MAGICIANS SCHEDULE STAGE MAGIC COMPETITION
August 15, 2008
Ring 362 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians will hold the second annual Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition at
All Souls Congregational Church in Bangor on Saturday, September 6, at 7:00 P.M. A suggested donation of $5 per person will
benefit the All Souls Youth Program. The contest honors the memory of Chung Ling Soo (1861-1918), one of the most influential
stage magicians in history. Chung Ling Soo never spoke in performance.
To honor his memory, the contestants are required to perform without the use of speech, narration, or written language.
Magicians are known for surprises, and Chung Ling Soo provided one of the greatest surprises in magic history at the time of
his death: he wasn't Chinese. He was fatally shot on stage in England while performing one of his signature feats, catching
a marked bullet shot from a muzzle-loading rifle. Only after his death did the general public discover that the marvelous
Chinese conjurer who had thrilled the world with exotic Chinese magic was actually American-born William Robinson. Robinson
had a long career as an assistant and builder for Alexander Herrmann and Harry Kellar, the biggest magic shows of his time,
before dropping his Western identity and becoming Chung Ling Soo. He kept up the deception offstage, appearing for interviews
in makeup and costume, speaking fake Chinese through an "interpreter," who translated for the reporters.
The contestants in the Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition are free to do any kind of magic that they like, as long as they
don't speak. They will be judged by a panel of expert judges with backgrounds in theater and film.
Bellydancers and other entertainers will complement the magic performances.
PROFESSOR MILLER PREPARES MAGIC ACT FOR COMPETITION
August 18, 2008
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Blue Hill magician Professor Miller will present "Silks & Parasols" as his opening act for Miller & Wilson's Theater of Marvels
on Saturday, August 23, at 7:00 pm at Otter Creek Hall. Professor Miller enters the stage to music, performing silently as he produces yards
of colorful silk scarves and streamers, Chinese fans, and paper parasols, seemingly out of thin air. Professor Miller has been developing the
act for two years, changing small moments here and there, adjusting his timing, and responding to coaching from Dr. Wilson, his partner in magic.
This year, the duo scheduled a series of video rehearsals before the first performance, to make additional improvements to the act.
Professor Miller has used the ten-show run at Otter Creek Hall to perfect the act, which he will perform at the
Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition at
All Souls Congregational Church in Bangor on September 6. Last year, Professor Miller won the competition with his performance of the Chinese Rings.
The contest honors the memory of Chung Ling Soo, the stage name of American magician William Robinson, one of the greatest stage magicians of all time.
As a tribute to Chung Ling Soo, who always performed silently, magicians entering the competition are required to perform without speaking,
using narration, or displaying written language.
The restrictions of the contest suit Professor Miller perfectly. Professor Miller stopped speaking in performance for Theater of Marvels last year,
during the show's second season, and has not spoken a word on stage since. When asked this year to speak a single line in his cameo appearance as a
waiter during one of Dr. Wilson's segments, he worked out an alternative presentation that allows him to avoid speaking.
Professor Miller's "Silks & Parasols" act opens a show featuring exotic magic from around the world, including Dr. Wilson's Ladder of Swords.
Miller and Wilson will be joined by bellydancer Natalie of Eostara Dancers. Admission is only $8 for adults, $5 for persons 12 and under,
and free for those 2 and under. The performances benefit the Otter Creek Aid Society, which maintains the historic Otter Creek Hall.
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RUTH EVELAND NAMED AS JUDGE
August 20, 2008
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Ruth Eveland, a member of the Governing Board of Acadia Community Theater, will serve as one of the judges for the Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition at
All Souls Congregational Church in Bangor on Saturday, September 6, at 7:00 pm.
The contest, sponsored by Ring 362 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians,
honors the memory of Chung Ling Soo (1861-1918), one of the most influential stage magicians in history. Chung Ling Soo never spoke in performance.
To honor his memory, the contestants are required to perform without the use of speech, narration, or written language.
Ruth Eveland brings a lifelong love of magic and theater to her role as a judge of the stage magic contest.
Her father was an Army medical officer stationed in post-occupation Japan in the mid 1950s. As a child, Ruth enjoyed the "Sunday Show" every week on the base.
Chinese acrobats, jugglers, and magicians were regular features of these family shows.
She was surprised to learn upon her return to the United States that every child was not treated to a live performance every weekend.
The Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition competition is open to the public for a suggested donation of $5 per person, which will
benefit the All Souls Youth Program.
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WESLEA SIDON NAMED AS JUDGE
August 21, 2008
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Weslea Sidon, a member of the Board of Directors of Summer Festival of the Arts (SFOA), will serve as one of the judges for the Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition at
All Souls Congregational Church in Bangor on Saturday, September 6, at 7:00 pm.
The contest, sponsored by Ring 362 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians,
honors the memory of Chung Ling Soo (1861-1918), one of the most influential stage magicians in history. Chung Ling Soo never spoke in performance.
To honor his memory, the contestants are required to perform without the use of speech, narration, or written language.
Weslea Sidon brings extensive performance experience to her role as a judge of the stage magic contest.
Her family includes singers and jazz musicians. She has taught voice and guitar, and has extensive experience in performance coaching in New York City.
Since becoming a year-round resident of Mount Desert Island ten years ago, she has taught acoustic guitar, creative writing, and poetry at SFOA,
as well as coaching the local rock band Romulus Rex. She is a lifelong fan of magic.
The Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition competition is open to the public for a suggested donation of $5 per person, which will
benefit the All Souls Youth Program.
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STAGE MAGIC CONTEST HONORS SILENT MAGICAN
August 26, 2008
Ring 362 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians will hold the second annual Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition at
All Souls Congregational Church in Bangor on Saturday, September 6, at 7:00 pm. A suggested donation of $5 per person will
benefit the All Souls Youth Program. The contest honors the memory of Chung Ling Soo (1861-1918), one of the most influential
stage magicians in history. Chung Ling Soo never spoke in performance.
To honor his memory, the contestants are required to perform without the use of speech, narration, or written language.
Magicians are known for surprises, and Chung Ling Soo provided one of the greatest surprises in magic history at the time of
his death: he wasn't Chinese. He was fatally shot on stage in England while performing one of his signature feats, catching
a marked bullet shot from a muzzle-loading rifle. Only after his death did the general public discover that the marvelous
Chinese conjurer who had thrilled the world with exotic Chinese magic was actually American-born William Robinson. Robinson
had a long career as an assistant and builder for Alexander Herrmann and Harry Kellar, the biggest magic shows of his time,
before dropping his Western identity and becoming Chung Ling Soo. He kept up the deception offstage, appearing for interviews
in makeup and costume, speaking fake Chinese through an "interpreter," who translated for the reporters.
The contestants in the Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition are free to do any kind of magic that they like, as long as they
don't speak. A panel of expert judges with backgrounds in theater will rate the contestants on stagecraft, costuming, thematic unity, and other criteria.
A group of bellydancers from Kahaz Productions will round out the program.
Blue Hill magician Professor Miller won last year's competition with his presentation of the Chinese Rings.
He will be defending the title with a lavish stage act in which he produces Chinese fans, parasols, and yards of colorful silk scarves and streamers,
seemingly from thin air. Professor Miller has been developing the
act for two years, changing small moments here and there, adjusting his timing, and responding to coaching from fellow magicians.
Peter Boie, an award-winning magician from Medford, MA, will travel to Bangor to compete for the first time.
Peter has won honors at magic competitions around the country from the Columbus Magi-Fest to the Society of American Magicians National
stage contest, where he was a finalist. He was also selected to showcase by the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) at the NACA Northeast Conference 2006
and NACA Northern Plains Conference 2007. He has kept the precise details of his new silent stage act a secret.
Danny Baker, Maine's Funniest Magician, will enter the contest as a duo act with his student Gary Jewell.
Danny Baker set last year's audience howling with a silent comedy magic act in which many feats of magic went oddly wrong.
Danny magically filled the stage with flowers and silk, only to climax his act by producing a rubber chicken.
Whatever happens this year, Danny and Gary vow to leave them laughing.
Contest Official Dr. Wilson will introduce the contestants after climbing the Ladder of Swords, his bare feet pressing down on razor-sharp steel.
The act was presented in Chung Ling Soo's show by his assistant, and is still performed ceremonially in Asia.
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| Professor Miller |
Peter Boie |
Danny Baker |
MIDDLE EASTERN DANCERS JOIN MAGICIANS
September 2, 2008
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A group of Middle Eastern dancers will join the magicians competing in the Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition at
All Souls Congregational Church in Bangor on Saturday, September 6, at 7:00 pm. A suggested donation of $5 per person will
benefit the All Souls Youth Program.
People are often surprised to find that Middle Eastern dance is more than an expression of sensuality. Its roots go deep,
and it encompasses all aspects of life: sorrow and celebration, vulnerability and victory, birth and rebirth.
As we experience it today this ancient dance is an evolving art, a mixture of movements from ritual and social dances of
various countries (Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Greece, Lebanon) as well as movements borrowed from other cultures and dance forms
(Indian, African, Polynesian, jazz, modern dance, ballet).
The exact origins cannot be pinpointed, but some of the movements come from ritual dances such as the Egyptian Zaar
(a trance dance that placates restless spirits), the Moroccan Guedra (a ritual dance of blessing), or the Moroccan Shikhatt
(which helps prepare young women for marriage and childbirth). Other movements derive from the social dancing done by and
for Arabic women of all ages at gender-segregated celebrations - not as a "performance" but as an expression of joy and community.
From this historical base evolved the practice of hiring a dancer to entertain guests at Arabic weddings and other festive occasions.
With her performance the dancer would help create the mood of exuberant celebration, sometimes using such spectacular props as a
flaming 3-tiered candelabrum balanced on her head.
In the 1920s, an enterprising Lebanese woman named Badia Masabni opened the first Cairo nightclub featuring staged dance performances,
which are the basis of the style known today as Raqs Sharqi or "Dance of the East" (often called "cabaret style").
These clubs became popular with visiting foreigners, and the dance began to shake off its folkloric roots and take on Western influences.
The familiar "bra and belt"-style outfit and the "Sultan's harem" fantasy originated in Hollywood rather than in Cairo or Istanbul.
The dance spread to the west through immigrant communities, and by the 1970s belly dance studios prospered all over the United States.
Dramatic elements such as veil and sword were introduced, and the influence of jazz dance and modern dance on the traditional Middle Eastern style deepened.
Today Middle Eastern dance is performed in staged shows, in restaurants, and at parties and weddings all over the world.
Many different styles have emerged, but generally the dance is characterized by flowing undulations as well as precise torso isolations.
Most styles stress the visual interpretation of complex Middle Eastern rhythms and melodies and above all that elusive ingredient, individual self-expression.
When you watch a belly dancer perform you are seeing what she hears.
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STAGE MAGIC CONTEST HONORS SILENT MAGICAN
September 4, 2008
Ring 362 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians will hold the second annual Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition at
All Souls Congregational Church in Bangor on Saturday, September 6, at 7:00 pm. A suggested donation of $5 per person will
benefit the All Souls Youth Program. The contest honors the memory of Chung Ling Soo (1861-1918), one of the most influential
stage magicians in history. Chung Ling Soo never spoke in performance.
To honor his memory, the contestants are required to perform without the use of speech, narration, or written language.
Magicians are known for surprises, and Chung Ling Soo provided one of the greatest surprises in magic history at the time of
his death: he wasn't Chinese. He was fatally shot on stage in England while performing one of his signature feats, catching
a marked bullet shot from a muzzle-loading rifle. Only after his death did the general public discover that the marvelous
Chinese conjurer who had thrilled the world with exotic Chinese magic was actually American-born William Robinson. Robinson
had a long career as an assistant and builder for Alexander Herrmann and Harry Kellar, the biggest magic shows of his time,
before dropping his Western identity and becoming Chung Ling Soo. He kept up the deception offstage, appearing for interviews
in makeup and costume, speaking fake Chinese through an "interpreter," who translated for the reporters.
The contestants in the Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition are free to do any kind of magic that they like, as long as they
don't speak. A panel of expert judges with backgrounds in theater will rate the contestants on stagecraft, costuming, thematic unity, and other criteria.
A group of Middle Eastern dancers from Kahaz Productions will round out the program.
Wes Booth, who won the Dr. James William Elliott Card Challenge in 2006, will present a large stage illusion.
The Mysterious Baxter, winner of the Max Malini Parlor Magic Contest in 2007 and 2008, will present a silent act in the style of a 1930s floor show.
Peter Boie, an award-winning magician from Medford, MA, will travel to Bangor to compete for the first time.
Peter has won honors at magic competitions around the country from the Columbus Magi-Fest to the Society of American Magicians National
stage contest, where he was a finalist. He was also selected to showcase by the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) at the NACA Northeast Conference 2006
and NACA Northern Plains Conference 2007.
Blue Hill magician Professor Miller won the 2007 Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition with his presentation of the Chinese Rings.
He will be defending the title with a lavish stage act in which he produces Chinese fans, parasols, and yards of colorful silk scarves and streamers,
seemingly from thin air. Professor Miller has been developing the
act for two years, changing small moments here and there, adjusting his timing, and responding to coaching from fellow magicians.
Contest Official Dr. Wilson will introduce the contestants after climbing the Ladder of Swords, his bare feet pressing down on razor-sharp steel.
The act was presented in Chung Ling Soo's show by his assistant, and is still performed ceremonially in Asia.
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| Wes Booth |
The Mysterious Baxter |
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| Peter Boie |
Professor Miller |
PETER BOIE WINS CHUNG LING SOO STAGE MAGIC COMPETITION
September 6, 2008
The second annual
Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition was held on Saturday, September 6, at 7:00 pm at All Souls Congregational Church in Bangor.
Peter Boie won the 2008 Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition with a surreal modern act in which he played the part of a hapless commuter waiting for a bus as a series of increasingly bizarre magical occurrences took place.
His briefcase wandered offstage when he set it down. His tie changed color and grew to colossal proportions. His cell phone vanished and reappeared. Doves, billiard balls, and cards came out of nowhere.
Once he was rid of his jacket and magically expanded tie, his shirt changed from business blue to magic orange in a flash transformation.
Throughout the act, Peter's outstanding acting, flawless magical technique, and the originality of his act's framework drew gasps, cheers, and finally wild applause from the audience and a panel of expert judges.
The Mysterious Baxter (Brother Don Paul) took Second Place with a charming 1930s-style nightclub act featuring magic with coins, silks, rope, and billiard balls.
Brother Don's warmth and humor carried the audience back to the luxurious Paradise Nightclub for a few enchanted moments.
Professor Miller took Third Place with an extravagant stage act in which he produced yards of silk and Chinese fans and parasols, seemingly from thin air.
Wes Booth also competed with a magical courtship of his assistant Donna, producing color-changing silks, flowers, and finally a real bunny bearing a ring to win her favor.
The evening's entertainment was rounded out by four performers not competing in the contest. Dr. Wilson paid tribute to Chung Ling Soo by performing the Ladder of Swords, an act performed by Chung Ling Soo's assistant Kamataro.
Three Middle Eastern dancers (Lorien Wood, Emma Creaser, and Sara Moreshead) carried away the audience with movement and beauty, opening the show, providing transitions between the magical acts, and offering a rich set of closing performances while the judges were deliberating.
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| Dr. Wilson |
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| Middle Eastern Dance by Kahaz |
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Contestants in the 2008 Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition (left to right):
The Mysterious Baxter (Second Place), Peter Boie (First Place), Professor Miller (Third Place), Donna Booth, Wes Booth. |
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Cast for the 2008 Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition (left to right):
The Mysterious Baxter, Peter Boie, Sara Moreshead, Professor Miller, Lorien Wood, Emma Creaser, Donna Booth, Wes Booth. |
Judges for the 2008 Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition (left to right):
Carlene Hirsh (Summer Festival of the Arts), Frank Bachman (SFOA),
Ruth Eveland (Acadia Community Theater), Weslea Sidon (SFOA),
George Demas (SFOA), Jim Denegre (SFOA), Joel Richardson (ACT). |
