December Linking Ring Cover Available to Buy
Category: Blog Posted by: C. DENNIS SCHICK
The original painting on the cover of the December issue of the I.B.M.’s monthly publication -- The Linking Ring -- will be sold in a ten-day auction beginning December 19. It will be sold on-line on eBay, where you can search for “Linking Ring Cover Greg Edmonds Art.” The 18-inch by 24-inch watercolor shows an Eighteenth-century magician performing Cups and Balls.
The featured article of the December issue is about Fernand Ridel, “The Ring Master.” He is given credit for helping establish five (that’s FIVE), I.B.M. Rings in France and for being an inspiration to hundreds of other magicians. He truly represents the “brotherhood” in I.B.M. This is also a birthday salute to him since he turns ninety on December 16.
Editor Sammy Smith opens the issue with a popular column he wrote last December which received such positive feedback that he is re-running it this year. President Oscar Munoz relates his delightful experience of representing the I.B.M. at the Magic Castle’s Veteran’s Week (he was s a Marine).
It has become a tradition in The Linking Ring since 2012 to feature “The Benevolence of Magic” in its December issue. We continue that tradition in 2016 with a feature article about Wes Iseli of Virginia, and his multiple benevolence activities. The spirit of the series is to give recognition to magicians who are “giving back,” as well to inspire other magicians to do the same.
Paul Fried, owner and operator for over five decades of the largest magic wholesale business -- D. Robbins & Co. -- died October 3 and we published his obituary in the November issue in the Broken Wand. In this issue we publish a four-page In Memoriam consisting of memories and tributes from his two daughters, his nephew and others who knew him well. It is likely that nearly magician owns at least one trick -- perhaps the first trick -- from D. Robbins, namely E-Z Magic.
This month Bev Bergeron brings us “Magicians who invented or should have” in his column CUTTING UP JACKPOTS. Adele Friel Rhindress devotes her column MAGICAL MOMENTS to her friendship with Bradley Jacobs, a long-time I.B.M. member. Skip Way’s column, POLISHING THE RINGS, advises us to “Partner with your library.” In his column THE THERAPY OF MAGIC, Scott Hood tells us to “Practice your patter.” In MARKETING MAGIC, Kent Cummins asks “Say what?” about “It’s the self-eating watermelon.” You have to read it.
Mike Powers calls his THE CARD CORNER column “Multiplex Invisible Card” this month. “Seeing Double Time” is what Andrew Woo calls his SIMPLE DIVERSIONS column. Michael Breggar’s column AUTO-MAGIC brings us “Three Numbers and a Lady.”
Convention reports this month come from: Robin Dawes, on the FFFF Convention in April, calling his report “The XXL-Files;” Simone Marron, on the Atlanta Harvest of Magic in September; and on the PCAM convention in August.
RING EVENTS this month include: Michael Ammar in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kozmo at Ring 211 (Grand Rapids, Michigan); Ring 235 (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada); and Ring 322 (Phillippines).
This month’s HOCUS POCUS PARADE is a tribute to Fernand Ridel. There are fifteen different effects from numerous magician friends, including French magicians. And in HOCUS IN FOCUS, reviewers tell their opinions about eleven new magic products -- books, tricks and DVDs.
THE BROKEN WAND honors eight magic people who have died, and Jon Racherbaumer wrote a nice memory piece on his friend Earle Christanberry Jr., which we include as an In Memoriam. (An obituary for Mr. Christenberry is in this issue’s Broken Wand.)
There are RING REPORTS from sixty-seven Rings this month. Do not overlook these because they are packed with terrific ideas for you to use for your Ring (including lecturers. themes for meetings, ice-breakers, etc.).
And whatever you do, don’t overlook the ADVERTISERS. They pay a large portion of the cost of producing the magazine. Besides, there’s a lot of timely information in those ads. Here they are -- front-to-back -- in the order they appear in the December issue:
Empower Sound (Amp BT Package offer
IBM-SAM Joint Convention (Rates go up January 1)
Top Hat and Wand Magic Shop, Las Vegas.
Dan Brock, TVP (Indiana)
John and Carol Pye
Fantasma Ring 257, Las Vegas
Bob & Nancy Patterson
Winter Carnival of Magic, March 9-11, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Show-Biz Services: “A new face for ventriloquism”
WWW.associationpros.com/ibm (year-round health insurance)
Murphy’s Magic
Brett Sherwood Magic (wands, cups and balls, etc.)
Larocksmagic.com (balloons)
Genii magazine
The Magic Bakery
Custom Magic Kits.com
Florida Close-up, Parlor Conference & Competition (magicpalooza.com)
Charles Arkin
Oscar Munoz
Clarence S. Miller Book
International Magic Auction.com
Mogar Knives
tomburgoon.com
M.H. Magic Magazines
BobSolariMagic.com
Wayne Hinkel
BJW Magical Jewelers
Daytona Magic
Trickshop.com
HMK Insurance
www.magicana.com/slaight (Alan Slaight Awards)
Real Time PK-Touch: www.taylorimagineering.com