April 2020 Ring Report
- Ring Report submitted by Dennis Chan -
History was made at the Vancouver Magic Circle’s meeting on Thursday April 23. It was also the first ever competition on line via Zoom. Many thanks to Rod Boss for hosting the meeting and setting up the competition. Our President, Rod Boss reached out to the other clubs across Canada to the Pacific Northwest who might not be holding any online meetings during this time, and we were joined by members from rings in London Ontario, Calgary Alberta, and Spokane Washington. It was good to see the Brotherhood during an exceedingly difficult time we are all being forced to endure.
Before the competition, there was a chat session with a surprise visit from Lance Burton. Rod and Lance and other guests had a chat session with Lance exchanging magic stories. After the chat session, there was a question and answer time with Lance by the members of the Vancouver Magic Circle and guests. Our members had the opportunity to chat with Lance. Many have met Lance in the past and spoke of his professionalism and the way he was supportive and kind. Everyone enjoyed the Lance Burton visit.
After the interview, Shawn Farquhar performed a magic effect using a Keno card. He also performed other card effects. Donovan Atreides performed a disappearing silk in the fist routine which had everyone fooled. Although he did not tell anyone how it was done, he gave thome (combination of thumb and some) tips on how to improve this classic effect.
Competition time! The competition for this month was for the Charles Howard Trophy. This trophy is awarded in recognition of excellence in magic using gimmicked decks. During the course of the routine or effect, a gimmick must be used (i.e. gimmicked cards, gimmicked wallet, gimmick device etc.) The spirit of this competition is to encourage growth in the use of gimmicks to enhance magic. Scott Jansen and Jordan Vo are in charge of the competitions. Last year’s winner, Rod Boss was the emcee for the competition and he also read the rules. The competitors were Yoosik Oum, Cameron Minty, Rabbi Don Pacht, and John Stenning. The judges were Jordan Vo, Scott Jansen, Wiley Allen, Graham Kita and Robert Teszka. Scott Jansen was the timekeeper. Scott Jansen and Jordan Vo tallied the scores. The winner was Rabbi Don Pacht. Yoosik Oum came in second place. Congratulations to Don and to the rest of the competitors.
Following the competition, workshops were put on by Simon Cassegrain, a new member to join the Vancouver Magic Circle from France and Shawn Farquhar. Simon demonstrated his skill with cards using the triumph principle and a four Aces revelation. He also showed how to perform other card effects. After Simon’s workshop, Shawn Farquhar gave a very highly informative workshop. He demonstrated card techniques and moves. He also performed a Rubick’s cube routine. He also had products that one can purchase through Palmer Magic which is owned by Shawn. Many thanks to Simon and Shawn for presenting excellent workshops.
Rod thanked all those for attending the meeting. There were many favourable comments about the Zoom meeting. A lot of members are looking forward to the next Zoom meeting. Using Zoom is an excellent way to promote magic and the club. There were about 40 members and 15 guests at the meeting.
