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

Ring Report
October 21, 2007

The October Meeting was held at the Friars' Bakehouse in Bangor, Maine. The theme of the meeting was Pirates!

Phil Smith opened with some fast and fluid effects. He used a pen as a magic wand to vanish a coin, performed a sponge ball routine, and closed with a fast-paced Ambitious Card.

Dr. Wilson demonstrated crystal energy with large pieces of quartz, amythyst, and lapis lazuli. He showed a pendulum that could hold chips of the three materials, and would move one way if the crystals matched, and another if they didn't. The pendulum operated correctly in the hands of Beverly Richards-Smith, despite her widely-known antimagical aura.

Danny Baker turned a dollar bill into a book of matches before performing his Chop Cup routine. After teaching us how the crooked little game is played with a cup and a little red ball, we were surprised to see two large balls come out of the cup for the climax. He closed with an effect in which the card selected from a fanned packet was the only card with a different colored back.

Professor Miller performed MacDonald's Aces, the best of the Ace assembly feats. Each Ace was dealt to the table and topped with three other cards. One at a time, the Aces vanished from their piles. The last pile of cards contained all four Aces.

Brother Don Paul wowed us with a Voodoo routine. He took a characteristically charming set of props from a small chest, showing a pack of cards, a Voodoo spell book, and a candle in the shape of a skull. After Professor Miller handled the little book of spells, he discovered that the back of his hand was marked with a black skull! He selected a playing card from a packet. Brother Don wrote the name of the card on a scrap of paper, which he burned ceremonially. The selected card had a large hole burned through it! After reassuring Professor Miller that there was no real Voodoo involved, he gave him a cold handshake with a skeletal hand.

After the performances, Phil Smith led an impromptu teaching session of coin and card sleights. Phil is very smooth, and plenty of good ideas were exchanged. Full details of the business meeting and photos are available on the Ring's web site (www.ibmring362.org).