Feb 28, 2010
It's been way too long since the last update. Our webmaster, Greg Castora, has become extremely busy and, until recently, was unable to give this site the attention it deserves. He apologizes profusely for the delay in updates.
There are new officers for 2010 and they have been updated on the home page as well as some of the current events that have been scheduled. Since our webmaster is no longer able to attend meetings on a regular basis due to an ongoing schedule conflict, meeting updates will be spotty, he'll do the best he can.
We have been using Microsoft Front Page to publish this site for quite a while and, since many web servers are no longer supporting that software, we will probably we changing to another software package to handle updates in the future. This may facilitate some redesigning of the entire site and changes that are long overdue. Stay tuned.
Apr 20, 2009
Unfortunately, Bob Coluzzi was unable to attend the meeting this month due to illness. Fortunately, Bob Syrup was able to take his spot, entertain and teach us a few card tricks. Bob called his lecture, "Over 21" since all of the tricks he chose were from lectures he had seen over 21 years ago.
Bob started out with a routine called "The Four Pile Trick" based on Howie Schwarzman's 1961 lecture, Dynamic Deceptions. Through a little patter and adlibbing, he was able to reveal the card that TJ had selected. He then, ironically, asked Tony Noice to assist him in "A Spectator Unwittingly Cuts to the Aces" from Jon Racherbaumer's 1976 lecture notes. I say "Ironically" since Tony demonstrated how he cuts to all four Aces last month. Things that make you say "Hmmmm." For Bob's next trick, he got our current president, Rudy Alfano, to volunteer with "Calendariffic", from Larry Becker's 1983 lecture "Mind Boggling..But Easy". Rudy thought of a month and Bob was able to magically find the card that represented that month. Bob continued by going "Further Than That" with an effect by Baltazar Fuentes' 1978 lecture, "Close Up Mexican Style". Just when we thought the selected card had been found, Bob went "Further Than That", three more times, with reveal after astounding reveal. He concluded with a coin prediction that he dedicated to Bruno Klemmer. With the help of Kit (No, not the car from Knight Rider), he was able to successfully predict the outcome of 2 1/2 cents! Yes, not 2 cents or 3 cents, but 2 1/2 cents! A nice finale to an entertaining lecture.
Mar 16, 2009
Tony Noice, our Vice President and all around nice guy, was our featured speaker for the night. Tony, as well as being an accomplished magician, is also an adjunct faculty member in the department of communication arts and sciences at Elmhurst College, and an accomplished actor. Tony and his wife are currently working on a study of.......um.......wait.....I forget. Oh yeah, cognitive performance and the enhancement of brain function in older adults. Now, if I can only remember what I did yesterday.... Anyway, Tony is an excellent card manipulator and showed us a number of incredible reveals, starting with a wonderful four Ace routine that starts with an audience member cutting the cards. Tony was so entertaining that I, unfortunately, failed to take notes.
Feb 17, 2009
There was a large group on hand for the lecture by John Sturk and he was definitely up to the task. His opening, called "Lend Me a Hand," was a great ice breaker and really set the tone for the evening. After explaining the opening gag, he shared a little background about his life and subsequent foray into magic, at the tender age of nineteen, as a Mackinac Street Performer. John continued the lecture by asking TJ and Don Clancy to assist him with, "The Blue Hanky...(dramatic pause)....Of DEATH!!" He went on to demonstrate a little bit of coin manipulation with Don Dvorak which included an incredibly convincing strike vanish and lead into his version of Greg Wilson's "Re-Cap." Even while demonstrating the strike vanish up close, John's talent and dexterity make it nearly impossible to actually SEE the vanish! He even showed off a little by doing the same strike vanish with a lime and a BlackBerry!! It was amazing! He continued the first half of the lecture by getting Dorothy to assist him in his egg bag routine, using a Malini egg bag made by Fabric Manipulations, in which he gave a nod to Jeff Hobson for his finish, allowing the assistant to produce the egg while he sits in the audience.
After a short break, John did an impromptu card rise that was straight out of Tarbell Volume 8. Again he showed us his exceptional technique as he did a great Chinese Linking Ring routine with four rings and a ton of audience participation. He demonstrated some of his well polished moves and, even close up and knowing exactly what he was doing, you couldn't actually see what was happening! This was true illusion at it's finest! He went on to an ESP routine, even though he doesn't normally incorporate it into his act because, as he put it, "mentalism just isn't that funny. Have you ever seen a funny mentalist?" It was still impressive and the method was cleaver, very deceptive and extremely simple. John then finished with his always entertaining cups and balls routine with a coconut finale.
We were all extremely grateful to have had John Sturk entertain and enlighten us with his levity and immense skills as an entertainer. Nobody left early!
Feb 6, 2009
A couple of links on this page have been repaired and are now working as they are supposed to. A couple of items have been added and updated on the "Happenings" area of the home page, including a brief bio of John Sturk and the latest information about the annual Knights of Sleights Magic Flee Market. It's important to make sure you know when and where you can pick up your annual supply of Magic Flees (sorry, I couldn't resist).
Jan 19, 2009
Okay, the new year started off with a new member, Brian, introducing himself to the group. After just a few minutes he was already feeling at home. The meeting started with new president Rudy Alfano calling the group to order. A brief introduction of our new officers was followed by a little insight into what the coming year will be like. There will be an increase in the amount of teaching and a bit more involvement of the members. The treasurer, Dave Byrne, gave us an idea of how our finances are and then we moved on to new business.
Coming up in April, our membership is being asked to perform for the Epiphany spring play. We are going to need a total of up to ten performers. There will be three walk-arounds before the actual show begins. Then, we'll need two performers to do a 15 minute stage routine each. This will be followed by the first performance of the play. Then, we will need three more walk-arounds followed by two more 15 minute stage routines followed by the second performance of the play. The magicians who perform are invited to enjoy the play if they wish. Here is a link to the form for those interested in performing. Remember, this is how we pay the church back for allowing us to use their facilities. When we have enough performers, the form will be taken down. Click the button below to register.
After all of the new business, our performances were started off by President Rudy demonstrating a prediction routine with the help of TJ. Rudy explained how the prediction worked and how he spent dozens of pennies to create the effect. Bruce Grunwald showed us a neat little bar trick for balancing 11 nails, which he was happy to teach us and sell a set for $1, just to cover his costs. He also shared how he used to drive a nail into his nose, gross. Then, David Solomon did fifteen minutes of card tricks that included a bunch of well done packet routines. Thank you, David! Don Clancy followed up with a couple of new items he's working on and, after a little issue with his first trick, he went on to play three card monty with Dave Byrne and a prediction with the help of Bob Coluzzi. Bob followed that with a rope trick where he gave TJ and Father Kurt a chance to win $10 just by picking the correct rope. Incredibly, neither were able to pull the correct rope, even after Bob allowed them to change their original choice.
Next month, we may have a lecture by John Sturk. We're waiting for finalization of the plans. Stay tuned.
Dec 15, 2008
A small, but dedicated group showed up for our annual Christmas party this year. All of our outgoing and incoming officers made it as well as a few of our regular members and their families. There was a lot of mixing, mingling and eating going on throughout the evening. There was more than enough appetizers, deserts and, as is tradition (for us anyway) Pizza from one of the local restaurants. While there was no formal meeting and no performances, everybody seemed to have a good time and nobody went home hungry.
On behalf of the entire S.A.M. 148 family, we would like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and a Happy new Year!
Nov 17, 2008
Jim Krzak graced us with his presence and entertained us with his restaurant routine. He started off showing how he breaks the ice with potential clients by using a little magic and a lot of laughter. A combination of a purse frame, sponge balls, ever increasing sized coins and a gray hare. It's no wonder he is able to make a great living working restaurants, he has more fun than the customers!! He went on to show us how he opens with an invisible deck routine, moves on to his version of 'Twisted Sisters' then pulls a selected and signed card in a picture frame from his pocket. Next, a tiny deck that grows before your eyes (micro-macro), slop shuffle where a chosen card is found through a mixed deck that is sloppily shuffled and mixed in a make-shift martini shaker, some golf balls produced through a purse frame and then used for an interesting manipulation called chink-a-chink. He then went on to play his version of the shell game with three lobsters, one of which squeaked, and finishing off with an awesome chop cup routine. After a little break, Jim went through the whole routine again, explaining how each effect worked. Amazingly enough, most were very simple but convincing with some well placed misdirection, some funny jokes and a bit of practice, about 50 years worth. Seriously, Jim was great and thoroughly enjoys performing and teaching. He told us, if his performance were to ever become 'Work,' he would retire and take up fishing. Check out the pictures in our gallery.
Next month, our 2008 Christmas party, should be fun!
Oct 20, 2008
Our October meeting included electing the board for 2009. And the winners are: Rudy Alfano - President, Tony Noice - Vice-president, Fr Kurt Spengler - Secretary and Dave Byrne - Treasurer. The only contested position this year was a tight run-off between the two nominees for vice-president. Greg Castora was nominated early but he nominated Tony. The race was well fought with both candidates trading jabs, bringing up past performance and a little mud slinging. In the end, the more experienced candidate won the job. Actually, it was nothing like that, that's the current presidential race. There was a secret ballot and Tony won, plain and simple.
The theme for October was "Cards." Bob Syrup started things off with a wonderful two card revelation with the assistance of Don Dvorak and Dave Byrne. Then he had Albert Einstein help reveal a card that Tony Noice had chosen at random. Don Dvorak showed us how he turned a packet trick into a full deck routine, taking two chosen cards and turning them into four aces. Next, Bob Coluzzi made a chosen card appear in a small basket followed up my an old cigarette dispenser turned card finder which found the card that Rudy had chosen. The corner of the card, that Rudy had torn off, matched perfectly! Fr Kurt got some assistance from Andrea as he predicted a bottle of dish soap and the correct price with his packet trick. Last but not least, Tony Noice demonstrated an impressive way of finding a four-of-a-kind. Overall, a very entertaining and informative evening.
Sep 16, 2008
The September theme was "Mentalism." In spite of the mass flooding in the area, there was actually a decent turn-out. Intrepid member Bob Syrup struggled for TWO hours just to get to the meeting!! Wow, what dedication!
After the business was taken care of, the demonstrations started with Dave Byrne discussing some of the books and videos available on the subject of Mentalism and continued with young TJ showing off his new skill with a French Drop (we have pictures). It would be great to have more young people involved in the club and as enthusiastic as he is. Following TJ, Bob Coluzzi showed how he could find all four aces from a shuffled deck, launching the last one into the air. The evening continued with several different members sharing their effects and feats of Mentalism. Thanks to everyone who preformed and shared.
Sep 15, 2008:
We've finally gotten the bugs fixed and are able to get the site updated. Thank you for you patience.
Aug 28, 2008:
We've been experiencing some difficulties with getting our updates published to the site. Please bear with us while we address these issues.
June 16, 2008:
The theme for June 16th was "Coin Magic." Fr. Kurt started us out with a discussion of Okito boxes, what they are, what they do and some of the variations. Some of the other members, including Gordon, Dave and Don showed us some of their effects. Mary then showed off the latest addition to her collection so she could get some input on how to perform it better. That's what the club is all about, teaching and learning!
The October performance for Epiphany Church has been cancelled through no fault of ours. There was simply a change in the venue and our services for that month are no longer needed.
Just another reminder, there is no meeting for the month of July. Meetings resume on August 18, with "Cups & Balls."
May 20, 2008:
The theme for our May 19th meeting was "Rope Magic." The group was shown a wide variety of effects using different types and sizes of ropes and string. Who knew there were so many ways to tie a rope without letting go of the ends?
The theme for the June 21th meeting is "Coins." Everybody is encouraged to bring a coin or two and their routines.
Three magicians are needed for a performance in October for our host, Epiphany Church. This is our way of paying for the use of their facilities. Each performer will only have to do 20 minutes of magic for a mixed audience. The final details and exact time and date are still to be determined so stay tuned.
