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Ring Event Report
September 6, 2008
| Ring Event Report | Photos 1 | Photos 2 | Photos 3 | Video |
PETER BOIE WINS CHUNG LING SOO STAGE MAGIC COMPETITION!
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.