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Next Meeting: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4, 2012 — Energy Auditorium/TCC-Trinity River Campus
April 2013—www.fortworthmagiciansclub.org—Volume 2013 Issue 4
On A Personal Note . . . Prayers and Best Wishes
[Editor’s notice: This column is dedicated news about our
members and friends in the greater North Texas magic
community, particularly regarding those who are under the
weather, recovering, and those of our community whom we
unfortunately lose. As we can, we will provide mailing ad-
dresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers for our
colleagues and their families.
To this end, please send your information to the Flashpaper
editor Geoff Grimes at [email protected] or call at
972-740-3125.
Please provide contact information as you can.
Wanna learn some neat magic? Norman Beck to lecture at the April meeting!
Features: Report, Past Presidents Column, Once Upon a Time, Prez Says
Rob Davis, a member of the Dallas Magic Clubs and an
occasional guest of the FWMC, has been injured in a car
accident and must undergo corrective surgery and physi-
cal therapy thereafter. A male nurse who performs magic
for his patients, Rob last visited our club this past Febru-
ary as the guest of Bruce Chadwick.
Dorothy Lee Allen, mother of Dallas Magic Clubs mem-
ber Derrel Allen, past away on March 20th. Born in 1920,
Dorothy was 93 years old at the time of her passing.
The FWMC extends is warmest regards to Rob and to
Derrel and his family at this difficult time.
Norman Beck, MUM columnist
and Magic Castle performer
Michael Stein, Vice President for Programs, announces the program for the April 4th
meeting will be none other than North Texas’ own Norman Beck! If you’ve never
seen him, you’re in for a real treat. Norman has put together a new lecture, one that
he has shared in Austin recently, and one that includes new material that he will be
performing and lecturing from when he joins John Carney this August for a joint
lecture.
Larry Hass, performer and teacher with Jeff McBride in the “McBride Magic and
Mystery School,” praises Norman for his creative ingenuity and “aw-shucks” perfor-
mance style: “Norman performs wonderful close-up magic that also fools the pants
off magicians. He achieves this through off-beat methods, very clever thinking, and
engaging presentations. I enthusiastically recommend his entertaining and inspiring
lectures.”
Michael notes that since this will be a teaching lecture, the meeting will operate as a
closed meeting for FWMC dues paid-up members only. Those who wish to renew
their membership may do so at the beginning of the meeting for $20 and may enjoy
the lecture free. Guests of 2012-2013 FWMC members may attend for a fee of $20.
Norman’s lecture will begin after the preliminary club announcements and activities.
The Flashpaper, April 2013, Volume 2013, Issue 4, page 2
Out-a-th’ Box ~ The Prez Says
What are you doing? There’s an old story about the building of London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral in the 17th century. There are many versions, but in essence, three workmen were asked what they were doing. The first said, “I’m cutting stone.” Another said, “I’m earning five shillings two pence a day.” But the third worker, who happened to have one of the more menial tasks, replied, “Can’t you see? I’m helping Sir Christopher build a magnificent cathedral to the glory of God!” The third worker had a real sense of mission. He saw how his task contributed to the big picture. So what are you doing with your magic? Have you ever given it any thought? Are you doing tricks? Of course…we all are, and there is nothing wrong with that. Several members of our club are making their livings or supplementing their incomes with magic. Certainly not a thing wrong with that. It requires a higher skill level than many of us possess. But doing tricks, whether or not for money, is the “means.” What is the “end?” Is it just, “Ha, I fooled you!”? Or is it more akin to, “Casting a spell of wonder and mystery that enchants and entertains.”? And does it make any difference? Well, for me, thinking in “building a cathedral” terms has helped me in show plan-ning, scripting, and rehearsing as I continue my attempts to improve my performance of magic.
Sim-Sala-Bim Larry
Larry Heil, President
Fort Worth Magicians Club
Ash Adams
Bob Adams
Luther Adkins
Richard Amon
Dana Archip
Stacey Archip
Will Baffle
Thomas Bowes
Larry Brown
Rick Burcher
Jean Capshaw
Bruce Chadwick
Louis Daniel
Robert DeVargas
Bernard Dolenz
Arthur Emerson
Albert Fox
Tommy Garbin
Marvin Gearhart
Geoffrey Grimes
Jeffrey Hallberg
Don Hartman
Brendan Hartman
John Hatzenbuhler
Larry Heil
Craig Herron
Shel Higgens
George Hopkins
Hal Hudgins
Pamela Hudgins
Bill Irwin
Jess Langston
Randy Keck
Ray Landry
Matthew Martin
Van McGee
Stephen Medellin
Mark Miertschin
Richard Pemper
Jamie Phelps
Ruth Porter
Walt Porter
Michael Reiche
Michael Rubino
Libby Sharpe
Russell Shead
Pix Smith
Daryl Sprout
Logan Stadtman
Betty Jo Standridge
Michael Stein
David Thomason
Michael Tracie
Leland Van Deventer
Earl Warren
Brent Weaver
Doug Wilson
Ron Wilson
David Youngblood
April Birthday Greetings!
Jean Capshaw
Hal Hudgins
Dal Samders
Pix Smith
Ron Wilson
Whooo —
Hoooh!!
Current Members of the FWMC
The Flashpaper, April 2013, Volume 2013, Issue 4, page 3
2012-2013 FWMC Dues past due!
If you haven’t already paid your dues for the 2012-2013
year, they are now due. Annual dues are only $20 a
year with special rates for various types of memberships
(see the dues form attached.)
Your dues help support the many activities of the club
and special events including club meeting programs,
honoraria for presenters, occasional expenses for club
refreshments and dining, annual lectures, support for our
Cook Children’s Hospital Young Magicians Club, special
awards and recognitions, and tributes to our friends in
the club who may be in need.
To submit your dues, complete the attached dues form
and submit it with your check or cash for $20, or simply
go online to www.fortworthmagiciansclub.org and pay by
PayPal or credit card.
Calendar for April
Tim Sonnefelt Lecture, Monday, April 1, 6:30 p.m. The
First Presbyterian Church of Arlington, 1200 South
Collins, Arlington. Tickets are $10.
Emory Williams Lecture, Friday, April 5, 7:30 p.m., The
Illusion Warehouse, 3917 McCart Avenue, Fort Worth.
Call (817) 832-6062
Norman Beck Lecture, Fort Worth Magicians Club
April Meeting—7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, at the
Tarrant County College-Trinity River Campus, located at
300 Trinity Campus Circle at the corner of Cherry Street
and Belknap in downtown Fort Worth. The meeting is
held in the Energy Auditorium on the (elevator) 6th
floor. This will be a closed lecture for FWMC mem-
bers only. [TAOM Planning Meeting—6:00 p.m.]
Second Saturday, Saturday, April 13, Magic etc, 9:00
a.m., Forest Park Blvd. a I-30, Fort Worth.
Cook Children’s Hospital Young Magicians Club—
the club meets monthly, alternating between perfor-
mances and classes. The club is an extension of volun-
teer programs at the hospital. Contact Bill Irwin at 817-
805-1665 or by email at [email protected] for
more information.
Monday Night Magic—Magic aficionados meet infor-
mally every Monday evening at the Humperdink’s
Restaurant at Six Flags in Arlington. Anyone interested
in magic is welcome to attend.
Dallas Magic Clubs—7:00 p.m., December 18th at
Crosspointe on Parker Road in Carrollton. The club
meets on the third Tuesday of every month.
March Meeting welcomes new member
President Larry Heil greeted the members and guests, eight-
een attending the March meeting. Bill Irwin gave an update
on developing plans for the 2014 TAOM Convention in Fort
Worth. A round of applause went up with
the announcement that we have secured
Master Paine as one of our program
highlights.
Master caricature wood carver and club
member Doug Wilson presented a magi-
cal walking stick that he has just finished
which he plans to donate as a sponsor of
the 2014 TAOM Convention.
Program Chair Michael Stein then intro-
duced Jamie Phelps who performed a
full set of magical pieces as his qualifying
act as our club’s newest member.
In lieu of Libby Sharpe, the club “totem”
performance featured Geoff Grimes. He
shared routines from his children’s birth-
day party work that he performs each
week as the “old keeper of the attic” at
Main Street Magic and Fun Company.
Geoff then passed the performance
totem to club member Tom Bowes who
accepted it for presentation at the April
meeting.
Michael Stein followed with his
“Performing Artists Skills Session” focus-
ing this month on “Magic with a
Message.” Pulling out of his pocket three
lengths of rope (“Professor’s Nightmare”),
Michael proceeded to demonstrate “magic with a message”
without ever mentioning the word “ropes.”
Mark Miertschen demonstrated a Gospel
message through a story built around a
paper tear. Larry Heil then performed
“Heaven and Hell,” a piece that he is prepar-
ing for the “Magic & Meaning Workshop” in
Las Vegas this fall. Using
a recitation of British poet
Rudyard Kipling’s
“Tomlinson,” Larry introduced and then
vanished a selected jumbo playing card
that disappeared in a two-sided display
case.
Michael announced the lecture of Norman
Beck, a closed lecture for the April meeting.
“Once Upon a Time” with Arthur Emerson
The Flashpaper, April 2013, Volume 2013, Issue 4, page 5
A 19 year old young man from South Africa came to England to try his hand as a magi-cian. His name was Edward Williams. After some unsuccessful starts in Birmingham he went to London and was taken under the wing of the Davenports who found him a job as a magic demonstrator in Gamage’s Dept. Store. The year was 1928.
He met a partner named Fred Barlow, and they started doing shows as Fred and Ned – until someone pointed out to him that England already had a magician named Ned Wil-liams.
So he took on the name Robert Harbin . . . . and tonight he is lecturing at The Magic Circle.
I write this to demonstrate how “giving” the English magicians were with each other.
Professionals and amateurs shared their routines and secrets freely and tonight Harbin is going to teach two routines. One is about to be taken out of his act, and the other is the modernization of one of his earliest effects.
He began by presenting his blindfolded reading of the serial number on a borrowed note.
His explanation of the blindfold insured perfect vision down the right side of his nose.
He spent a long time explaining the blindfold and convincing the audience that there were no apertures from which he could see – and then opening up a view to his lower right.
He always worked the audience from his left to his right so that borrowed bills were held by both hands as he showed the serial number to an audience member to his right - and of course to himself.
Since this was a part of his current act, why disclose the intimate details to the TMC?
Sadly, he stated, that his eyesight was becoming so poor that he could no longer glimpse the serial numbers quickly.
The chosen playing card in a whisky bottle was published in an early ABRA magazine.
But it required a table with a well, 2 nesting cigar boxes (one with no bottom) and two bottles with a card force.
It was time to modernize what he thought was a worthy effect, and he had just put this new method together and wanted to share it with the members. The new method required only one empty ½ pint whisky bottle, a 16” silk foulard, a deck of cards, a pen and a paper bag.
The bottle is shown to be empty with the top screwed tight. It is laid upon the foulard with the neck at the center and the bottom facing one of the corners. The 2 side corners are folded over the top of the bottle. A card is chosen, signed and returned to the deck.
The deck is placed, face down on top of the bottle just after lifting one of the side corners, thus hiding the deck. A spectator is asked to come for-ward and slowly unwrap the bottle.
He folds back all 4 corners and sees the signed card inside the bottle. Harbin picked up the bottle and walked it through the audience, finally placing it on its base on the table while he opens a small paper bag, places the bottle into the bag and gives it to the person who chose the card as a souvenir.
The rest of that evening was spent discussing and trouble shooting the presentation and method for both effects. Harbin thought that no one
would go to the trouble to perform this method. He was wrong; both Terry Seabrooke and Billy McComb presented it. (But NOT very often!)
I leave the card in bottle with you to conjecture. I have been very fair about the description and leave you with one addi-tional clue – England had just been introduced to clear, acrylic, contact cement.
Any time we are together, I would be happy to explain it to you.
Arthur Emerson
Robert Harbin
David Blaine performs “card in bottle”
PRESIDENT
Larry Heil, 817-444-0743,
EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT AND
PROGRAM CHAIRMAN
Michael Stein, 817-920-9920,
VICE-PRESIDENT AND EDITOR OF
THE FLASHPAPER
Geoff Grimes, 972-740-3125,
[email protected] or [email protected]
VICE-PRESIDENT AND WEBMASTER
Bruce Chadwick, 817-832-6062,
SECRETARY
Libby Sharpe, 214-808-0202
TREASURER
Matthew Martin, 303-841-7374
SERGEANT AT ARMS
Mike Rubino, 817-262-3325
Mr_jack_jackal@yahoo,com
HISTORIAN
Rick Burcher, 817-469-7037
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
Jeff Hallberg, 817-479-3186
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
Pamela Jenkins Hudgins, 817-465-4266
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
Richard Amon, 940-264-6637
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
Michael Reiche, 682-999-4286
TRUSTEE (Term Expires 2017)
Bruce Chadwick, 817-832-6062
TRUSTEE (Term Expires 2013)
Arthur Emerson, 817-868-6827
TRUSTEE (Term Expires 2015)
Bill Irwin, 817-805-1655
APPOINTED TAOM REPRESENTATIVES
Bill Irwin, Ren Clark IBM Ring 15, Mark
Miertschin, Bruce Chadwick SAM Assembly 138
The Flashpaper, April 2013, Volume 2013, Issue 4 page 5
2012-2013 Club Officers Learning to “Ride the Horse—Guest Commentary by
Past FWMC President Bruce Chadwick
Editor’s Note: Bruce Chadwick is a past president of the Fort Worth
Magicians Club (1986, 2009). He is the owner of The Illusion Warehouse in
Fort Worth, a master craftsman and builder of illusions performed throughout
the United States and abroad, and the namesake of the “Bruce Chadwick”
S.A.M. Assembly #138. Bruce has been a professional magician for his
whole career and holds advanced degrees from Southwest Theological
Seminary in Fort Worth and Baylor University.
This article is the third in a series of short commentaries by former presidents
of the Fort Worth Magicians Club. We appreciate the support of our past of-
ficers in sharing their insight and encouragement while maintaining continuity
with our past. The Flashpaper extends its gratitude to Bruce for permission to
include the following article.
Typically, I do 12-15 shows each month. I have been on an unstoppable roll recently, a long series of shows where I have just killed. The flow, con-tinuity, audience reaction, aesthetics, everything was just wonderful for these shows and I have walked away from each show with great satisfaction, knowing that I am a true entertainment professional.
That is until last Wednesday night.
I was up in Oklahoma performing for a church youth Valentine banquet. I gave it 110%. The lighting, sound, stage, distance between me and the audi-ence, everything was just perfect. The problem was that when I told a joke, the kids just sat there with little to no reaction. I felt like an idiot. I finished the show with all kinds of emotions
running from knowing I gave it my all, to wanting to just go home and hide. Frankly, I was almost embarrassed to take the check at the end of the pro-gram (of course, I did take it; I'm not entirely stupid, you know).
Anyway, occasional bad audiences are a way of life. And yes indeed as you [all know], it is a game. Performing is like learning to ride a wild bronco and the only way to learn how not to get bucked off is just practice. You have to learn where the horse will move, jump, and attempt to throw the rider. I equate learning how to "ride one's audience" as something that takes great skill, determination, and practice. We must learn how to establish that power-ful audience-performer relationship, grow it as the show goes on, and climax the show leaving the audience with the overall satisfaction. And we all must remember that occasionally, and hopefully just occasionally, we do get thrown off the horse.
Bruce Chadwick
Bruce Chadwick
Past President—FWMC
The Flashpaper, April 2013, Volume 2013 Issue 4, page 6
Return completed applications to Libby Sharpe, Secretary, Fort Worth Magicians Club, % Bruce Chadwick’s Illusion
Warehouse, 3917 McCart Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas 76110; Telephone 817-808-0202.