Weekly Round-Up
by SCOTT WELLS
March 9, 2009

Howdy friends. By today most of us in the U.S. have made the adjustments to our mental clocks since we "sprang forward" one hour over the weekend, thus losing one hour of sleep which we will gain back later this year. It sounds vaguely like the economic recovery plan. Anyway, lots of lecturers coming through here this year. In times of economic slowdown, we must turn to alternate streams of revenue which is why I think we will be seeing an unprecedented volume of professional magicians going on lecture tours. And this is a good thing for us as we see various styles and learn great stuff from some of the best. This week we have an update on The Magic Island plus other things going on around Houston. (Read More...)

I missed Tim Hannig who came through town last week. He brought his illusion show to a local church as part of his church ministry and gospel magic show. We had talked about this over FaceBook but I had completely forgotten about it until he came to town. Although his presentation was not open to the public, he had graciously invited me to attend; however, I already had prior commitments. I do hope to catch his show the next time he comes through our area. Tim specializes in children's and family entertainment and has been seen at Six Flags, twice at The White House, and in the United Kingdom. Currently, Tim presents The Pro-Kids Show, specializing in school daytime assemblies and family night shows. He also regularly performs at some of the largest churches in America, for audiences up to 10,000 people. He is also the one who produced and markets the wonderful CD, "The Show Starts Before the Show Starts" which should be a mandatory investment for about anyone who performs a stage act.

We learned over this past weekend of the sad passing of one of the legends in magic, Ali Bongo. I posted an obituary as an addendum to my weekly blog that gave a lot of background about this great man but words cannot evoke enough emotion for all that he has generously contributed to so many of us around the world for so many years. His life has intersected with nearly all of us at some point whether personally or through some idea he has sparked through his writings and illustrations. There are so many personal stories I know people want to share in our magic community and I hope there will be a place to post those heartfelt expressions. One place might be in the comment field of the aforementioned obituary. If you feel so moved, then please feel free to post your thoughts, stories and memories there.

The memorial service for our departed Houston magical brother, David Inkster, has been set by his family. A special service will be held on March 21st at 10:00 a.m. at the Sugar Land United Methodist Church, 431 Eldridge Rd., Sugar Land, TX with a reception following.  There will be no Broken Wand ceremony during the memorial service at David's request. This ceremony was attended to by Bill Palmer at our regular magic club meeting in January. There will be a time for sharing your thoughts at the memorial service. 

We are about a week away from the premiere of "The Great Buck Howard" which will open at the River Oaks Theater on Friday March 20th.  We have been given free preview passes to catch a sneak peek on Wednesday night March 18th. This should be a fun evening that will include a short magic/mentalism show to kick off the festivities. I distributed the free passes at the club meeting last week, but for anyone who was not there, then please contact me and I will be sure to get a free pass into your hand. I live just two blocks away from the theater so it will be easy for you to pick it up on the night of the event, but due to its hype and popularity, I recommend that you get there plenty early to get a seat. More on this as we get closer.

We will host Ed Ellis as our guest lecturer tomorrow night 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.

Here is what Ed promises in his lecture from his promo material: Ed opens his lecture with a five minute "mind blowing" display of card magic from his 2008 Magic Castle Routine. He then follows this by explaining each of the effects in detail. Presentation and connection with the audience is emphasized throughout his lecture. Ed continues with a nice change of pace focusing on coin and rubber band magic. This has been very well received on his lecture tour. The lecture concludes with Ed's fun-filled version of "The Bill and Lemon" and his "You Blue It" routine.

Included in his lecture is the "Ringnature" effect featured on Volume 5 of his lecture DVD. A borrowed ring is placed on a rubber band and wrapped around a deck of cards, the rubber band and ring vanish as the deck is shown and then reappear capturing the spectator's signed card.

Although not known for coins, Ed shows how combining two coin routines strengthens the overall presentation and emphasizes magic rather than sleight of hand. Ed also includes a section consisting of his on a double lift, the Elmsley Count, and the Tilt Move. This would be of interest to the beginner.

Ed's teaches his handling of the "Bill To Lemon", complete with all of Ed's comedy bits and pieces. In addition, Ed will give you tips on how to get hired and how to make that first impression. Ed will also discuss how you can present yourself as a well-rounded performer. This is a lecture you won't want to miss.

I have been mentioning some of the lecturers we have coming up with April being absolutely jam packed with stellar lecturers including: Martin Lewis, Richard Turner, Doug Gorman, and Doc Eason (BTW, a big tip of the top hat and congratulations to Doc Eason for winning the AMA Close-Up Magician of the Year award.) Whew, what a month! And they are sandwiched between Ed Ellis in March and Kozmo in May followed by Troy Hooser in June. Dan Harlan happens to be coming through our area for another corporate gig and offered to lecture in late April, but where could we put him and would our group be able to handle yet another lecturer so soon? And just this weekend we were also made aware of yet another lecturer who wants to come through, Justin Miller. I am not sure of when he wants to lecture here, but we only have room later in the year as long as it doesn't conflict with the T.A.O.M. we will host in September.

Well, now it appears that June is starting to fill up, too, because Jay Sankey just came available to lecture that month. Jay has not lectured in our area for over a decade and we are excited about seeing this dynamic performer, creator, comedian, magician and teacher give us lessons in sleight-of-hand. Plus we are always assured that his lectures will be fun filled with so many impromptu asides and humorous stories from the road. We have slated Jay for June 23rd which is two weeks after our Troy Hooser lecture on June 9th. Jay's all new lecture will include lots of close-up and mentalism ideas and we are really looking forward to seeing him here. More on this lecture as we near the date.

Scott Hollingsworth, President of the T.A.O.M., announced that this year's convention here in Houston will honor Ramon Galindo. His myriad accomplishments in magic and his unswerving dedication to our organization make him the obvious choice for this honor. 

Ramon joined TAOM in 1949 and has not missed a single convention during the ensuing 60 years.  As a volunteer, he filmed convention acts for over 40 years.  He has generously offered to donate his personal TAOM film library to the archives.  His many honors include winning the TAOM Herman Yerger Trophy for Creativity and serving as TAOM president for a very successful convention in Austin in 1993.  Ramon has performed around the world, earning many awards and accolades, including being named one of Mexico's "Magicians of the Decade" in 2008. 

Many of you have read about T.A.O.M.  history; Ramon has lived it. 

A section of the Souvenir Program will be devoted to Ramon's many accomplishments and contributions.  You can publish a personal message or congratulatory note to Ramon in the program.  Watch for details by visiting the website at http://www.taom2009.com/.

Last week I reported that the Magic Island was very dark and did not appear to have any solid plan for remodeling or reopening. Well, Phil Kampf drove by The Magic Island last week and noticed several repair vehicles in the parking lot. It appears that there may indeed be some renovations taking place or soon to take place...or at least there are a bunch of people looking at what needs to be done. I am now more cautiously optimistic, but someone will need to take a peek inside to see what's going on for sure. Scott Hollingsworth plans to meet with the General Manager soon to see what's happening. Once again and as usual, I will let you know when anything happens in this continuing saga. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

And now once again we turn our attention to who is performing where: Scott Wells 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 12th from 7:00 to 9:00. Shane Wilson will perform there on Saturday March 14th 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.

Ideas live on and are given new life with each generation and Ali Bongo has certainly given us a lot of ideas that will last long beyond today. Last week I quoted Joseph P. Kennedy and this week I quote his son, John F. Kennedy with the following, "A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on."

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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