The I.B.M. Blog & Articles

The International Brotherhood of Magicians

14 Jul

Day 1 -- 2015 IBM Jacksonville Convention

Category: News   Posted by: C. DENNIS SCHICK

As magicians and their families and others began arriving over the weekend in Jacksonville, Florida from all over the world, the anticipation and excitement started to build for the I.B.M. annual convention. I.B.M. staff members and officers arrived early, along with vendors and others who needed extra time to setup and get ready. 

This is the first of five daily reviews of each day of the convention. We will post the reviews late in the day, along with selected photos by convention photographer Michael Messing.

 

The convention actually began Monday evening with the kick-off of the Lance Burton Teen Seminar. Parents and their teens gathered for a Meet & Greet with instructors Eugene Burger, Larry Hass, Suzanne and Oscar Munoz. Then the teens had an opening session with Larry and Oscar, while their parents had a discussion with Eugene and Suzanne -- “Being the parents of a young magician.”

The Teen Seminar continued thismorning with a lecture by 

Oscar Munoz, followed by others by Shawn Farquhar, Eugene Burger, and Larry Hass. After a Pizza Party and a Skype call with 

Lance, the instructors held small group break-out sessions the rest of the afternoon. After dinner, the teens attended the Magic Film Festival with other convention attendees.

 

As for the rest of the convention, Early Bird Registration opened at 4:30 and the Dealer Room opened for the first time, signaling the official opening of the convention.

At 7, “A Night of Magic Movies” featured two award-winning documentaries.  First was Kevin Spencer’s “Powerful Medicine -- Simply Magic.”  Spencer has

 promoted the use of magic in physical therapy through his “Healing of Magic” program. The second documentary was about ChristianCagigal’s one-man show, “Now and at the hour.”

 

Ending day one of the convention was the first lecture at 10:15 p.m., by  Kozmo, the street magician, whose mentor was Cellini and who owns Kozmo Magic, the video production company. Of course, as is the tradition at I.B.M. conventions, magicians who couldn’t get enough magic magished into the wee small hours of the morning.

 

Tuesday also saw two well-established traditions at I.B.M. conventions take place. The first was the visit by a group of magicians to a local hospital. Scott Hood led this event. There they brought the joy and wonder of magic to patients. The second was the start of selling collector’s lapel pins to benefit a local charity. More details of both of these — as well as all convention events — will be reported in the August and September issue of The Linking Ring.

 

Goodnight.

 

 

 


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