Ann Arbor Magic Club

IBM 210 - SAM 88

Current Messenger


On the Cover

By Karl Rabe


Magic Messenger July 2023

Three students from the Plymouth Community Arts Council pose in costume during Magic Camp facilitated in collaboration with the AAMC. Read more in the Secretary's Report.

In This Issue

 


President's Corner

By Dan Jones


Hello AAMC Members,our meeting is this Wednesday, July 12th from 7-9pm at the Plymouth Community Arts Council and it promises to be a great meeting. It will feature several members performing close up magic in our 1st Annual Close Up Showcase which is a contest with a First Place Trophy and bragging rights for a year. So come expecting to see some great magic and vote for your favorite performer.

I would like to thank our members who participated w/ the PCAC in their Magic and Theater Performance Arts Summer Camp the week of June 19th. Karl Rabe and Phil Mann were our lead instructors with the aide of Mike Bogdas and Mark Phelps and the staff of the Arts Council. We'll have a full report at the meeting.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Our club is growing and to quote our V.P. Sean Naes, "It's the club to belong to". We signed up new members last year and four new members so far this year. And we had three visitors at our last meeting who will hopefully return. It's a magic club with so many chances to perform and learn magic. At our twice a year shows, at the library, at the summer camp and at our meetings. That's what a magic club is about.

We will be holding an important all member vote at our meeting August 9th, to decide if members think we should consider changing the club name. Here is what the ballot will look like. Check your email for instructions if you will not be present and need to vote absentee.

Lastly, I would like to remind and encourage members to help celebrate AAMC Lifetime Member Marvin Mathena's 88th Birthday on Tuesday, July 25th from 2-4pm at the Regency at Canton. Please help make it a special day for Marvin by bringing some magic to perform.

Thanks everyone
Dan Jones
President of AAMC


Secretary's Report

By Karl Rabe


June Meeting

Our meeting was called to order by President Dan Jones and we kicked off with Michael Doyle as our featured performer. Michael performed several effects, including a couple of different die predictions, a tarot match effect with two volunteers and an impressive book based mind reading effect.

Then it was time for our get-to-know-you round table question where members introduced themselves and then told us about their "favorite summertime activity". Answers were varied and included swimming, hiking, BBQ, sailing, fishing, traveling, boating and of course attending magic conventions. We had several guests and prospective members attend including Caden Burkhardt, a student from the University of Michigan Magic Club, Charlie and Mike Palko, a father and son from the neighborhood, and Manish Mishra-Marzetti an attendee from our club's parlor show.

Then it was on to performances. Johnny New York performed a unique Rock-Paper-Scissors prediction with three volunteers, clever name tags and three mystery boxes. Mike Bogdas then performed a Spinning Star three-card prediction. Ron Hoole performed a clever card matching trick with half a deck, which was an actual deck cut in half cross-ways. Karl Rabe performed a card force and reveal. Caden performed a 4 Aces routine, Dan Jones shared his visual story of trying to buy a casket and ending up with a trash can.

Then we wrapped up with Sean Naes providing a hands-on learning session for The Professor's Nightmare.

Magic Camp

Ann Arbor Magic Club Partners with Plymouth Community Arts Council for Youth Magic Camp

I.B.M Ring 210, the Ann Arbor Magic Club (AAMC), partnered with the Plymouth Community Arts Council (PCAC) in Plymouth, Michigan to facilitate a 5-day Magic Camp June 19 to June 23, 2023 for ten children ranging in age from 9-14 years old. It was a fantastic collaboration and a resounding success!

Ring 210 AAMC members Mike Bodgas, Dan Jones, Phil Mann, Mark Phelps and Karl Rabe volunteered and partnered with three staff members from the Arts Council to conduct the classes. Arts Council members leveraged their expertise in theater to teach the fundamentals of persona, costume, marketing and on-stage performance while the magicians taught a selection of basic magic effects to the students. The week culminated in the students putting on a live performance for family and friends on the last day of class.

The curriculum was developed in a planning session with Arts Council staff and AAMC volunteers. Each day ran from 9am to Noon with a half-hour break. Days one and two focused on Exploration. Day 3 was for Character Development, Day 4 was Marketing and Practice and Day 5 was Rehearsal and Performance. The blocked-out plan is illustrated below.

 

 

Each day started with fun theater games in-the-round designed encourage students to open up, be creative and engage one another. For magic sessions the first two days, the students were divided into two groups. Two magicians worked with five students at a time on a particular effect. Then the students switched and the magicians repeated the lesson to the second group. In small groups the magicians were able to provide close tutoring as the students learned the effects. Students were encouraged to go outside on break for a half-hour each day to give them both a mental and physical break. Each day concluded with fun balloon twisting with the students learning some basic animals, flowers and hats.

By Day 3 the students were guided by the Arts Council staff and magicians in defining their persona and selecting the trick they would perform. Magicians shared their stage persona’s to provide examples. Students practiced acting “in character” in a fun game and then they were let loose to try out the assortment of costumes backstage at the Arts Council and pick one for their performance.

On Day 4 the students used their art skills and further defined their personas by making their own posters for their act. They also made a few business cards to hand out family at the show. Arts Council Staff provided instruction on basic on-stage theater skills. Then it was on to practicing the specific effect they had chosen for the show. Arts Council Staff and magicians worked 1:1 with students to refine their performance and patter.

Day 5 was all about final practice and rehearsal. At 11:30 family and friends arrived to watch the show put on by the students.

The collaboration of the Plymouth Community Arts Council Staff providing education on theater aligned with the Ring 210’s instruction on magic provided a solid introduction to the magical arts with a much needed balance of presentation, performance and magic.

The Ann Arbor Magic Club meets monthly on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm at the Plymouth Community Arts Council. Learn more about the AAMC at http://aamagic.org. You can learn more about the Plymouth Community Arts Council and all the classes, camp and events they offer at https://www.plymoutharts.com.

The Author, Karl Rabe, is the Secretary of the Ann Arbor Magic Club and performs comedy magic with his Son Bill.


Mirf Tales

By Sean Howell


The week between the Parlor Show and Canterbury Village Medieval Faire somehow didn't exist.  Like magic it just disappeared. Mirf and I were like "what happened?".  I loaded most of the props and equipment on the trailer Thursday evening and clothes and costume Friday morning.  Called to make sure the hotel reservations were still good before I left and confirmed they knew I had a furry companion that was not a dog with me, they told me I was allowed up to 80 pounds regardless of cat or dog.  I thought that was an odd answer...  On with the story!  This was it; it was time to kick the tires and light the fires.

In my best Beetlejuice impression..."It's Showtime!"

We hit the road around noon Friday and drove to the Red Roof Inn in Oxford where we would be staying.  The trip was uneventful aside from the slow pace caused by all the road construction.  Mirf didn't care, he sprawled out on the seat next to me and always seems to enjoy the ride.  When we checked into the hotel, Mirf tried to meet a new friend named cat.  He belonged to the night manager, so he was prowling around the hotel akin to night security.  He was cute but Mirf was not interested in making new friends.  He didn't hiss, growl or anything like that, he was like pfft you're a serf.

We headed up to our room to settle in.  I gave Mirf food and water, set up his litter box then left him lounging in the air-conditioned room while I went to unload the trailer in the 90+ degree heat.

I didn't want Mirf with me setting up the stage we would be performing on in the heat for no relevant reason.  Unloading was the usual chaos, finding out what stage your assigned to, getting as close to the stage as possible to unload all the props backstage while everyone else is trying to do the exact same thing everywhere around you, setup signage and do a quick walkthrough to get the lay of the festival this year.  Word is out, everyone that saw me was asking about Mirf.  They understood why he was lazing around at the hotel while asking I bring him by their booth so that they can meet him.  It's almost as if I'm the sidekick of my own show and I'm okay with that.

Saturday was a brutal struggle, the temperature hit 95 degrees and the humidity was high.  It was hot and sticky by 9AM and the festival doesn't open until 10AM.  Luckily it was only three shows to do per day, not four which is my usual cadence.  Saturday's shows left a lot to be desired.  I was not on the top of my game.  I was too focused on Mirf, not enough focus on my material that didn't involve Mirf.  I had a hard time remembering my order of effects in my show.  I did a couple things out of order, Mirf was not as spunky as he normally is because of the heat.  The stage was like a boiler plate in the sun made of brown composite decking it attracts heat very efficiently.  All of our outdoor practice has been performed in unseasonably cool weather outdoors in the shade or indoors in the cool air conditioning.  Our first festival performance day we were faced with unseasonably warm weather...how fun!  It was actually a great first day because it was so brutal.  Everything else has to be better going forward...right?  Fortunately, I was also able to plug in my trailer to have air conditioning available for Mirf to take air-conditioned litter breaks between shows to prevent him from getting too warm.  He's got a very thick, soft and fuzzy fur coat.  there was shade backstage, but it kept moving with the position of the sun.  Mirf always had shade and cold-water backstage, but on stage it was brutally hot in the sun.  We managed to get through all three shows Saturday but I'm telling you the third show was touch and go for Mirf and I.  We both struggled with that show, and I cut it short from 30 minutes to 15 for safety reasons.  I have to show developed to the point where I can accommodate a 45 minute or 1 hour time slot. I have been performing outdoors for over 10 years, I am no stranger to high temperatures, this was the first time I felt like I was truly experiencing heat exhaustion. I did not properly prepare for me.  It never even occurred to me, not a thought was given to my needs aside from performing.  I forgot to bring a jar of pickles and a cooler with ice.  I had water, lots and lots of water...nothing else.  The pickles are great for a light snack but more importantly I drink the pickle juice in addition to the copious amount of water.  Pickle juice is a mixture of vinegar, water, and different spices that help preserve pickles. Its benefits are that it can relieve muscle cramps, it contains probiotics that improve intestinal health, it is rich in antioxidants and electrolytes and helps regulate blood sugar levels.  Give it a whirl, I highly recommend it.  It's odd though, I have lists that I make for just about everything and I never even consulted last year's list, which is the list from the year before last.  Maybe it's because I made new lists, the show with Mirf is new.  Anyway, I digress...   Our cadence was to do our show using either Mirf's card trick or the acrobatic silk trick depending on Mirf's level of participation.  After the show we would do a meet and greet at a designated area away from the stage for those that would like to meet and pet Mirf.  Once the meet and greet was done, Mirf would get an AC litter break.  Then we would walk about to expose patrons to Mirf and promote the next show.  Rinse and repeat.  When we wrapped up for the day Saturday we cleaned up, secured the props and electronics and headed to the hotel.  I was hot, tired, thirsty and hungry but Mirf is always the first priority.  I squared Mirf away with fresh food, ice water, copious amounts of fresh catnip and his litter box, then I headed to the bar and grill next door.  I sat down at the bar and asked the bartender for a large Caesar salad, tall glass of water and a bar rail Long Island.  After eating the salad, drinking three glasses of water and half the Long Island I paid my tab and headed back to the room.

I found Mirf laying on the bed happily playing with his favorite toy, his balls.  I was going to go for a swim in the pool, but I figured I would lay down with Mirf for a couple of minutes first and fell fast asleep.  I awoke at 2:00AM to Mirf smacking me in the head with his paw wanting to play.  Since he didn't have his little brother Ziggy to play with, I became his default playmate.

Thinking about the first weekend, Saturday the festival was lightly attended.  The crowds were small partly because of the heat, partly competing events that were happening locally.  I checked out of the hotel Sunday Morning before heading to Canterbury Village, it was 20 degrees cooler, and it showed in the early crowds at the village.  More people attended while the rain in the forecast held off for most of the day.  The shows on Sunday went much better than Saturday and Mirf was a bit more attentive while the crowds were getting larger.  Part of it was the cooler weather, part was the word is getting out there about Mirf and people are coming to the show to see the man with the cat.  With Mirf on stage with me it's a whole lot easier to get a volunteer to come on stage now, everyone loves Mirf and wants to pet him.  Mirf presented himself well to the management, patrons and staff...and they loved him.

The second weekend temperature-wise was very similar to the first weekend only hotter.  Saturday was hot, Mirf was a miserable champ.  At one point he was laying his head in his water bowl in the shade of the big pine trees behind our stage.  That was another issue, Mirf rolling in the pine needles.  It was fun to constantly remove pine needles from his fluff.  His tail is amazing, it's like a feather duster.  Mirf and I struggled with the heat at the noon show and our last show was at 3:00.  It was hot, it was humid, and I was worried about Mirf.  The way he was laying with his head in his water bowl worried me.  It wasn't that he was currently overheating, it was when were onstage with no shade inside a covered cage then later in a brown box that's been sitting in the sun for 30 minutes baking.  This is a problem that I will encounter many times this season and beyond, it's part of the gig.  The question is how to mitigate the heat, the solution is air flow.  I remembered that I had gotten a folding fan from my friend Ming over a year ago to use at festival when it's hot.  It's a nice bamboo and black cloth fan but it's too large for me to use effectively but it was still on the trailer...I had an idea.  I went and got the fan out of the overhead and put it in my stage cabinet.  I was going to have an audience member continuously fan Mirf onstage to keep him cool during the show.  I believed I would find an audience member willing to serve Mirf.  The show started in the usual fashion, I produced Mirf in the usual way successfully.  I then explained to the audience that Mirf's health and welfare is paramount.  He's not a pet, he's my partner and we travel everywhere together, if he's not welcome, neither am I.  I also elaborated the safety aspect of the high temperature, direct sunlight, shade created by the top of his cage, but he needs constant airflow to keep him cool.  I then produced the fan and asked if there were any volunteers in the audience that would like to come up on stage and fan him during the show.  I had 10 hands go up before I was finished talking.  There was this one young girl in the audience whose face was painted like a dragon, so I chose her.  She turned out to be a trooper.  She happily fanned Mirf the entire show with a big smile on her face.  As far as I'm concerned, I could have sat in the audience and watched her fan Mirf, she was so cute doing it.  She was truly mesmerized my Mirf.  The show went well, I gave her a wand as a thank you for helping Mirf.  That is the solution to my problem, get an audience member to fan Mirf.  Sunday was again 20 degrees cooler than Saturday.  I didn't have any need to fan Mirf he was fine and his normal self.  Everybody (management, patrons, staff, other performers) was impressed with the behavior of a 10-month-old kitten.  I'm Impressed with how well Mirf handled two brutal days starting off his career.  Mirf is truly a special kitty.

Next...Lojack, Colon and Sterlini Theatre


Mirf Tales

By Sean Howell


The week between the Parlor Show and Canterbury Village Medieval Faire somehow didn't exist.  Like magic it just disappeared. Mirf and I were like "what happened?".  I loaded most of the props and equipment on the trailer Thursday evening and clothes and costume Friday morning.  Called to make sure the hotel reservations were still good before I left and confirmed they knew I had a furry companion that was not a dog with me, they told me I was allowed up to 80 pounds regardless of cat or dog.  I thought that was an odd answer...  On with the story!  This was it; it was time to kick the tires and light the fires.

In my best Beetlejuice impression..."It's Showtime!"

We hit the road around noon Friday and drove to the Red Roof Inn in Oxford where we would be staying.  The trip was uneventful aside from the slow pace caused by all the road construction.  Mirf didn't care, he sprawled out on the seat next to me and always seems to enjoy the ride.  When we checked into the hotel, Mirf tried to meet a new friend named cat.  He belonged to the night manager, so he was prowling around the hotel akin to night security.  He was cute but Mirf was not interested in making new friends.  He didn't hiss, growl or anything like that, he was like pfft you're a serf.

We headed up to our room to settle in.  I gave Mirf food and water, set up his litter box then left him lounging in the air-conditioned room while I went to unload the trailer in the 90+ degree heat.

I didn't want Mirf with me setting up the stage we would be performing on in the heat for no relevant reason.  Unloading was the usual chaos, finding out what stage your assigned to, getting as close to the stage as possible to unload all the props backstage while everyone else is trying to do the exact same thing everywhere around you, setup signage and do a quick walkthrough to get the lay of the festival this year.  Word is out, everyone that saw me was asking about Mirf.  They understood why he was lazing around at the hotel while asking I bring him by their booth so that they can meet him.  It's almost as if I'm the sidekick of my own show and I'm okay with that.

Saturday was a brutal struggle, the temperature hit 95 degrees and the humidity was high.  It was hot and sticky by 9AM and the festival doesn't open until 10AM.  Luckily it was only three shows to do per day, not four which is my usual cadence.  Saturday's shows left a lot to be desired.  I was not on the top of my game.  I was too focused on Mirf, not enough focus on my material that didn't involve Mirf.  I had a hard time remembering my order of effects in my show.  I did a couple things out of order, Mirf was not as spunky as he normally is because of the heat.  The stage was like a boiler plate in the sun made of brown composite decking it attracts heat very efficiently.  All of our outdoor practice has been performed in unseasonably cool weather outdoors in the shade or indoors in the cool air conditioning.  Our first festival performance day we were faced with unseasonably warm weather...how fun!  It was actually a great first day because it was so brutal.  Everything else has to be better going forward...right?  Fortunately, I was also able to plug in my trailer to have air conditioning available for Mirf to take air-conditioned litter breaks between shows to prevent him from getting too warm.  He's got a very thick, soft and fuzzy fur coat.  there was shade backstage, but it kept moving with the position of the sun.  Mirf always had shade and cold-water backstage, but on stage it was brutally hot in the sun.  We managed to get through all three shows Saturday but I'm telling you the third show was touch and go for Mirf and I.  We both struggled with that show, and I cut it short from 30 minutes to 15 for safety reasons.  I have to show developed to the point where I can accommodate a 45 minute or 1 hour time slot. I have been performing outdoors for over 10 years, I am no stranger to high temperatures, this was the first time I felt like I was truly experiencing heat exhaustion. I did not properly prepare for me.  It never even occurred to me, not a thought was given to my needs aside from performing.  I forgot to bring a jar of pickles and a cooler with ice.  I had water, lots and lots of water...nothing else.  The pickles are great for a light snack but more importantly I drink the pickle juice in addition to the copious amount of water.  Pickle juice is a mixture of vinegar, water, and different spices that help preserve pickles. Its benefits are that it can relieve muscle cramps, it contains probiotics that improve intestinal health, it is rich in antioxidants and electrolytes and helps regulate blood sugar levels.  Give it a whirl, I highly recommend it.  It's odd though, I have lists that I make for just about everything and I never even consulted last year's list, which is the list from the year before last.  Maybe it's because I made new lists, the show with Mirf is new.  Anyway, I digress...   Our cadence was to do our show using either Mirf's card trick or the acrobatic silk trick depending on Mirf's level of participation.  After the show we would do a meet and greet at a designated area away from the stage for those that would like to meet and pet Mirf.  Once the meet and greet was done, Mirf would get an AC litter break.  Then we would walk about to expose patrons to Mirf and promote the next show.  Rinse and repeat.  When we wrapped up for the day Saturday we cleaned up, secured the props and electronics and headed to the hotel.  I was hot, tired, thirsty and hungry but Mirf is always the first priority.  I squared Mirf away with fresh food, ice water, copious amounts of fresh catnip and his litter box, then I headed to the bar and grill next door.  I sat down at the bar and asked the bartender for a large Caesar salad, tall glass of water and a bar rail Long Island.  After eating the salad, drinking three glasses of water and half the Long Island I paid my tab and headed back to the room.

I found Mirf laying on the bed happily playing with his favorite toy, his balls.  I was going to go for a swim in the pool, but I figured I would lay down with Mirf for a couple of minutes first and fell fast asleep.  I awoke at 2:00AM to Mirf smacking me in the head with his paw wanting to play.  Since he didn't have his little brother Ziggy to play with, I became his default playmate.

Thinking about the first weekend, Saturday the festival was lightly attended.  The crowds were small partly because of the heat, partly competing events that were happening locally.  I checked out of the hotel Sunday Morning before heading to Canterbury Village, it was 20 degrees cooler, and it showed in the early crowds at the village.  More people attended while the rain in the forecast held off for most of the day.  The shows on Sunday went much better than Saturday and Mirf was a bit more attentive while the crowds were getting larger.  Part of it was the cooler weather, part was the word is getting out there about Mirf and people are coming to the show to see the man with the cat.  With Mirf on stage with me it's a whole lot easier to get a volunteer to come on stage now, everyone loves Mirf and wants to pet him.  Mirf presented himself well to the management, patrons and staff...and they loved him.

The second weekend temperature-wise was very similar to the first weekend only hotter.  Saturday was hot, Mirf was a miserable champ.  At one point he was laying his head in his water bowl in the shade of the big pine trees behind our stage.  That was another issue, Mirf rolling in the pine needles.  It was fun to constantly remove pine needles from his fluff.  His tail is amazing, it's like a feather duster.  Mirf and I struggled with the heat at the noon show and our last show was at 3:00.  It was hot, it was humid, and I was worried about Mirf.  The way he was laying with his head in his water bowl worried me.  It wasn't that he was currently overheating, it was when were onstage with no shade inside a covered cage then later in a brown box that's been sitting in the sun for 30 minutes baking.  This is a problem that I will encounter many times this season and beyond, it's part of the gig.  The question is how to mitigate the heat, the solution is air flow.  I remembered that I had gotten a folding fan from my friend Ming over a year ago to use at festival when it's hot.  It's a nice bamboo and black cloth fan but it's too large for me to use effectively but it was still on the trailer...I had an idea.  I went and got the fan out of the overhead and put it in my stage cabinet.  I was going to have an audience member continuously fan Mirf onstage to keep him cool during the show.  I believed I would find an audience member willing to serve Mirf.  The show started in the usual fashion, I produced Mirf in the usual way successfully.  I then explained to the audience that Mirf's health and welfare is paramount.  He's not a pet, he's my partner and we travel everywhere together, if he's not welcome, neither am I.  I also elaborated the safety aspect of the high temperature, direct sunlight, shade created by the top of his cage, but he needs constant airflow to keep him cool.  I then produced the fan and asked if there were any volunteers in the audience that would like to come up on stage and fan him during the show.  I had 10 hands go up before I was finished talking.  There was this one young girl in the audience whose face was painted like a dragon, so I chose her.  She turned out to be a trooper.  She happily fanned Mirf the entire show with a big smile on her face.  As far as I'm concerned, I could have sat in the audience and watched her fan Mirf, she was so cute doing it.  She was truly mesmerized my Mirf.  The show went well, I gave her a wand as a thank you for helping Mirf.  That is the solution to my problem, get an audience member to fan Mirf.  Sunday was again 20 degrees cooler than Saturday.  I didn't have any need to fan Mirf he was fine and his normal self.  Everybody (management, patrons, staff, other performers) was impressed with the behavior of a 10-month-old kitten.  I'm Impressed with how well Mirf handled two brutal days starting off his career.  Mirf is truly a special kitty.

Next...Lojack, Colon and Sterlini Theatre


Around the Town

By Karl Rabe


Calendar of Events

Members Performing

Catch Ming and Barbara Louie performing in the upcoming months.

  • Sunday July 23 at 3pm Festival of Chariots Novi Civic Center
  • Friday July 28 at 2pm. Campbell library Detroit

Other Calendars


Around the Town

By Karl Rabe


Calendar of Events

Members Performing

Catch Ming and Barbara Louie performing in the upcoming months.

  • Sunday July 23 at 3pm Festival of Chariots Novi Civic Center
  • Friday July 28 at 2pm. Campbell library Detroit

Other Calendars


Funny Business

By Karl Rabe


Hare Raising

A bald magician pulled a rabbit out of a hat. Then he put the rabbit right on top of his head and gently lowered the hat down over the rabbit until the rabbit was completely covered. After a couple seconds of wearing the hat, the magician quickly lifted the hat back up, and presto!

There wasn’t a hare on his head

Did you hear about the magician who made an entire art gallery disappear?

Now museum, now you don'

A magician is traveling through Europe performing his flashy new fountain-pen act

He sells out shows in Paris, London, Berlin, Prague, and Amsterdam. People begin calling him "Bic Jesus"

Everywhere he went, crowds would gather to see him perform his Montblanc mastery. Men wanted to be him, and women wanted to be with him.

This all changed one fateful spring day. The magician arrived in Barcelona to perform the last show in this seasons tour, only to find out that he hadn't sold a single ticket yet.

Devastated, he took to the streets to perform and hopefully drum up some interest in his show. Everywhere he went the people would hardly look at him, no one would shake his hand, watch his performance, or even acknowledge his increasingly desperate carnival barker-esque calls for attention.

No one gave any attention to his tricks, not the moving mark, the blinking blot, or the blue to black bamboozle.

The magician gave up late afternoon when he got hungry and found an old man with a food cart.

Frustration was visible on the magicians face so the old man asks "what's got you down?", the magician responds "I've been selling out shows throughout Europe but here people won't even take 30 seconds to watch my Stupefying Signature trick, no one will shake my hand or even look at me, if I'd have known I would never have come here".

The old man smiled kindly and told him "do not be hard on yourself, there's no way you could have known, my friend"

"Why do you say that?" inquired the magician?

"Because no one expects the Spanish Ink Wizard Shun"


Funny Business

By Karl Rabe


Hare Raising

A bald magician pulled a rabbit out of a hat. Then he put the rabbit right on top of his head and gently lowered the hat down over the rabbit until the rabbit was completely covered. After a couple seconds of wearing the hat, the magician quickly lifted the hat back up, and presto!

There wasn’t a hare on his head

Did you hear about the magician who made an entire art gallery disappear?

Now museum, now you don'

A magician is traveling through Europe performing his flashy new fountain-pen act

He sells out shows in Paris, London, Berlin, Prague, and Amsterdam. People begin calling him "Bic Jesus"

Everywhere he went, crowds would gather to see him perform his Montblanc mastery. Men wanted to be him, and women wanted to be with him.

This all changed one fateful spring day. The magician arrived in Barcelona to perform the last show in this seasons tour, only to find out that he hadn't sold a single ticket yet.

Devastated, he took to the streets to perform and hopefully drum up some interest in his show. Everywhere he went the people would hardly look at him, no one would shake his hand, watch his performance, or even acknowledge his increasingly desperate carnival barker-esque calls for attention.

No one gave any attention to his tricks, not the moving mark, the blinking blot, or the blue to black bamboozle.

The magician gave up late afternoon when he got hungry and found an old man with a food cart.

Frustration was visible on the magicians face so the old man asks "what's got you down?", the magician responds "I've been selling out shows throughout Europe but here people won't even take 30 seconds to watch my Stupefying Signature trick, no one will shake my hand or even look at me, if I'd have known I would never have come here".

The old man smiled kindly and told him "do not be hard on yourself, there's no way you could have known, my friend"

"Why do you say that?" inquired the magician?

"Because no one expects the Spanish Ink Wizard Shun"


Swag is now in stock and for sale. Contact Treasurer Rob Krozal to get your's today!


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The 2025 Ann Arbor Magic Club Board

Contact the board using these email addresses

  • sean@howell.cc
  • bogd19@me.com
  • rkrozal@yahoo.com
  • krabe@comcast.net
  • mcallistermagic1@gmail.com

 

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