Annual Calendar
June Meeting
AAMC Magic Summer Camp
July Meeting
August Meeting
AAMC Picnic
September Meeting
Flea Market
Parlor Show – Afternoon
Parlor Show – Evening
October Meeting – Parlor Competition
November Meeting
December Meeting – Holiday Party
AAMC Board Elections
Other Events
Ring 22 Michael Breggar Lecture
Ring 22 Monthly Meeting
Abbott’s 88TH Get-together
Coming Up
AAMC Magic Summer CampOngoing
- AAMC
Monthly Board MeetingRepeating Event
- AAMC
July Meeting
- AAMC
August Meeting
- AAMC
AAMC Picnic
- AAMC
September Meeting
- AAMC
The Magic Messenger
The Magic Messenger is published monthly by the Ann Arbor Magic Club (AAMC). The AAMC the Hank Moorehouse Assembly 88 of the Society of American Magicians and Duke Stern Ring 210 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
The AAMC (est. 1971) is a Michigan Domestic Non-Profit whose focus is to advance the magical arts by making available equipment, education, mentors and opportunities for magical enthusiasts of all ages to expand their craft.
Ann Arbor Magic Club
Board of Directors
- President: Sean Howell
- Vice-President: Wendy Stone
- Treasurer: Rob Krozal
- Secretary: Karl Rabe
- Sgt at Arms: April Barrett
The Ann Arbor Magic Club meets the 2nd Wed of each month at 7p at the Plymouth Community Arts Council.
Plymouth Community Arts Council
774 N. Sheldon Road at Junction Street
Plymouth, MI 48170
Published by Karl Rabe using Generate Press Theme and Generate Blocks Plugin on WordPress.
©Copyright 2026. All rights reserved, Ann Arbor Magic Club.
In This Issue
- The President's Corner
- The Ring Report
- Hocus Focus
- Around the Town
- Ex Libris
- The Vanishing Archives
- Funny Business
Website:
Email:
US Mail:
https://aamagic.org
annarbormagicclub@gmail.com
P.O. Box 532244 Livonia, MI. 48152
The President's Corner
By Sean Howell
My Fellow Compeers, our sincere thanks to Nathan Kranzo for an outstanding lecture last month. The event was both informative and entertaining, and the excellent attendance demonstrated the enthusiasm and support of our membership. It was a great evening of magic, ideas, and fellowship.
Looking ahead, preparations for Michigan Magic Day 2027, taking place April 9–10, 2027, are already well underway. The event will be here before we know it, and we will need volunteers in every area to help make it a success. Whether your talents are in registration, hospitality, setup, logistics, or any of the countless tasks that go into producing a great convention, your help will be appreciated. Many hands make light work, and this event belongs to all of us.
While Michigan Magic Day is an important focus, we must not overlook another highlight of our year: our Fall Parlor Show in October. It is time to begin assembling the lineup, and I encourage each of you to consider taking part. If you've been thinking about performing, now is the time to raise your hand. Our club has tremendous talent, and I would love to see you on stage.
At our meeting this month, Mirf and I will be your featured performers. We're looking forward to sharing some magic, laughs, and surprises with all of you.
Also, be sure to mark your calendars for our Annual Club Picnic, which will be held on the second Saturday in Augustat the Cap'n's Homestead. It is always a wonderful opportunity to relax, enjoy good food, and spend time with fellow magicians outside of our regular meetings.
Thank you for your continued support of the club. I look forward to seeing each of you soon.
Yours in Magic,
Sean Howell
President, Ann Arbor Magic Club
Ring Report
By Karl Rabe
The club enjoyed a great turnout for Nathan Kranzo’s lecture! Many guests attended from around the area, including a special visitor from across the Detroit River, “Magic Mike” Segal. Nathan remains a special friend of the Ann Arbor Magic Club, hailing from nearby Flint, Michigan.
Before the magic began, the club had a few bits of business to attend to. Club President Sean Howell shared several updates regarding Michigan Magic Day 2027, which our club will host in the spring of 2027. For those unfamiliar, Michigan Magic Day is a one-and-a-half-day magic convention hosted each year by a different Michigan magic club. The tradition was started an incredible 55 years ago by Stan White and Doug Dean in Lansing, Michigan.
Sean announced that the planning committee has selected the weekend of Saturday, April 10, 2027, for the event, which will be held at the Sheraton Detroit Novi Hotel. Anyone interested can learn more at mmd27.com.
Sean also shared that club Treasurer Rob Krozal continues to recover well from his recent heart surgery, and we hope to see him back at a meeting soon.
Then it was on to the magic!
Nathan had a number of original creations to share, along with a few audience favorites. He opened by absolutely fooling the club with a flawless multi-phase Coins Across routine, which led into an amusing “flip a coin and call heads or tails” gag.
Next came a preview of a new effect, the “Mood Deck.” Harkening back to the classic Mood Ring, this clever routine connects a thought-of card to a mood and color, culminating with the selected card being discovered reversed in the deck — with the back color of that single card now matching the chosen color.
Nathan also treated the club to a delightful routine involving a coin and a babushka scarf featuring multiple penetrations, with the final penetration occurring in the spectator’s own hand.
A couple of Nathan’s classics made appearances as well, including “52 Gone,” his vanishing deck routine, and “Tru Test,” his magazine test. Along with performing each effect, Nathan provided excellent instruction and generously gave attendees permission to construct their own versions if they were so inclined. As always, every routine included detailed credits and references to the creators whose ideas helped inspire and shape his magic.
Everyone had a terrific time.
After the meeting, a dozen or so members gathered at Herman's Olde Town Tavern to continue the fellowship and magic. The group had no trouble making a few appetizers and libations disappear as well. Special thanks to Mike Bogdas for organizing the after-gathering.
Hocus Focus
By Various Contributors
Dan Jones and Karl Rabe shared a few photos from the lecture.
Around the Town
By Karl Rabe
Next Meeting
July Meeting
Volunteer's Needed
Other Events
June 2026
AAMC Magic Summer Camp
Monthly Board MeetingRepeating Event
July 2026
Ring 22 Monthly MeetingRepeating Event
August 2026
Abbott’s 88TH Get-together
AAMC Picnic
Ex Libris
By Dr. Joaquin M. Ayala, PhD
Ex Libris by Joaquin M. Ayala de Cédoz, PhD
Hello folks and welcome to the Ex Libris article for June (again, holy cow!!!) 2026! I hope everyone is having a wonderful spring season because ours is behaving more like autumn!
This month I am going to delve into a book that has become a classic tome for card workers (magical stereotypes aside), after which its first print run ended, became highly sought after and very, VERY expensive to obtain. This month, we will focus on Card Craft – Collected Trickery by J. K. (Jerry) Hartman. It is a 670-page hardcover booked originally published in 1991 by Kaufman & Greenburg with illustrated drawings by Joseph K. Schmidt. There was a total of three (3) print runs.
This is a book that teaches everything in detail - the routines, the effects, the sleights, etc. Now, it is not self-working magic, but it is the next best things, because J. K. Hartman focuses on effects that minimalize the reliance on difficult sleights, lean heavily into clever construction, and impact. This makes the work in the book approachable by all skill levels, but with an impact that is far beyond your basic beginner level card work.
As I previously mentioned, after the first print run of this book sold out, it went out of print. Because of the aforementioned features of the work contained within, and the quality of it, this book demanded ridiculously high sales prices (AND it achieved them, too), but luckily for those who missed out, and even for YOU, dear readers, this book was re-released by Richard Kaufmanin 2024 in an un-edited fourth (4th) print edition. At the time of this writing, it is selling for $105/USD. Its price in 2024 upon re-release was $85.00, well under the $1,000+/USD for the original, out-of-print editions.
NOW, all of that cleared away, what are you getting with this massive book of nothing but card magic? Quite a bit, actually. There are a number of sleights described and taught before you even get into any effects. Rightly so because they are used in what follows their description. In this book you will discover a literal treasure trove of classic plots in card magic, from the classic four-Ace effects to twisting (the Ace) effects, Traveling cards to Collector effects and Sandwich effects. Ambitious Card(s) to Topsy-Turvy Cards, single and multiple Transpositions to plenty of effects inspired directly by Johann Nepomuk (J. N.) Hofzinser.
You have effects that are a variation of the Dunbury Delusion (A FANTASTIC CARD EFFECT!!!) and yet others based on CAAN (Card At A Number) effects, Multiple Selections effects and even more based on one of my absolute favourite plots, the General Card (many handlings by Hofzinser, Robert-Houdin, T. Nelson Downs, Ed Marlo, Jon Racherbaumer, etc. Seriously, look this one up!!!) and even plenty of packet effects. This still only covers UNDER 385 pages of material.
I usually single out some of my favourite effects and sundry things from within each book that I review, but with the massive volume of not only this book, but the straight up stunning quality of the material within, plenty of which I have practiced and performed over the last couple of decades, it is truly hard to pick even just a few. IF you are a card magician that wants strong, impactful magic that does not take decades of dedicated practice, you owe it to yourself to obtain a copy of this book and give it the due diligence of study that it deserves.
That is all for this month, and please be sure to join me again in July where I will focus on a more modern, easily obtainable book within another niche of magic-adjacent subjects – one might say you could… bet on it!
J. M. A.
The Vanishing Archives
By Mike Bogdas
The Vanishing Archives… Where yesterday’s magic tricks reappear… usually right after you sold them for half price.
Fellow conjurers, welcome back to the Vanishing Archive! You know you’re a true magician when your retirement plan is “buy low, sell high” — just like the stock market, except instead of blue-chip stocks we’re trading slightly-used rope tricks and questionable gimmicks that may or may not vanish on command. This month our club delivered another classic from the archives: a lively report on the ever-popular mini swap meet and flea market.
88 MUM Magazine July/August 2015
MINI SWAP MEET AND FLEA MARKET
ANN ARBOR, MI— May’s meeting brought our very popular mini swap meet and flea market. Before the action started, we were treated to a performance and explanation of member Jim Placido’s featured effect, the Tabary Rope Mystery. As any good magician would do, Jim learned the effect per instructions and then modified it to suit his personality. His performance was outstanding and well received by an appreciative audience. Jim actively performs in the Detroit metro area as “Mr. Magico” and was recently featured in a local paper.
Seven members brought magical wares for sale or trade: Bill Brang, Jim Folkl, Paul Nielsen, Scott Kindschi, Ken Magee, John Russell, and Dan Jones. To punch up the proceedings, each vendor demonstrated one of his items for sale. It became an impromptu magic show within the flea market! Everyone had a great time and the event was a warm up for the “world famous” Ann Arbor Magic Club Flea Market, held annually in the fall. Next month’s meeting promises to be very interesting with the theme of “Magic by the Book.” Members will bring in a favorite magic book, provide a review, and present an effect from it. As always, our meetings focus on magical fun and fraternity. Member Jeff Walters achieved twenty-five years of membership within The Society of American Magicians this month. Congratulations Jeff! —Jim Folkl
Assembly 88 meets the second Wednesday of the month at 7pm, Denny’s Restaurant, 39550 Ann Arbor Rd, Plymouth, MI 48170.
And there you have it — more proof that magicians truly understand buy low, sell high. Or in our case, “buy someone else’s rope trick low… and pray it doesn’t come back to haunt you at the next meeting.”
Until next time, keep your sleeves loaded, your prices negotiable, and remember: the real magic isn’t making the coin disappear — it’s making your wallet disappear at a table full of fellow magicians who know exactly what that gimmick is worth.
See you in the archives… where everything old is new again, especially if you bought it last month or from Dan Jones!
Funny Business
By Karl Rabe and various contributors
