I.B.M. Ring 362
The Maine Mystics
Bangor, Maine

Ring Report
July 15, 2007

The July Meeting was held at the Friars' Bakehouse in Bangor, Maine. July is a busy month, and members staggered in barely packed from shows earlier that day or the night before. The Incredible Gill-Man attended, fresh from his performance at the All-Star Magical Revue on July 4, but did not perform his singular feat (he breathes under water). The theme of the meeting was Easy Come, Easy Go (Productions and Vanishes). For the first time in Ring history, none of the performers followed the theme. Summertime!

Brother Don Paul presented "Room for Doubt." He showed a set of cards depicting rooms of a mansion. Bryan-Keith Taylor selected one of three weapons and moved it from room to room in the mansion as a recording gave instructions. The recording seemed to know where the weapon wasn't, and eliminated room after room, instructing Bryan-Keith to remove cards in turn. Finally, the recording revealed the final room and the weapon chosen! Brother Don followed by having a guest select a small number of cards from a well-mixed deck and think of one of the cards in the packet. He named each card in the packet, ending with the thought-of card.

Dr. Wilson showed an effect that he had just taught in the Ring's magic classes at Summer Festival of the Arts. He checked a guest's gunfighter reflexes by having him draw and poke a finger into a riffled deck. Less than a third of the deck went by; the selected card was the Two of Clubs. The gunfighter holstered the deck and prepared to draw as Dr. Wilson fed him lines, coached him in the fighting stance, and tried unsuccessfully to get him to wipe the smirk off his face. Dr. Wilson shot the deck as it was drawn. When the Two of Clubs was recovered, it had a bullet hole dead center.

Bryan-Keith Taylor inflated a balloon, and gave it to a young friend to hold. He borrowed a dollar bill and had it signed. Suddenly, there was something inside the ballon. He popped the balloon, and showed that it was the signed bill.

Danny Baker delighted a young guest with a spongeball routine. Then he took out an empty card case, unfolded it so we could see that it was empty, put it back together and removed a deck of cards. He fanned the cards, then squeezed them and fanned them again to show that they were smaller. The cards got smaller and smaller until we couldn't see them at all. When he fanned them back into existence with another fan of cards, the cards grew to jumbo size.

Full details of the business meeting and photos are available on the Ring's web site (www.ibmring362.org).