May 2020 Ring Report
- Ring Report submitted by Dennis Chan -
Many thanks once again to President Rod Boss for hosting the Vancouver Magic Circle’s May meeting online via zoom. This new way of having meetings on line is proving to be very popular with the members and is attracting more people to be interested in magic and to become members of the Vancouver Magic Circle and other magic organizations.
The meeting opened with a visit from Kenrick “Ice” McDonald who was introduced by Shawn Farquhar. There was a chat session with Ice. During the chat session Ice presented a workshop using dollar bills. He explained how to change bills magically using different denominations. Everyone enjoyed his workshop. Surprised visits included Michael Stratman, who is also an honourary member of the Vancouver Magic Circle and Bruce and Jennifer Meyers from Hawai’i. The Vancouver Magic Circle welcomed our newest member Michael Likey. There was an interview with Michael. He said that he was honoured to be a member of the Vancouver Magic Circle.
May is close-up competition night. There are two competitions, one for the H.B. MacLean trophy and the second competition is for the Dick Gardner trophy. The H.B. MacLean is an adult competition. No playing cards are permitted. The Dick Gardner trophy is a junior competition. Playing cards are permitted. Scott Jansen and Jordan Vo are in charge of the competitions. Last year’s winner, John Stenning was the host and MC for the H.B. MacLean trophy and he also read the rules. The competitors were Rod Chow, Yoosik Oum and Graham Kita. The judges were Roy Hopwood, Scott Jansen, Robert Teszka, Wiley Allen, and Jordan Vo. This was Roy’s first time as a judge. The time keeper was Scott Jansen.
Rod Chow presented a very magical and interesting performance with the production of different sized spherical objects representing the planets of our solar system. Each of the “planets” were in relative size of our solar system. Well done Rod. Yoosik Oum presented a spoon bending routine with two spoons to show that one of the spoons were bent by magic. He showed the comparison of the two spoons. Graham Kita presented a very interesting coins across routine and coins through the table. The “table” was a clear sheet of glass. In between the acts, John Stenning asked some riddles to the members while the judges tallied the scores and if a member came up with the correct answer, a prize was awarded. The prizes will be handed out when the club meets live at a later date. He also did some card manipulations. The winner of the H. B. MacLean trophy was Rod Chow. Graham Kita came in second place. Congratulations to Rod and to the rest of the competitors. Many thanks to John Stenning for doing an excellent job as MC. This was his first time as an M C. The junior competition did not take place.
Rod Boss did some cell phone magic and a magic prediction with numbers. The prediction was inside a sealed envelope. Well done Rod. Guest Topher Gowen presented a well informed workshop. Some of his effects included magic with a cotton swabbed tip, fast food ketchup packet inside a bottle of water, card manipulations, Boston Box and how to make a glass of water production gimmick using a coat hanger. Everyone enjoyed Topher’s workshop. Rejoining the Vancouver Magic Circle was Marjorie Meira Pacht. Welcome back Marjorie. Many thanks to Shaw Farquhar for producing a magic zoom video. Meir Yedid will be presenting a two hour lecture online via zoom on Tuesday, June 9 at 7:00 p.m pacific time. This will be the Vancouver Magic Circle’s first lecture on line. There were 35 participants in attendance. Rod thanked everyone for attending the meeting.
