July 2020 Ring Report
- Ring Report submitted by Dennis Chan -
One of the many magic activities for the Vancouver Magic Circle for June was a lecture by Meir Yedid. The lecture was hosted by President Rod Boss. This was the Vancouver Magic Circle’s first lecture online via Zoom. Rod welcomed Meir. Before the lecture started, there was a chat session with Meir and several members of the Vancouver Magic Circle.
Before starting his lecture, Meir showed that he had a “bag of tricks.” This bag is actually a pocket sized zippered style change purse which contained several items of magic that he can perform anytime and anywhere. Attached to the bag was a badge that looked almost like a police badge with the word magician written on it. This “badge” is actually a money clip. During his lecture he showed some paddle move techniques and he also demonstrated a “paddle move” with a die that showed that the opposite sides do not add up to seven. He did some coin magic and some paper money magic. This particular effect can only be performed with a U.S. one dollar bill. He also performed a mentalism prediction effect using a bar code. He demonstrated his version of twisting the “Aces.” He showed the Kelly Bottom Placement and showed how to palm a card using this sleight. The Kelly Bottom Placement can be found in Tarbell number 3 page 184. He mentioned that he enjoys giving away gifts and as a performer you should be likeable and approachable. All of the effects that Meir performed during his lecture are available online through his website. Rod thanked Meir for a great lecture.
After the lecture, several members hung around for a magic chat session. There were 40 participants at this lecture. About two weeks after Meir’s lecture, Meir had an offer of 16 coin magic DVDs with a price that was too good to pass up. There are not a lot of coin magic DVDs in our library. The price included the shipping. Not too sure if there will be any customs and duties costs. Many thanks to Rod Boss for making the purchase. The purchase was approved by the executive.
The Vancouver Magic Circle held another lecture about two weeks after the Meir Yedid lecture. The lecture was once again hosted by President Rod Boss online via zoom. The guest lecturer was Kozmo who hails from New York City. The lecture was free for the members of the Vancouver Magic Circle. Before the lecture started several members had a chat session with Kozmo. Then Shawn Farquhar introduced Kozmo as the world’s best street magical performer. Kozmo stated that he had nothing to sell. He gave a short autobiography on how he became a street performer. He is an engineer by trade. In his early years as a magician Kozmo discovered that the earnings as a magician was pretty good. He had a decision to make, quit his job or do magic for a living. He decided to quit his job. He went to New Orleans and things were not that easy. But he toughed it out. He started his lecture by doing a four coin assembly routine and gave an explication on how to perform it. He did some card effects and a signed card inside a glass jar with the lid still sealed to the jar. He demonstrated his method of doing coin roll. He did a two coin routine using a coin sleight called the pop-up move. There is a description of the pop-up move in Earl Nelson’s book Variations. He also talked about the Classic Palm and how he practiced it “day and night.” Except on certain occasions he always had a coin in the Classic Palm. He said that he has done well as a magician and has no regrets. He said that he made the right decision and he thanked magic for a great life. Rod thanked Kozmo for a great lecture.
After the lecture there was a chat session amongst the members. There were 30 participants.
