Ring Report
July 19, 2009

Minutes for this meeting.

The theme for the July Meeting was Showstoppers, with Professor Miller as the Theme Leader. Professor Miller performed a David Roth coin routine in which he addressed the old cliche of vanished objects disappearing up the performer's sleeve. He removed his coat and rolled up his shirt sleeves, then placed a piece of coat sleeve on the table. Coins vanished from his bare hands, only to reappear "up his sleeve." Finally, a mirror appeared inside the sleeve, and Professor Miller was able to pull a coin's reflection from the mirror.

Brother Don Paul performed a short-change artist routine based on a story about Al Capone and a shop-keeping grandmother. The elderly short-change artist in the story shorted Al Capone on the change for a $20 bill. As Brother Don showed Al Capone's count of the bills, they were short. On a recount, the situation was even worse. However, when he reenacted the shopkeeper's recount, the change given was too much, and the shopkeeper removed another bill. The perplexed Al Capone counted one more time, finding the situation even worse.

Danny Baker presented a balloon-tying segment of his kid show, with funny bits of business that have accumulated over many performances. Dr. Wilson presented the showstopper from the magic class he recently taught at Summer Festival of the Arts, the "Letter From the Devil" from Tarbell, volume I. Dr. Wilson's attempt to cause a selected card to appear inside a banana failed, so he wrote a letter to the Devil. The answer came back by immediate return mail, including the selected card.

Dr. Wilson presented a Teaching Table on Wagers, drawing largely from The Modern Con Man by Todd Robbins. Dr. Wilson illustrated over a dozen wagers. Several Ring members fell prey to the series of increasingly ridiculous bets, which culminated in Dr. Wilson betting that he could cut a hole in his business card large enough to stick his head through. To no one's genuine surprise, he was able to do so. Dr. Wilson's efforts raised $10 for the Ring.

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