August Updates

I appologize for not posting much so far this month. But I have been so busy since returning from Louisville. Here are some thought and news from the past weeks.

* MUM magazine's September issue has a full 13 page review of the IBM/SAM convention. If you do not receive MUM (first of all, shame on you) here is a link to the article from their website. Thanks to my friend Tim for point this out.

* IBM Ring 355 had a fun time at the August meeting. The theme was Magic Sports.

* Kellie, Noah and I just got back from a long weekend in Gatlinburg. We went to Dollywood on Friday and I had a blast at the River Battle.

* We have been looking for a new car and went to Knoxville to CarMax. I had never used them before but I HIGHLY recommend them if you are looking. They make buying a car painless and quick. They will be my first choice next time.

* There is a new magic shop in Gatlinburg. It is in the Mountain Mall and is called Knowles & Franklin Magic and Novelty Outlet. IBM members get 10% off. Of course there was a lot of "tourist" items. But they had a good selection of magic as well. I hope they do well enough to stay in business.

* David Larkins and I just finished our Summer Magic Camp. It was a success and we will be doing another in the near future.

* Several of us from the local magic club will be heading down to SEAM in Atlanta on Thursday. Should be a good convention. Andrew Hyder from our ring will be compteting in stage and close-up. I will be blogging from there so stay tuned...

* Last note. There has been alot of "talk" about Kohl & Company's performance at IBM/SAM on the Genii forums. A couple of reviewers had some pretty harsh words. And since I do review alot of acts, I can understand giving an honest opinion. I have been harsh myself sometimes. But I usually try to say that these are MY opinions. Personally, I think their act is GREAT. I have seen them countless times and would love to again. Unfortunately, they may quit performing at magic conventions. I hope this is not the case because many (if not most) of us out there enjoy seeing their show. I've met alot of magicians in my life. Both professionals and amatuers. And Dick Kohl is one of the nicest folks in magic. I can't say that for alot of others. Keep up the good work guys.

Last day of the IBM/SAM convention - Saturday

Well it is over. 1 week of 24 hours a day magic. It flew by but it was a great time. Now the good news is that this has been such a success they are considering having a combined convention every 5 years. I think they should.

Here is a recap of Saturday. I slept in and missed Wayne Dobson’s lecture. I’m sure it was good.

The close-up finals were at 11:00. All six did a commendable job but Shawn Farquhar and Marc Oberon were clearly the best. Clift and I both voted for Oberon. All six will get some gigs out of this so they should all be very pleased.

After lunch at the local Mexican watering hole it was time for the afternoon lecture of Eberhard Reise. It was called The Evolution of an Act. Reise is a mentor to over 10 FISM winners from Stuttgart. He opened with some “rules” to go by for stage magic. Then Jeanette Andrews, a teenage magician from Illinois, performed her Fair Lady act. Reise (with the help of former student Topas) then ran through the act and gave advice on music, trick selection, etc. This man knows what he is talking about. It was the best lecture of the convention. In fact, I would not say this was a lecture. For ANY magician in the crowd it was a workshop and how to put an act together.

Now it was time to hit the dealers’ room one last time. But on the way Clift stopped by the auction room to bid on some of Jay Marshall’s stuff. He bid on two items. One mentalism book that is rare; and a complete set apparatus books that usually go for around $4500. I won’t tell you what he bid.

When we got to the dealers’ room a lot of them were packing up early. But several (Harry Allen) were going strong. We ran into Bobby Maverick whom we had met in Ricky Boone’s magic shop a couple months ago. After playing around with the ULTRA light Losander floating table, I want one.

It’s always a little depressing at a convention when you see the dealers packing up. You know it is almost over.

I headed back to the room and started packing so I could get an early start tomorrow.

Clift went ahead and checked out and headed home. Now it is time for the stage finals and then the awards.

The stage final was great. The finalists were Tony Chapek, David Kaplan, David Sousa, An Ha-Lim, Red Hat and Timo Marc.

After they all performed there was a 30 minute break in order to tabulate the votes. We came back in and when the curtain rose sitting on one side of the stage was the 12 finalists (close-up and stage). One the other side of the stage was the organization presidents, the judges and the convention bookers.

After all 12 finalists were presented with an award and a wand, it was time for the contracts to be offered. I was writing in the dark but here is who got offered contracts and where:

Marc Oberon (close-up) – IBM convention, SAM convention, FISM, Blackpool

David Minkin (close-up) – Macmillan England Convention, 2 conventions in Italy

Shawn Farquhar (close-up) – MagiFest, FFFF, Abbott’s, SAM convention

Latko (close-up) – Blackpool

David Kaplan (stage) – MagiFest, SAM convention, German conventions, Abbott’s, Macmillan, 2 conventions in Italy, Japan SAM, Blackpool

Red Hat (stage) – Macmillan, SAM convention

Timo Marc (stage) – IBM convention, SAM convention, Macmillan, Hatfields Canadian Tour,

Tony Chapek (stage) – Blackpool, New Zealand Tour

David Sousa – FISM

An Ha Lim – IBM convention, SAM convention, 2 German conventions, Macmillan, Blackpool, 2 Italian conventions,

After the contracts were offered it was time to give the $10,000 to the winners.

Winner of the IBM/SAM 2008 Close-up competition – MARC OBERON

Winner of the IBM/SAM 2008 Stage competition – AN HA LIM

Both well deserved choices.

Well that about wraps it up. After the awards we headed to the ballroom for the closing party. So comes to an end the best convention I have ever attended.

One last comment on the IBM/SAM International Show

Let me just say one more thing about last night’s show. ALL of the performers on the show were talented and entertaining. After the show I went back to the hotel and mingled in the lobby. The one comment I heard most was “Well….it was entertaining.”

Yes, but if I wanted to just be entertained I would have walked down to 4th Street Live and watched the Finger 11 concert last night. And if I had done that I would have expected to hear some music. Had Finger 11 come out and done an hour of juggling, that too would have been entertaining but not what I came to see.

Last night we (the 1900 magicians in the crowd) wanted to see magic. We got entertainment. I hope you know what I am trying to say. Jim Steinmeyer said it best in his Monday lecture. “No one has ever said, ‘They did too much magic in that show.’”

I will leave it at that and then say…THIS IS STILL THE BEST CONVENTION I HAVE EVER BEEN TO.

IBM/SAM Friday - Day 6

After a buffet breakfast at the Café Magnolia, Clift and I headed to the last group of Close-up Competitions.

Charming Choi did a nice matrix where the coins traveled from under the cards to the center of the table without his visible help.

John Born amazed with his linking rings, money prediction and coins across. He should make the finals.

Shawn Farquhar had a card signed and then found in a cellophane sealed deck. Then performed cups and balls with a blow away ending. He will definitely make the finals.

Latko from Argentina performed cups and balls with a chess theme. He produced chess pieces. He flashed some and telegraphed a lot. Should not make finals.

Satoru from Japan was a pleasant surprise. After a really nice toothpick prediction he had a multiple card prediction using his shoes, his socks and his feet. Very nice.

Mike Tallon and Doug Gorman did a dueling cups and balls that was very well performed. They got a standing ovation but I’m not sure they will make finals.

Marc Oberon was the best of the day. He performed his “Midas touch” routine where everything turns to gold, while doing coin manipulations. He also performed some amazing card predictions. He got a well deserved standing “O”.

After the last act they announced the 6 stage finalists. Drum roll please….

Tony Chapek – I agree
An ha-Lim – I agree
David Sousa – I agree
Red Hat – I agree
David Kaplan – While I love his act, there is very little skill and magic. There were better acts that deserved to go.
Timo Marc – He is a super nice guy but his act was not top 6 in my opinion.

After grabbing a quick lunch we headed for the Derek Lever lecture. This was one of my favorite events of the convention. It was called the World’s Greatest Magic Inventors. He demonstrated rare pieces of apparatus from several different inventors. It is amazing how props 60 years old were so mechanical and inventive.

Right after this was Silly Billy’s First Century of Children’s Magic lecture. I was really looking forward to this but I ended up being disappointed. Silly Billy is no doubt one of the best childrens’ performers in the world. But he basically stood behind a podium and read his lecture while showing a power point presentation. After this he brought up about 30 kids and was going to do a kid’s show. I thought he would do HIS kid’s show. But he did a show using props from the last century. Not good. He looked like he had never even seen a couple of them. While I know it could not be as good as his scripted show, I think he could have spent a little time and done some better routines.

Clift, the Youngs, and I walked downtown to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. It was very good. But very slow.

We made it to the theater just in time for the International Gala Show. This was by far the worst show of the convention. Topas was mc and he did a gallant job. He kept the show moving along.

The biggest flaw in the show was that 4 of the acts did card manipulations and besides that there was no magic. Some guy from France (why am I surprised) did shawdowgraphy. Yes, it was clever but it was not magic. Then Roxanne (who I usually love) did an act where all she did was change hairstyles.

SOS and Victoria did their costume changes (9 total) and they were great.
I thought English comedian John Archer was funny.

Wayne Dobson was unintelligible and when I could understand him it was usually filthy.

SOS and Victoria’s kids (Tigran & SOS Jr) opened the show with 10 minutes of card scaling, shooting and back palming. They are cute and pretty good for 8 and 11 years old.

Takamitsu Uchida’s act was all cards. Now to his credit, some were huge and he was still able to manipulate them. According to the program he does illusions in Japan. He should have brought some with him. The show could have used it.

During the show that announced the 6 Close-up finalists. They are:
Marc Oberon – The best I saw
Shawn Faruqhar – I agree.
Mike Tallon and Doug Gorman – This was a good act but there were better ones.
David Minkin – A borderline selection
Latko – See above. No way he should have made it over Timothy Trust and Julie.
The last act was Japanses and I think it was Satoru. If so, I think this was a good choice.

Tomorrow are the finals and the awards. Also a lecture or two.
I can’t believe it is almost over….

IBM/SAM Thursday - Day 5

After seeing Clift walking around in his skivvies this morning, I was ready for some comedy. We headed down to the David Williamson lecture in the ballroom. It was called Organic Magic – The Art of Impromptu Performance.

Poor David. He tried to be serious but he just can’t. I really think he has a hard time explaining his magic because it is just him. There were some technical problems with some of the screens for this but David pressed on. The best part was when he showed a video of him on the streets of Louisville. He had one of the magic kits they gave out here and he hit the streets to do some impromptu magic. From hiding in the bushes to sneak up on passer-bys, to “stealing” a little girl’s backpack, he was hilarious.

The stage competitions have been great. Watching these acts is like watching a gala show. Today we got to see the last 16 contestants. Some that stood out:

Tony Chapek was up first today. I have seen his “TV” act probably 10 times and he has ALWAYS got a standing ovation. Today was no different. It was poetry in motion. The crowd went crazy.

Another performer who did an “interactive” act was Germany’s Timo Marc. Not as much impact as Chapek’s but it was good.

Jei Min & Han Na were great. Their “Snow White” act included 6 costume changes, apple manipulations and a levitation that came out of nowhere. It was VERY original.

Peter Pitchford from Pennsylvania performed his “Cardini” act. Starting off as a janitor at the Museum of Magic History, he ends up in Cardini dress doing card and billiard ball manips.

Soma from Hungary gave us a businessman act. His newspaper is torn and restored including several dropped pieces floating back to his hands. A cute routine with his “traveling” briefcase led into a mobile phone manipulation routine. It was original and he wrapped it up the way it started.

Skilldini had a good act with some nice billiard ball moves.

Chin-Chin had to be the most annoying act here. Mostly because of the screeching music that hurt our ears.

Charming Choi used a “Little Mermaid” theme to do an underwater cups and balls routine, ending with a tank full of fish.

Oh Yong Jung of Korea produced 28 fans but it was a little repetitious.

Timothy Trust and Julie were back with Sword Box that was AWESOME!!! It even had blood!!!

The 6 finalists will be announced on Friday and then the people will vote on Saturday after seeing the finalists perform one more time. I am going to go out on a limb and give you my 10 finalists (because I cannot cut it to 6) I am so glad I am not an official judge. There were so many good acts it is a shame some will not make the finals. My picks:

Red Hat (Korea)
Timothy Trust and Julie (Germany)
An Ha-Lim (Korea)
Tony Chapek (USA)
Omar Ferret (USA)
The Reed Sisters (USA)
Shawn Farquhar (Canada)
Peter Pitchford (USA)
Jei Min & Han Na (Korea)
David Sousa (Portugal)

Tonight’s last event was the East Meets West Close-Up Gala. David Williamson hosted. The highlight for me was Dr. Sawa from Japan. The man is a legend and is great. Simo Aalto from Finland was wonderful. Rick Merrill showed why he is a FISM Grand Prix winner. Another FISM winner, Martin Eisle was very entertaining. Probably the most original was Hiro Sakai of Japan.

When I got to the theater my ticket said I was in row A. Well that is front row so I was happy. Until the ticket taker dude said “Uh, row A has been removed to make room for handicap.” But we worked it out and all was fine. (And no I did not limp in. That was Clift)

Clift and I went to a restaurant on 4th Street Live for dinner. He got his food free because his chicken wasn’t hot enough. Mine was too hot but I had to pay.

Time to head down to the conservatory. See ya tomorrow.

Late Night Magishing

We kept a late watch last night. Clift, Joe and I hung out in the conservatory with Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum. No, just kidding. We did hang out in the conservatory with about 500 other magicians. This is where you see some wonderful magic. Brad Braun from Louisville blew us away with some close-up effects.

While we were sitting there we looked around and here are just a few of the people we saw milling around, and talking, and doing magic:

Max Maven, Howard Schwartzman, Phil Wilmarth, David Williamson, Mac King, John Lovick, Sammy Smith, Terry Seabrooke, Dale Salwak, Mike Caveney, Bob Sheets, John Born, Stephen Bargatze, Michael Ammar

That does not even include those that are here but were probably in bed: Jim Steinmeyer,
David Ben, Michael Finney, John Racherbaumer, Stan Allen, Arden James, Kohl and Co., Derek Lever, Wayne Dobson, Losander, Norm Nielsen, Gay Blackstone, Fantasio, Simon Lovell, Richard Kaufman, Fukai, Paul Gertner, Charles Gauci…

And the list can go on and on. This week Louisville is the center of the magic universe.

I’ll post later about today’s events.

IBM/SAM Convention Wednesday - Day 4

Well it is Wednesday and I still have not been able to get out on the town and see some things in Louisville.

But there is soooo much going on here. I headed down to the dealer room early this morning and was pleasantly surprised to see Dr. Cato Holler. I have known Cato for a few years now and he is a super guy. Also ran into Bob Sanders and Matt Fore.

First event today was the “Business of Being Funny” roundtable discussion with Finney, King and Williamson. This was bound to be crazy. After Finney and King were introduced, Williamson came through the curtain pushing a Galt House Podium like this was a presidential debate. He even had a hilarious opening statement. This was a fun event. And it reaffirmed my belief that David Williamson is the funniest magician in the world.

As soon as that was over we headed to the Kentucky Center for day 2 of the stage competitions. I did not think today’s acts were as good as yesterday overall. But several stood out.

Jason Bishop performed a nice Op-Art illusion.

Andost performed his “lights” routine where he produced several small lamps.

Trigg has a very original act. It needs some polish but I can see this kid going places.

For me the highlights were: Shawn Farquhar’s “Shape of my Heart” card routine. This was done with a video camera and screen. I really think it should be qualified as close-up.

The Reed Sisters gave us a high energy, rocking act. Jessica started things off with several dove productions and then a rabbit. She introduced Shayna by way of the fire cage. Shayna produced a couple of doves and then was locked in the subtrunk. Jessica took her cape and walked toward the trunk. Then BAM! There was Shayna and inside the trunk was Mandy. Mandy produced some doves (while making Jessica’s disappear) and Shayna was back with some good card manipulations. A really good act that may make the final 6.

From Japan. Kyolo gave us a beautiful act. Perfect music and movement while producing parasols and fans and then dancing butterflies. She even did a costume change. (Of course)

Omar Ferret had a very slick and original act. He produced several glasses of liquids throughout, while mixing it with cards and wine bottle manipulations. Very clean.

Another act that I think will make the finals was Red Hat from Korea. It was super and original. Part of the act included mask productions at the fingertips; the way most do cards. Masks were appearing and changing color and ending up on his face. Very good act.

An amazing act was Timothy Trust and Julie from Germany. They did a mind reading, second-sight act that was great. She was blindfolded and he went into the crowd and had maybe 15 people show an object which Julie named. She only missed once. I really was amazed by it but that was the whole act so I am not sure they will make the cut.

Well now it was time to go change and get ready for tonight’s banquet. Clift showed up about 6:00 and we got him registered. His knee is acting up so he is walking like Chester. But hey maybe we can get the front row handicap table at the banquet.
When we got downstairs it was packed. Once we made it into the ballroom we found a table on the side with the Young family. Jason Michaels and Scott Cantrell set with us. We had music from the Double-Vision Trio. Our first course was Gazpacho Soup. It was a cold vegetable soup that I did not care for. Course two was a house salad which was not bad. After that was a lemon sorbet that was to die for. Finally, the main course; steak and lobster with mashed potatoes and asparagus. It was wonderful (except for the asparagus). They even brought us an extra plate with two pieces of meat that we split. Desert was raspberry mocha torte. Mmmmmmmm.

In between the courses we were treated to Ardan James performing with his balloon. Terry Seabrook hosted. And finally, the King and Presto (Duane and Mary Laflin) entertained with music and illusions. Todd Charles was supposed to perform later but after desert I headed to the room to change.

Another wonderful day here at the combined convention. David Williamson’s lecture is in the morning. I can’t wait.

IBM/SAM Tuesday - Day 3

Yawwwwn. Whew. I was able to sleep late this morning. Stage comps started at 12, but before that I headed down to the registration booth for my next free gift. It was a nice poster of all the convention performers.

According to today's update, the town of Louisville is reeling from the influx of magicians. Restaurants are reporting loads of broken salt shakers and bent spoons.

Next I headed over to the dealers' room. It's about 9:30 so still not crowded. I ran into Michael Finney at Duane Laflin's table. And I saw Rodger Lovins running past. I have to catch up with him sometime this week.

I ended up spending about an hour at Charles Gauci's booth. He is amazing. I have his book but seeing this stuff in person is incredible. I have about 3 things on my list now that I want to buy from him.

After a mid-morning pop-tart I headed to the Kentucky Center for the first day of stage competitions. This is open seating and I was able to snag a side booth (I call them opera booths). Great seats!!!

Each competitor had 4 minutes to set up his act then 8-10 minutes to perform. The judges will pick the top 6 for the finals then the audience will vote for the winner on Saturday.

The first competitor was from the far east. Unfortunately I did not get his name. I will get that and post it here. That's important because he was the best act of the day. Maybe the best manipulation act I have ever seen. He started with card manips to slow piano music, then moved to a techno mix. He was producing cards at an amazing speed. It was a great start to the comps and he got an instant standing ovation from the crowd. I had goose-bumps.

Just Alan, from New York, performed his Indian themed Sands of the Desert. Technically it was great but it did not play too well in the theater.

Magic Chiaki of Japan, produced and floated large feather plumes. His assistant did a couple of costume changes and then at the end they did a double costume change.

Another Japanes, Yu-Ko, performed and filled the stage with pink. Pink parasols, pink pom poms, pink silks... and a costume change. (The Japanese seem to like the costume changes...and I do too)

Up next was David Boyd. His was a semi-classic act involving doves (which were not trained fully), billiard balls, and card manipulations. His card work was not bad at all.

Bin Lin, from China, was up next. The best thing about her act was that it was very colorful. She seemed to fidget alot and for most of the act I could not tell what she was doing. Too bad because I had heard some good things about her.

Texan, Michael Tallon got the show rolling again. His was a very original act. No talking. He used sound clips from about 50 different songs to explain what he was doing. He had a spectator choose and sign a card, lost it in the deck, and after several failures (on purpose) finally found the card. Using the song clips was very funny. Lots of comic bits. For example, when he could not find the card we heard "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" by U2.

Another American, Sterling Dietz, followed Michael. He dazzled the crowd with streamers, fountains of silk, a fast paced linking ring set, and card manipulations. This young man is full of charisma. I've seen him before and I thought he was just a little off today. I'd say he is on the border of making the finals.

Canadian Roger Benoit performed a clever Multiplying Bottles routine.

Kohtaro Fujiyama followed with a lengthy linking ring set. I thought it was kind of slow. At the end he stepped on his platform and produced a huge ring about 5 foot wide. He stood on it and rode it around the stage. He got good applause from this.

Another performer from China, Zihao Liu gave a very strong performance with card manipulations and a costume change at the end.

The 2nd standing "O" of the afternoon went to David Kaplan. I've seen his act several times and it is hilarious. He opens with Bowling Ball from Paper Bag, which turns to a balloon that floats away only to return ans smash his family heirloom. This is a broad description and there are many side plays throughout his act. He ends by playing "Man From LaMancha" with a balloon.

The last act of the day was Elliot Zimet. You may have seen him on America's Got Talent last season. His New York street act produces doves, money and finally parrots or macaws (I could not tell).

All in all it was a good start to the stage comps. I cannot wait for the next day.

I skipped today's lecture. It was David Ben and John Racherbaumer talking about Vernon and Marlo's impact on close-up. Well, duh. Just did not interest me. I'm sure it was good. Instead I went back to the room and freshened up before going to a local Mexican joint for dinner. Back at the hotel I was waiting for Joe Young and family to come down when I saw Michael Finney walking back and forth between the two towers (the Galt House is in two separate towers) looking frustrated. There is something funny about seeing a comedian getting fumed. But Scot to the rescue. I took him a back way to the theater. So I guess you could say I saved tonight's show. Ok ok. Anyway. Time for the North American Gala Show.

Ardan James, dressed as a janitor, started us off. His mime act is really top notch. You have to see it to believe it.

Stan Allen, editor of Magic Magazine, was the host for the evening and he did a good job of keeping the show moving along, while not getting in the way.

Dale Salwak impressed us all with his classical magic. Silks, canes, money, and cards are his forte. Easy to see why he is with the Chavez School of Magic.

Next (thanks to me :) was Michael Finney. What a great act. He had the crowd in stitches from the start with his "old folks" jokes. He performed his rope routine with an 18 year old girl; just old enough for this act. Then closed with Card to Forehead. He could not find a non-magician gentleman in the crowd so he had to use a 13 year old boy. The boy was trouble. He was a smart-aleck who Finney had to put in his place. And he did it wonderfully. I would have choked the kid.

2-time Magic Castle Stage Magician of the Year, Danny Cole, followed Finney. I had not seen Danny in years. He has let his hair grow out and it really did not look like him. His act was good but it seemed like he was having some trouble. Good act but kind of out of place on this show.

One of my all-time favorite acts were next. KOHL & CO. How do I even begin to explain what they do. It is pure pandemonium. Classic.

Closing the show was James Brandon. You know, the Icy Hot magician. He did a couple of illusions but had sound lighting and timing issues. Not bad but Kohl & Co. should have closed.

WHAT A DAY!!! It is now 11:37 and I am going to bed. Clift will be here tomorrow and if he snores this may be my last night of sound sleep. See ya tomorrow....