Ring Report
May 17, 2009

The third annual Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition was held on Sunday, May 17, at the Alamo Theatre in Bucksport. Dance groups Paradigm East and Mystic Gypsy rounded out the program, filling the stage with movement and beauty.

Danny Baker won the 2009 Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition with an act titled "The Waiter." Danny entered a stage set with three tables depicting a restaurant after closing. He tried to set up a folding chair that strongly resisted his efforts, collapsing and entangling him repeatedly. He found a top hat on the stage and put it on. Once granted magical powers by the hat, he turned a wand into a cane, changed a penny to a giant penny, and caused a coin to vanish and reappear. He poured water into a styrofoam cup, then pierced the cup with a knife, turning it upside down to show that the water had vanished. He caught coins from the air. He picked up a paper bag containing an invisible ball, which he toyed with, catching it in the paper bag. He placed a bottle into the paper bag and made it vanish. He picked up torn pieces of a newspaper from the floor, then restored the newspaper. He poured salt from a shaker into his hand and caused it to vanish. Finally, he caused a bottle and a glass to change places repeatedly before the bottles multiplied to completely fill the bar.

Professor Miller and Wes Booth tied for second. Professor Miller performed the floating ball to "Anitra's Dance" from Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite. Professor Miller coaxed the ball into dancing with him, although at times the mischievous ball tried to get away and hide. The ball floated around his back and over his arm before settling down to rest in the folds of a purple foulard.

Wes Booth turned a silk into a cane, then changed a flower from his buttonhole into a silk. He covered his buttonhole with the silk and a new flower appeared. He produced a glass of liquid from beneath the silk before manipulating card fans. He squeezed the cards to make them smaller, then restored them. Cards changed color as he passed his hand over them. He changed a fan of cards into a bouquet of flowers. He produced a silk from the air before causing it to change color twice. He produced a ball, then caused it to multiply. Finally, he picked up his cane, turned it into a silk, and took his bow.

Dr. Wilson closed the show with a noncompeting entry that was a tribute to Chung Ling Soo. He described Chung Ling Soo's greatest feat of magic, Defying The Boxers, in which the marvelous Chinese conjurer had marked bullets fired at him from muzzle-loading rifles, catching them in his mouth. He showed a paintball gun, demonstrating it by firing a round at a target onstage. An audience volunteer signed a paintball and loaded it into the gun before standing across the stage from Dr. Wilson, aiming at his face, and firing. Dr. Wilson caught the marked round in his mouth and returned it to the volunteer for examination before the two of them took a bow.

Photos and videos are available on the Ring's web site (www.ibmring362.org).