Ring Report
May 15, 2010

The fourth annual Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition was held on Saturday, May 15, at Next Generation Theatre in Brewer, Maine. The contest honors the memory of Chung Ling Soo (1861-1918), one of the most influential stage magicians in history. Chung Ling Soo never spoke in performance. To honor his memory, the contestants are required to perform without the use of speech, narration, or written language.

Reed Spool won the 2010 Chung Ling Soo Award with a stunning thimble act. He took the stage behind a stand microphone while the audience held its breath, knowing that a single spoken word would disqualify him. He cleared his throat, removed a single green plastic thimble from his vest pocket, and began beatboxing - producing the vocal approximation of a synthesized hiphop beat. The thimble vanished and reappeared, and was tossed invisibly into the air and caught on the other hand. It changed color and multiplied. Reed took out a stick of bubble gum and chewed it to just the right consistency, drawing it out of his mouth in a strand before trying again and turning it into a rigid rod, which vanished and reappeared multiple times. He ended the routine with a flurry of thimble multiplication to produce eight thimbles.

Professor Miller took second place with his Chinese Rings routine, which has been refined over many years of frequent performance. In his hands, the six thirteen-inch steel rings passed through each other, linking and unlinking in ever-more complex configurations. Solid steel briefly became as evanescent as smoke before changing back again. As the routine progressed, he linked and unlinked rings by tossing them into the air. At the end, all six rings were linked into a chain that flared out as he spun around; finally, they all became single again.

Danny Baker took third place with a charming act called "The Scrounger." As the act began, a trash can occupied center stage. Danny, dressed in worn clothing, entered pushing an improvised cart with a couple of plastic milk crates on it. He picked out cans and bottles from the trash for the deposits, then found some interesting items. A coat and hat improved his look, but also gave him magic powers: he produced a cane and transformed a silk. He found a beret and became an artist for a comedy bit. He found a felt circle and moved through a series of characters in a chapeaugraphy act. Then he found a kind of Troublewit hat and presented an additional series of characters before closing with a comedy rope routine.

Contest Official Dr. Wilson introduced the program, speaking the last words that would be uttered on stage until the curtain call. He also climbed the Ladder of Swords, his bare feet pressing down upon razor-sharp steel. Between acts, bellydance group Paradigm East and solo dancers Lyla Raqs and Sennyo filled the stage with movement and beauty. Dancer Zanjibal Zen opened the show with the Wings of Isis. Lyla Raqs performed a traditional veil dance. Sennyo performed a hoop dance as well as performing with buugeng, an unusual movement prop. Paradigm East closed the show with a dance number that filled the stage with nine dancers!

Photos and videos can be found at www.ibmring362.org.