Welcome to the 2020-21 Season

Sep08
by ring49magic on September 8, 2021 at 1:18 pm
Posted In: Other

Hello everyone.
I hope everyone had a great summer. Although we all had to experience an unusual year with the pandemic issues, we still managed to put forth an excellent lineup of virtual lectures and meetings on Zoom last year. Fortunately, things seem to be getting better with the vaccinations, however, with the current protocols in place we will need to start our meetings virtually this year, at least for the first few months. Also, since The Binkley Church has closed, we currently do not have a location for our in-person
meetings yet.
The executive has booked some virtual lectures to start the year and we are working on filling in the rest of the months. It is difficult to plan the 2022 months as we are uncertain if these will be in-person or virtual.

Below is a listing of our Executive for the new year, and our tentative line up of meetings.

2021 – 2022 Executive
Past President Scott Hood
President Doug Hunt
Vice-President Corey O’Shaughnessy
Treasurer Victor Staniewski
Social/Coffee Scott Hood

If anyone is interested in joining the executive, we are more than happy to have you assist as there are roles that you would be able to take on.

Membership Fees
The fees for the year will remain at the discounted price of $20 for the 2021/2022 year. The reduction in membership fees will continue this year since several the meetings will be virtual on Zoom. The membership fee can be paid by E-transfer and email to magicvictor@live.com, or mail the cheque payable to Doug Henning Magic Wand Club:
Victor Staniewski
7162 Hallsands Drive
Mississauga, ON
L5N 7S6

The September lecture will feature Chip Romano who will be doing a Doug Henning night. Chip has been a collector of Doug Henning magic and will be showing and explaining many of the items that he holds.

The October lecture will feature Old Jeff Pinsky from Browser’s Den of Magic, who will provide a dealer’s demo on some of the newer magic at the shop. In addition, Young Jeff will be performing magic tricks for our club.

Meeting Schedule and Activities 2021 – 2022
We are trying to provide a good variety of events for our meetings. Below is the tentative schedule for the year. As noted above there will be no meetings in person for the first three meetings in 2021. These meetings will be done on Zoom and we will send an email with instructions prior to the meetings.

7:00 – 9:30 Club Meeting on Zoom

September 14, Doug Henning Night Chip Roman – Guest Lecturer
October 12, Browsers Den of Magic Dealer Show and Magic Tricks
November 9, Lecture TBA
December 14, Member Perform Night Location – Coffee shop of Restaurant in Hamilton

Lecture: June 8, Scott Dietrich

May26
by ring49magic on May 26, 2021 at 8:31 am
Posted In: Other

June’s meeting will be on Tuesday June 8 starting at 7:00pm via Zoom. Details to be emailed to members.

Scott Dietrich Bio –
Born into a family magic troupe, and son of Kitchener’s own Gerard Dietrich, magic was always in the cards for Scott Dietrich. He was first recognized internationally at the age of 18 when he won 1st place honours in the Abbott’s Senior Magic Stage Competition in Colon, MI. At 22 Scott was named Showman of the Year at the Millennium Magic Convention in Limerick, Ireland. And for the past 8 consecutive years Scott has been voted Toronto’s “Best Children’s Entertainer” by the readers of City Parent Magazine. You may recognize Scott from his nightly appearances on YTV, when he would magically introduce your children’s favorite shows during Big Fun Weeknights. Through his children’s book “I Can and I Did!”, and his bullying prevention program “School Heroes Unite”, Scott is an advocate for literacy and children’s empowerment.

Lecture Description –

Kaizen is the philosophy of constant and never ending improvement. It led the Japanese automotive revolution, and I believe needs to be applied by every magician to all aspects of their business.

For several years leading up to 2010 I failed to apply this philosophy, became complacent, and watched my once consistent and lucrative magic business all but disappear. However, in moments of adversity we can either pout or ponder. I decided to ponder.

By taking ownership of my situation, asking better questions, and taking massive action, I was able to completely alter the trajectory of my career, reach milestones I had never imagined possible, and even marry Miss World Canada.

Well exactly 10 years later (2020), by no fault of our own, magicians and performers around the world suffered the same fate, and watched their once busy calendars evaporate under a virus induced lockdown.

Although there is a lot that is out of our control in a crazy time like this in history, there is a lot is in our control. Ask a better question, get a better answer. Find a need, and meet it. Within two weeks I was back in business, virtually.

We are magicians, conjurers, prestidigitators, impossible should not be in our vocabulary, and I would like to not only offer words of inspiration and encouragement, but tools and strategies to apply for continued success in our beloved art form.

Lecture: Bruce Kalver Feb 9, 2021

Jan26
by ring49magic on January 26, 2021 at 12:18 pm
Posted In: Other

Ring 49’s next virtual meeting is February 9, 2021. Our lecturer for the evening is Bruce Kalver. Bruce’s biography is below.

We will begin to log into the ZOOM portal about 6:50 pm. The meeting will begin with about 5 minutes of ring business before the host turns the meeting over to our guest lecturer.

The link and meeting ID are listed below.

ZOOM link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4973706913

Meeting ID:
497 370 6913

See you virtually at the next meeting.

A LITTLE ABOUT BRUCE

A regular performer at Hollywood’s famed Magic Castle, the home of the Academy of Magical Arts, Bruce Kalver has been working professionally for over half a century.

Billed in the early years as “Rhode Island’s Youngest Professional Magician,” his magic education started at the age of four when his grandfather, Samuel Woolf, who was himself a magician and an assistant to Houdini, began to teach him the art. At age six, he was ready to start his career.

His work in magic has taken him all over the world. He has toured with his wife and partner, Arlene, on cruise ships sailing the Atlantic and the Caribbean, in Dinner Theatres all over the country, and at trade shows where they added their magic touch to many products and services.

Bruce has been showcased and interviewed on television, in newspaper articles both locally and nationally, and has actually performed magic on the radio. He has acted as a magic consultant for the Tony Award winning Trinity Square Repertory Company as well as for numerous other professional, college, and amateur theatre groups for whom he performed or taught magic for their productions and created special magic effects.

Bruce is a very versatile performer; he is able to adapt to any possible stage setting or audience. That is why companies like Apple, Microsoft, CBS Records, Showtime Cable Network, General Electric, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Dave and Buster’s, Johnny Rockets and Marriott Hotels have utilized his talents and ideas.

Bruce has taught his craft at the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College, Johnson and Wales University (where he taught a special course on the use of magic to promote products), as well as many magicians’ groups around the world where Bruce has shared his special secrets with fellow conjurers. He has even lectured and performed at The Magic Castle in Hollywood and London’s prestigious Magic Circle.

Bruce was the National President of The Society of American Magicians in 2008-2009.

For close to 17 years, Bruce hosted a very popular weekly radio show, THE NOSTALGIA TIMES RADIO PROGRAMME on WBSM Radio

November Meeting: Tom Vorjohan Magic Lecture

Aug31
by ring49magic on August 31, 2020 at 12:54 pm
Posted In: Other

We have lined up Tom Vorjohan to lecture for Ring 49 on November 9, 2020.

This will be a virtual lecture, and connection details will be sent by email.

Tom is best known for his work with Daniel Herron as the Balloon Guys. In fact both Tom and Daniel were at the last CAM Convention that was held in Hamilton. However, Tom will not be lecturing on balloons. He will be lecturing on close up magic. Specifically strolling and restaurant magic.

September Meeting: Kozmo – Street Magician and Busker – Virtual Seminar

Aug31
by ring49magic on August 31, 2020 at 12:43 pm
Posted In: Other
Please find below the information for the Sept 8, 2020 virtual Ring49 magic meeting. This is our first meeting of the year.

Details on how to connect will be sent via email.

Since the meetings will not be held in person until the new year, it would be greatly appreciated if you could e-transfer  the membership fees of $20 to magicvictor@live.com prior to attending the first virtual meeting.

Kozmo’s lecture is a combination of his experience and experiences of performing magic on the streets as well as a tips, traps and tricks of how to be a busker. He will also teach some killer busker magic tricks along with a Q&A session throughout the entire lecture.  Kozmo has appeared as a headliner at all the major magic conventions. He has also appeared on the covers of most of the magazines throughout the magic community. Below is a short biography of Kozmo from the Magic Café;

Kozmo was born Ted Brainard in upstate New York. As a child, he was endlessly fascinated by the art of magic and at the age 9 he made magic his hobby.
In the early 1980s, Brainard worked at Cornell University as a broadcast engineer. Brainard found himself unhappy in his career, discovering there was no passion in what he was doing and felt he needed a change.

One day he heard about a street festival and wanted to see if he could make some extra cash performing card tricks there. Unbeknownst to him, Brainard made out like a bandit. In just three days, he raked in nearly two thousand dollars!

In a state of disbelief in how much money he had just accrued, Brainard wanted to test the streets out once again. So he brought his bag of tricks with him to the streets and performed – and again he yielded great results. Brainard was about to take his childhood hobby and turn it into a professional career.

Brainard went back to Cornell University to quit his job in order to pursue his career in street magic. He decided to seek out the best in the art of street performing, so he set his sights on legendary street magician Jim Cellini.

He had heard Cellini was performing in New Orleans at the time, so Brainard took a 4 day road trip from New York to New Orleans to meet the master. Cellini delightfully took Brainard under his wing and began training him during the late 1990s through 2003.

Brainard, under the teaching of Cellini and the instruction of the legendary Gazzo, adopted the stage name Kozmo, and went on to become one of the world’s top street magicians.Since that time Kozmo has also been the biggest voice in promoting Cellini’s name in the United States and one of the biggest in promoting busking through various media.

In 2006, he started a company called “Kozmo Magic,” which is recognized as one of today’s premier magic video production companies.

A year later, he launched Reel Magic magazine, a conjuring magazine sold in video format. The magazine is jam-packed with exclusive interviews, magic trick reviews and tantalizing articles. Reel Magic Magazine continues to be the benchmark in the video magic industry.

In December 2008, he used his earnings in busking to create a two-disc DVD set entitled, Tales from the Street, which teaches the successful secrets of working and entertaining on the streets.

Aside from lecturing, performing and working with new artists, he is currently focused on the continual improvement and quality of Reel magic Magazine.