I.B.M. Ring 362
Dr. James William Elliott Ring
Bangor, Maine

Ring Report
March 19, 2006

The first meeting of I.B.M. Ring 362 was held at the Hawaiian Paradise Restaurant in Newport on March 19, 2006. Dinner began at 3:00 pm, and the meeting followed.

Bob Nixon, the Territorial Vice President for Maine, gave a welcoming address. President Alan Drew introduced Vice President Wes Booth, who served as the emcee. Wes performed short effects between each act, vanishing a handkerchief, performing some pretty card manipulations including his very clean color change, drawing us in with his routine using a jumbo card bearing domino spots, predicting a card that a very young volunteer would select, performing a Miser's Dream with a champagne glass to catch the coins, and predicting which magic poster from the Golden Age of Magic the members would select as their favorite.

Danny Baker lived up to his billing as Maine's Funniest Magician by opening with a fast Jumbo Monte routine, then having a simple card selection effect turn into a riot of wrong cards being produced, yanked from various prediction envelopes, and revealed from his pockets, hat, shoes, and socks. Just when it seemed that he might hit 51, he put away the jumper cables and took out the Insurance Policy, which correctly identified the card on the third try.

Bob Nixon performed a very clean book test, hitting the words in three different positions on three different randomly chosen pages. Stan Davis performed the Jumping Knot of Pakistan with an original script that had an anti-smoking message. Alan Drew changed a napkin into a paper rose for Angelique Steelgrave, then performed his signature effect of changing freely-shown bills into bills of higher denomination. He then performed his ring-on-string routine with a ladybug ring, coveted among the well-heeled in Palm Beach. Dr. Wilson performed an old sideshow feat, climbing a Ladder of Swords, his bare feet pressing down on the razor-sharp steel. Scott Grassette threaded three Chinese coins onto a ribbon, then removed them visibly one at a time before a striking ending.

Following the formal performance segment, veteran performer Markus Almodarr Steelgrave located a young restaurant patron in the crowd, performing some close-up magic before balancing a chair on his chin. You can take Markus out of the circus, but you can't take the circus out of Markus.

The business meeting was held following the performances. In brief, the Ring's Constitution, Bylaws, and Policy and Program Manual were approved unamimously. The first Ring Name Raffle was held to choose the Ring's name for the coming year, and "Dr. James William Elliott Ring" was selected at random from the submitted tickets. The first Elliott Card Challenge will be held in April. Further details of the business meeting and upcoming events are available at the Ring's website (www.ibmring362.org).

Wes Booth kept the show moving with bits of magic between acts.

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Danny Baker, Maine's Funniest Magician, mixes the pasteboards before the comedy riot starts.	Bob Nixon nails another word in his book test.

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Stan Davis launches his pitch.	Dr. Wilson's Ladder of Swords

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Angelique Steelgrave holds the rose tango-style while Alan Drew conjures money.

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Wes booth finds a big card for a small fan.	Scot Grassette links a Chinese coin onto a ribbon.