Weekly Round-Up
by SCOTT WELLS
March 2, 2009

Howdy friends. Time to flip the calendar page and wish our friends "down under" in Western Australia a Happy "Labour" Day. While some celebrate and some play, some work or are looking for work. Opportunities abound for those who seek them out even in these unstable economic times. Magicians are known for our creativity and for presenting magic on the leading edge of technology before the rest of the world discovers it (see: Robert-Houdin and the Light/Heavy Chest). Now is certainly the time to prove our creative worth to maintain economic viability and perhaps indeed our very existence. But enough heavy pontificating...lot's of stuff happening in and around the Houston magic community and beyond this week...Richard Hatch public show, meetings, lectures and an update on The Magic Island. (Read More...)

Richard Hatch, co-owner of H & R Magic Books in Humble, will be the featured entertainment at the monthly luncheon at the May Community Center in Huffman this Friday, March 6th at 11:00 a.m. Hatch promises that once attendants have made their food disappear at the All-You-Can-Eat event, he will amaze and astound with deceptions he has learned in his world travels in search of mystery. Hatch has performed in such exotic settings as trade shows in Budapest, Taiwan and the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Parlor of Prestidigitation at the Magic Castle in Hollywood and Eddie Murphy's New Year's Eve Party. Sugar Ray Leonard, Arsenio Hall and former President and First Lady George and Barbara Bush are just a few of the many guests who have been entertained up close by his intimate deceptions. Don't miss the opportunity to see him give a rare public performance so close to home.

Huffman is a small community just the other side of the FM 1960 East bridge (over Lake Houston) from Atascocita.  "Catfish on Wheels" will serve the all-you-can-eat fried catfish, shrimp, French fries, hush puppies, coleslaw, and beans. A $12 per person donation is requested and payable in advance upon registration. NOTE: please contact John Laws at njlaws3@kingwoodcable.com on or before the end of the day, Tuesday March 5th if you want to attend so he can confirm your reservation. The May Center needs a headcount for the Center. 

May Community Center's free intergenerational programs are part of Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry Eversole's educational and recreational commitment to Harris County residents. May Community Center, 2100 Wolf Road, Huffman 77336, is about 15 miles from where Highway 59N intersects FM 1960 in Humble.  Information on the Center can be found by visiting www.hcp4.net/ccenters.

The I.B.M. Ring #39 held its February meeting last week at the regular meeting place for the S.A.M. Assembly #19. We had to hold it on an alternate night from our usual fourth Monday due to the renovation of the regular meeting place due to the fire reported here earlier. The good news is that we have been told we can return to our regular meeting place at the Bayou Manor on our regular meeting night commencing with our March meeting on the 23rd.

Our monthly meeting of the H.A.O.M. and the S.A.M. Assembly #19 will be tonight Monday March 2nd. The evening kicks off with a scheduled mini-lecture by Scott Hollingsworth who will give us updates on the upcoming T.A.O.M. convention here in Houston. As usual, this meeting will be in the IATSE Meeting Hall at 3030 North Freeway (that's Highway 45) just inside the 610 Loop (exit at Cavalcade).I will also have FREE passes to distribute at the meeting for the private screening of "The Great Buck Howard". This screening will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday March 18th at the River Oaks Theatre, 2009 W. Gray, Houston, TX 70019.

We will host Ed Ellis as our guest lecturer next week on Tuesday March 10th. This will be the fourth of five in our Lecture Series. As usual the lecture will take place at the IATSE Meeting Hall, 3030 North Freeway (Interstate 45 at the Cavalcade exit) at 7:30 p.m. We are excited to host this lecturer as he will be on an abbreviated tour through just three Texas cities. This will give us a preview of what to expect later this year at the I.B.M. convention where Ed will be one of the featured lecturers.

As to upcoming lectures, April will be a busy month and there are still some moving targets but I will keep you up to date so you can mark your calendars. First up in April will be Martin Lewis who will be hosted by H&R Magic Books. The scheduled date of Saturday April 4th has been moved to Friday evening April 3rd due to the pending nuptials of P.J. Campagna who has invited most of the Houston magic community. The time is not yet set in stone and still subject to change so stay tuned.

The first Monday of April will be our monthly combined meeting again of the H.A.O.M. and the S.A.M. Assembly #19. The following night, Tuesday April 7th will give us the joint lecture team of Richard Turner and Doug Gorman. That lecture will be the fifth and final in our current Lecture Series. About two weeks later on Monday April 20th the I.B.M. Ring #39 will host Doc Eason. This will not be part of the Lecture Series but instead will be another fund raiser for I.B.M. Ring #39. We did very well with the John Calvert lecture raising well over $1,000 which went toward retiring our debt for the 2004 T.A.O.M. convention. The location of Doc's lecture is not yet set but will probably be at the Bayou Manor. More information on the location and content of Doc's lecture as we get closer to the date.

I cannot report any good news on The Magic Island. It appears that any remodeling or renovations for the Island have not been scheduled. The roof is repaired but no one is working on the inside and all appears dark. There seems to be no firm plan on what to do with the building. I am not reporting on its demise, just its general health which looks deathly ill. If I were a prognosticator I would predict that the building will be up for lease within six months. In this economy I do not think there is anyone who can or would step up and take over the building to bring it back to its once pristine glory. The cost for the remodeling and advertising would probably be double what the owner might think it's worth. But that is only my opinion. I will let you know when anything happens in this continuing sad saga.

And now once again on to who is performing where: John Star will perform magic "on the grill" this week at Tokyohana's Grill and Sushi Bar at 3239 Southwest Freeway (I-45) on Thursday night on March 5th from 7:00 to 9:00. Shane Wilson will perform there on Saturday March 7th from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. Eric Falconer continues as the house magician two nights a week at Sakekawa, a sushi restaurant in the Woodlands, a northern suburb of Houston. Eric will be performing tableside and "grill" side each Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 then again on Saturdays from 6:30 to 8:30.  You can call Sakekawa for reservations at 281-419-5988.

Shane Wilson is working with another restaurant in Sugar Land that plans to have magicians twice a week...Tuesdays and Fridays. I will let you know when and where this will happen but tentative plans are for it to start immediately.

Although Joseph P. Kennedy is credited with the following quote, it has been popularized by football coaches all over the world and even Billy Ocean in the movie, "Jewel of the Nile" and is no less inspirational in our economic times - "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

Be sure to watch this space for ever changing news of what's happening in and around the Houston magic scene. If you have any information or reviews on magic happenings or events in our area, then please send it to me. You can leave a public comment, suggestion, advice, opinion or question on this week's article by clicking on the link at the bottom of this blog. If you prefer, then you can leave a private message by sending an email to: Scott Wells