relates directly to the Houston magicians, we saw the closing of
Spellbinder's (a local venue that employed more than a few magicians) and the
elimination of magicians as restaurant entertainers at Dave &
Busters. We also saw a decay in membership of I.B.M. Ring #39 though
attendance remained steady for the H.A.O.M./S.A.M. Assembly #19 meetings.
We also saw Julian Franklin combine newsletters for both the S.A.M. Assembly
#19 and H.A.O.M./I.B.M. Ring #39. Julian commenced a monthly column in "The
Linking Ring" during this past year which gave an expanded, international
audience to his ideas and thoughts. At the end of the year, Vikki Skelton
took over the reins as newsletter editor and expanded it to nearly 10
pages! The H.A.O.M./S.A.M. Assembly #19 had the largest, most successful,
best attended banquet in recent memory. And over $3,000 of magical goods
exchanged hands at the annual auction.
The Crago's put on
another excellent BBQ in 2003 with featured entertainment by Brad Henderson (author of the new book, "The
Dance"). The HoustonMagic.com website continued to provide updates
and breaking news of what is and was happening on the Houston magic scene. We had a ton of
excellent lecturers come through Houston
this past year including Michael Ammar, Steve Dacri,
Bill Goldman, John George, Bob King, Tom Craven,
Scott Hollingsworth, Tim Ellis, Paul Wilson, John Carney, Pavel and Ted
Lesley. We had other excellent speakers at our H.A.O.M./S.A.M. Assembly
#19 meetings that we drew from the varied talents of our membership such as Banachek, Jaime Salinas and Scott Wells, among many
others. Scott Hollingsworth also provided us with mini-lectures by some
of the performers who graced the stage of the MagicIsland.
Scott Hollingsworth also took over as the magic demonstrator at Frankel's
Costume Shop where he conducted free classes for the Houston Junior Magicians
on the third Saturday afternoon of every month. Unsung heroes such as
John Laws, Steve Shain, Jerry Grey
and others quietly donated their time and talents performing at charity shows
for the elderly and hospitalized.
And the outlook for magicians in Houston looks bright! First and
foremost, 2004 will bring the T.A.O.M. convention to our fair city and much
preparation is underway but the bulk of the work is before us. This is
expected to be the biggest and best magic convention this city has ever
seen. We also have a great line-up of lecturers scheduled for 2004
beginning with David Hira later this month followed by Ali Bongo, Jay Scott Berry,
Tony Daniels and Max Howard just for starters. Our annual banquet is
scheduled for Sunday February 22 and we expect this year to exceed last year's
record turn-out due to the seldom-seen, featured performer...Banachek! Scott Hollingsworth will continue to
teach the Houston Junior Magicians on the afternoon of every third Saturday
with guest instructors from time to time. Our Ring #39 and Assembly #19
combined newsletter is in good hands and will continue to set new standards
with interesting tidbits and information in our clubs and about magic past and
present. And you can always read all about what is happening every month,
every week and every day by keeping your internet homepage set on http://www.houstonmagic.com
As Clarence the angel said, "So you see George
Bailey, you really have had a wonderful life!"
Wow,what a great
auction!Reports show that we have sold
approximately $3,200 worth of magic at the annual H.A.O.M./S.A.M. Assembly #19
Magic Auction. This is down from $3,800 from last year but we had more items
sold this year than last.Thanks to
all of you who attended and a special thanks to all who worked behind the scene
to make it all happen.
The 2003 T.A.O.M. Convention in Lubbock is now one for the
history books.Those who missed it
missed a very fine convention.There is usually little advertising, hoopla or fanfare when Lubbock hosts the
convention, but it only means more benefit for the few registrants: better seating,
closer viewing, and time for honest, full-length conversations.It was one fine time for all who made
the trek.Scott Wells wrote a
review that you can read at the T.A.O.M. website or by clicking here now.
Congratulations to Steve Burtonfor being elected by the Texas
Association of Magicians as the President for 2004.Steve has already put together a great
team to help coordinate the convention.
Chairmen
include: General Chairman -
Steve Burton
Talent Chairman
- Frank C. Price
Registration Chairman -
Danny Sparks
Dealer Chairman -
Scott Wells
Contest Chairman -
Jaime Salinas
Transportation
Chairman - Robert
Campos
House Chairman -
Roy Gilbert
Publicity Chairman
- Alan Anderson
Site and Facilities
- Dean Quinn
Convention Consultant
- Doug Kornegay
Plans are well underway to make this next convention a truly memorable
one. The T.A.O.M. 2004 Team Objective
is:
To create the greatest T.A.O.M.
convention in the history of the organization without losing money, with open
lines of communication and have fun doing it!
Brand New Videos and DVD’s
just added to Magic Classifieds!Over 40
videos are offered for a short time on HoustonMagic.com by one of our Dallas members, Mark Jensen.Take advantage of this great offer now.Check out the link at the left to Magic Classifieds and see if there is
anything there you can’t live without.Why pay more?
Effective the last week of July 2003, Scott Hollingsworth has
taken over the magic counter at Frankel’s
Costume Shop.He has already
made quite a few changes and more are on the way.Be sure to stop by and see what new
things Scott has up his sleeve!Scott will continue to lead the Young Magician’s Club of Houston
from Frankel’s every third Saturday afternoon at 2:00.
If you know Scott Hollingsworth very
well, then you’ll really appreciate this cartoon.Click here.
Congratulations to Scott Wells, A.I.M.C.for being nominated to the
Executive Council of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.Scott was elected at the annual meeting
of the I.B.M. at the 2003 convention in Kansas
City.If
elected next year, his three-year term will commence in July 2004.Additionally, Scott will serve as the
Territorial Vice President (TVP) for the I.B.M. in Texas.Scott Wellsand Charlie Randall also received the Order
of Merlin at the annual convention.This is awarded to those with 25 years of consecutive membership in the
International Brotherhood of Magicians.
Congratulations to Scott Wells, A.I.M.C.for being featured on the
inside back cover of the May issue of the Magic Circular.Scott was the lucky member who was
profiled in the May 2003 issue of the Magic Circle’s
journal.For a peak at
Scott’s page, click
here.
Quite startling news!Spellbinder’s has closed its doors.Also reports are that Dave & Busters has made a corporate
decision at the top to no longer employ house magicians throughout all of their
franchises.Both of these
bombshells were announced at the April meeting of the H.A.O.M. and S.A.M.
Assembly #19.I guess people will
have to hire a magician to see live professional performances of magic.
Steve Dacri’s
Workshop and Lecture was well received and attended.He explained a lot of practical,
commercial tricks that many of us will definitely be using.His details on the Classic Force were
worth the price of admission.Pictures are on the Photos page.
On St.
Patrick’s Day, everyone wishes they were Irish!Scott Wellswill be doing a blindfold drive in the annual St.
Patrick’s Day Parade downtown Houston
on Saturday March 15, 2003.Watch out
for him (I mean literally, WATCH OUT for him or he might hit you) on Saturday
morning as part of the Griff’s Shenanigans Café and BarGreen Tide parade team. (Pictures
now posted at bottom of the Photos page under New
Photos).
Scott
Hollingsworth will be organizing the young magicians forum at Frankel’s Costume & Magic Shop
with prepared lectures and notes available to all.On Saturday March 15, 2003 he will teach
cups& balls and ball & vase, then on April 19, 2003 he will teach
sponge balls and May 17, 2003 will be ropes.More to follow on this.Check out the link to HoustonMagic for more
details and dates.
Jaime
Salinaswill be headlining at Spellbinder’s
Kid’s Magic & Family Matinee show this Saturday afternoon March 15,
2003.If you are looking for
something to do with the kids during spring break, bring them by or just bring
yourself!Jaime will be performing
Magic from his children’s shows as well as material from his corporate
banquet shows.He will also be
performing his dancing hank, which is currently a “work in
progress” piece that was featured at the HAOM banquet.He usually perf
2005
Top Talent Productions presented
“Champions of Magic”
featuring the magic of multi-winner Ben Jackson at the monthly installment of live
magic shows on July 25th at the Hilton Americas. Ben entertained with coins,
cards, ropes, borrowed finger rings and the production of a full glass of lemonade!
Jamie Salinas closed the show with a variety of entertaining magic including a
rope routine, red and white silk transposition, ring in gumball machine, the
snake basket and closing with his floating table. Scott Wells filled in the
duties of Master of Ceremonies as he kept the program moving along and
entertained in between the two featured performers. Production quality of these
events continues to improve as Scott Wells has joined forces with Jamie Salinas
to make this monthly event ever better.
Zing, Zang, Zoom is the
name of the Greatest Show on Earth. Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey presented
three rings of magic like you’ve never seen before. And nearly 150 local
magicians and our families enjoyed a “Magicians’ Night Out”
on Thursday July 15th. We had a great time and after the show Larry Clark (the
head clown) and Alex Romero (the “Zing” Master) chatted with us
about the circus. Due to the size of our group and security reasons they were
unable to give us a back stage tour. But they answered all of our questions and
lots of photos were taken, too. Many families made it a MAGIC DAY by going to
the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the magic exhibit then attending
the circus. Zing, Zang, Zoom ran through July 25.
& Comedy Show” came to Houston's Hobby
Center for the Performing Arts for one weekend only, May 28-29! Magician &
Illusionist Curt
Miller blended dazzling magic with great CLEAN comedy in a
theatrical show that left the whole family amazed, amused, and most of all,
entertained.
Have you enjoyed 
Main Event 
19, 2010 at the top of each hour from 1:00 – 4:00
p.m. 
Kids. 
at
7:00 and the second at 9:30 p.m. Each show was approximately one
hour and twenty minutes long. 
The Houston Museum of Natural Science presented a sneak preview of MAGIC: The Science of Wonder
on December 27-30 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This preview featureed
walk-around magic by Scott Hollingsworth
and Scott
Wells and the stage magic of Michael Blanco and
Jessica presenting the “Rhythm
of Magic”. The strolling magic went on throughout the main hall with
three 20 minute stage shows presented at 12:00, 1:00 and 2:00. There were not
any magic exhibits at this time but those will come when the exhibit officially
opens on February 26, 2010. 
mentalism and mind reading show on Tuesday
December 15th at 8:00 p.m. at Cigars
of the World, 4505 Highway 6 N, #1500, 
November 14th at the Hilton Americas
Hotel in downtown Houston. The show ran approximately one hour and twenty
minutes with one interval and included Close-Up Magic, Magic of the Mind and
routines from his corporate events as well as material that he performs at
comedy clubs. This was an intimate setting with limited seating.
Jamie plans to make this a regular event featuring other local magicians with
their shows.
Ben Jackson…congratulations are in order (again) for another win
for his close-up magic. Ben took first place in November’s “Daytona
Festival of Magic – The Florida State Magic Convention” held in
Daytona, FL. It is great to see 
During the Fall
of 2009 Robby
Bennett presented Where's the
Rabbit? This was launched as the first show of the $1 Million Charity
Challenge and as a Vegas/Broadway preview tour for Illusionist Robby Bennett.
Unlike what you might expect from your typical "magic show," Bennett
has created the perfect blend of fantasy and comedy which has left preview
audiences on their feet in applause. Bennett has made the typical evening of
theatre disappear as he takes stage with his routines involving metaphor,
allegory and powerful storytelling. All of which is brought full circle
throughout the evening. This is a new type of show the theatre has been waiting
for. The impossible is simply overlooked and all logic is forgotten as this new
production opened in 2009.
S.A.M. Assembly #19 and
the H.A.O.M. presented their annual Magic Auction on Sunday October 25, 2009.
Click on the picture of the treasure chest to see how we did this year! We had
a fair turnout and incredible deals for buyers. Lots of great prices for
wonderful, slightly used magic books, props and
ephemera. Don’t miss it next year!
Scott Wells appeared for the fourth consecutive
year at the Circle S Vineyards annual “Hallo-wino” Party on
Saturday October 31st in 
HoustonSeance.com – Scott Wells and 
18 – July 5.
The 90-minute Las Vegas-style magic show featured large-scale illusions,
comedy magic, audience interaction, and professional sound and lighting.
This year’s show also featured four brand new magical segments,
including several original illusions and routines. The show is amazing,
fun, clean, and great for the whole family. For a video preview, please
visit: http://www.curtmiller.com/MoodyGardens.html More information is on his website
at www.curtmiller.com 
have
due to the smoker catching the fence on fire just prior to the party…the
fire department came out and everything, but all went on as planned.) We have
had wonderful entertainment from around the state over the past dozen years
including Cody Fisher,
Jazz
It Up Café was the short-lived host venue for Third
Thursday Night Magic. Cinnamon Vallier
coordinated this activity to feature some of the best in magic that our city
has to offer. After a short hiatus, it re-opened under new management and a new
name…Jazz Bistro. This monthly event is a fundraiser activity for our
group and will is planned to be much the same as the
old days when we had Magic At The Mausoleum. The Jazz Bistro, 
opportunities to see Curt perform.
and 
This year’s
H.A.O.M. Annual Magic Auction was a record breaking success. Sales exceeded
$5,500 raised from 52 attendees. This is at least 50% greater than any previous
auction. We generated over $700.00 for the club from attendee fees, seller
commissions and donations of $136.00. This will help us for T.A.O.M. 2009.
Most of you who read The
Linking Ring are no doubt familiar with the monthly articles penned by our
own Julian Franklin. He delivers sound marketing advice every month that helps
all magicians become better business people. Well, Julian joined a crew
of other motivational speakers at sea (including Barry Mitchell and Tim
Sonefelt) in September for the Creativity at Sea cruise out of 
Congratulations
AGAIN to Ben
Jackson on his recent win at 
Special fundraiser announcement. Magician and Illusionist 
