Weekly Round-Up
by SCOTT WELLS
January 26, 2009

Howdy friends. I have been posting weekly updates to this column since February 4, 2008 with great regularity. By my count, it appears that we are now reaching a milestone with 50 postings making this a golden anniversary of sorts. This began as a labor of love and continues to be so even today as I sit here sipping my savory coffee. And I hope to continue submitting more updates to help promote magic in general and Houston in particular. We have a few things going on around town this week for those interested in all things magic around Houston. First, information about some lectures coming; fire and water damage forces us out of I.B.M. Ring venue; banquet update; club meeting notices; T.A.O.M. video update, and; who's working where. (Read More...)

First a quick announcement for those who might be in town and wish to attend our I.B.M. Ring #39 meeting tonight. I mentioned a couple weeks ago that our regular meeting place at the Bayou Manor was damaged due to a fire. While the smoke, fire and water damage is being repaired, we will convene at the IATSE Meeting Hall on a temporary basis. It is hoped and expected that they will complete the renovation soon...much faster than the work that is taking place (?) at the Magic Island. Tonight's meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. with a mini lecture by our resident "Limey", John Star will present a much anticipated presentation. John appeared at the local Hard Rock Café last Friday night performing walk around magic for the patrons. This was an apparent last minute engagement so it was not announced until the morning of the event. Several of the local magicians went out to support him.

Lectures are in the Houston news this week with several on the upcoming calendar. We will begin with John Calvert and Tammy coming in for a very special performance and lecture here on Tuesday February 3rd at the IATSE Meeting Hall. John will talk about how to become a magician; how to build an act or a big magic show; the finesse of presentation; creating and choosing illusions; selection of assistants; financing and operating a world touring production; how to obtain a sponsorship, create publicity, and conduct an advertising campaign; also publicity stunts that make headlines, television, and radio news.

Next up on Tuesday March 3rd will be Ed Ellis who will be one of the featured lecturers at this year's I.B.M. convention in Nashville (BTW, don't forget to register today so as not to miss out on the discount that ends January 31). Ed will be doing an abbreviated tour of Texas by covering just a few of the larger cities here: Houston, San Antonio and Dallas/Ft. Worth. This date is pending due to another professional engagement but will be confirmed within this week. Ed plans to open his lecture with a five minute "mind blowing" display of card magic from his 2008 Magic Castle Routine. He will then follow this by explaining each of the effects in detail. Presentation and connection with the audience is emphasized throughout his lecture. Ed will continue with a nice change of pace focusing on coin and rubber band magic. The lecture will conclude with Ed's fun-filled version of "The Bill and Lemon" and his "You Blue It" routine. There will be other commercial material interlaced throughout his lecture to make this one of the better lectures of the year for us.

Martin Lewis will lecture at the world headquarters of H&R Magic Books on Saturday April 4th. Lectures at H&R are always well received and very intimate by the very nature of the small quarters. Also, Richard's wife, Rosemary, always bakes brownies for everyone as part of the snacks they offer during the lecture. On a related note, Paul Gertner will not be lecturing in Houston or anywhere throughout Texas due to another professional engagement that came up before the tour was confirmed. It was hoped that Paul would come through to lecture at H&R, but alas, we must wait a little longer for his appearance here.

Three days later on Tuesday April 7th, Richard Turner and Doug Gorman will deliver a twin lecture for the Houston area magicians as a stop along their southern lecture tour. Richard Turner will open his lecture with his Magic Castle show.  Then he will render particulars on the second deal, bottom deal and the center deal.  According to the audience preference he will give details for palming, brushes, stacks, faults, shuffles and cuts, shifts, card switches and more. Doug Gorman is not only a professional performer, but he also creates and markets magic effects. In his lecture, he will present some of his original creations using cards, ball vases, and shot glasses. We are fortunate and proud that these two creative and wonderful magicians reside in the state of Texas. Often we overlook some of the stellar talent in our own back yard. 

Other magic lecturers that are on the horizon for Houston include: Kozmo, Troy Hooser and Joshua Jay. This should be another great year for us to learn from the best. We hope that if your travels bring you through Houston that you can coordinate your trip to join us for one or more of these lectures.

The date, venue and talent is set for the annual Installation of Officers Banquet. It will be held on Sunday February 15th at the SPJST Lodge 88 Hall, 1435 Beall, Houston, TX 77008 which in the Heights area. I mentioned over the past few weeks that we will feature talent from Austin on our stage show. It can now be announced that closing the bill will be Phil Kampf with his dove act and his comedy and illusion show. We also expect to have a plethora of prestidigitators "wand"ering from table to table during the close-up hour. We had a record breaking year in 2008 with attendance over 400 and we hope to do even better this year. The actual business of installing the officers takes about 15 minutes and does not interfere or disrupt any of the magic activities. In fact, it is a fun installation!

We also present special awards including the "Magician of the Year". Who will get the award this year? This is not an award that is subjectively handed out by a secret panel of judges. Nor is it a personality contest with local magicians casting votes. This is a hard earned award that comes from several criterion: attendance at meetings, performances, promotion, publicity, charity events, and so much more. If you are anywhere near Houston around Valentine's Day, then be sure to attend this very special event. You can Click Here to view a PDF flyer and print out a registration form for you, your family, friends, neighbors and business associates. They will all thank you.

I took a moment this past weekend to sit down with Scott Hollingsworth to talk about the T.A.O.M. convention which will be hosted by Houston this September 4-7. I recorded it on video and edited it for time. It is a promotional video for our event, but it provides some good information on what to expect this year. If you have about six minutes to watch it, then I think you will enjoy the clip below.

Now to who's working around town: 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 January 29th from 7:00 to 9:00. Shane Wilson will perform there on Saturday January 31st 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.

As we continue into the New Year, I will close with a rather esoteric quote: "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

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