MAGI-GRAM

Official Newsletter of IBM Ring 50 -- The National Capital Ring Special Edition May 2011

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Magi-Whirl 2011, Washington, D.C.

“

The best little convention in the NationalCapital Area

”

Everyone is still recovering from theInternational Brotherhood of Magicians, National Capital Ring 50,

Magi-Whirl 2011

that was held on April 29 & 30, 2011. Therewere four lectures, three close-up performances, and a Gala evening show.Magi-Whirl was held at Bishop Ireton HighSchool, 201 Cambridge Rd, Alexandria VA.Magicians from around the Mid-Atlanticregion came to Magi-Whirl 2011, and had agreat time hanging out with other magiciansand people devoted to magic. They learned aton of new tricks, ideas, presentations, andof course seen some great performances andlecturers.

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We were extremely happy with our lecturers and performers, who all deliveredthe goods! The lectures presented by: KeithFields, Luna Shimada, Dirk Losander, andMark Mason were outstanding. On Fridaynight Keith Fields presented a knock outlecture. His lecture was filled with easy todo, yet baffling magic. Keith recently moved

Keith Fields

to the USA from the UK where, he wasInternational street entertainer of the year,Magic Circle close-up champion, andSouthern England club entertainer of theyear. He has mainly worked corporateevents, cruise ships, trade shows and

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comedy clubs and in his early years Kidsshows. Many of the things he has learnedwere shared in his lecture. Attendees left thelecture with some new ideas, some newtricks and a new love of the art. Arnie Levinsays “I was quite impressed with KeithField's Friday night lecture. Not only was itenjoyable, but I also learned several goodroutines and some funny comedy lines that I plan on using in the future. In particular, Ithought that Keith's billiard rack "trick" wasvery funny and I plan to use the routine thenext time I entertain a bunch of kids.” Keithwas an excellent and very funny performer.If you missed this lecture you missed a goodone!

Luna Shimada Losander

Luna Shimada began Saturday’s line upof lectures. She lectured for over two hours,talking about being a pro in magic. Luna’slecture "The Art of Refinement - The 3-D'sof Magic" focused around construction and process of creating a master act/routine/show. She moved from character definement to directing, constructing, andcover body language, scripting, pre show preparation from the physical to the mental.She performed some routines to illustrateexamples and played some short clips of other acts to show as well. Luna is a philosopher and a teacher of magic and her many talents encompass music, writing,dance, performance art and poetry. Luna isthe recipient of the prestigious “WorldMagic Award” as “Best Female Magician”of 2007. Her magic speaks from the heartand goes beyond ordinary magic shows.Everyone enjoyed her lecture.Dirk Losander presented his lecture before the lunch break. Losander, the Master of Levitation, is known across threecontinents. He has performed his magic inexclusive venues from some of the finestTheaters in Europe to the famed MagicCastle in Hollywood, California. He had lotsof ideas for adding fun and variety to your shows.

Dirk Losander

Losander is the creator of such effects asthe

Losander Floating Table

and his original

Bubble Levitation

. He is world famous for his floating tables. These very sturdylooking wooden tables don't just appear tofloat, they actually fly. It was really quitespectacular when we saw it close up. Heshowed how levitation should really look and the theory behind it. Most of hismaterial could be performed under anycondition, surrounded close-up or on stage,especially the tricks which he created for close-up situations.

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Losander showed several new threadtechniques using elastic thread such as thefloating bill based on a new thread systemand perfect balance taught how to animate a business card in your palm.This year the convention chairmanadded a new feature for the lunch and dinner break. From a menu from the Steak Houseyou could order sandwiches for Saturdaylunch and for Saturday dinner items from amenu from Noodles & Company. Based onthe surveys, this turned out to be a good ideaand many attendees participated in themeals. Next year we may change some of the food vendors.

Mark Mason

After the lunch break the very talentedMark Mason presented his lecture. One person said "I thought it would just be some boring guy talking. I didn't expect all thefunny jokes and great magic stuff!" All theinfo floating around about Mark being agreat guy was absolutely true. He is a business man and he sells what he shows.He is a seasoned, experienced performer andshares a lot of "real world" wisdom. Mark was an amazing magic demonstrator whohas a vast knowledge of magic. In hislecture he shared a lot of valuableinformation that is certain to benefit anyonewho listened. The attendees were enthralled by his wit and energy and really enjoyedMark's different handling on some of magic's classic routines.

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Next on the Saturday schedule were theClose-Up shows. Attendees were dividedinto even groups by color coded badges tosee the close-up shows. Yellow badges wentto the Dai Vernon Room, Blue to the SlydiniRoom, and the Green to the Tommy Wonder Room. The performers switched rooms andrepeated the magic. The three close-up performers each presented a 15-20 minuteclose-up performance that amazed theaudience. The fast moving close-up show performers were: Dirk Losander, Mark Mason, and Keith Fields.

Dirk Losander Doing Close-upMark Mason Close-up Performance Keith Fields Performing Close-up

Danny Selnick found the lectures to have been incredibly interesting, fun, andenjoyable -- and the effects being sold thisyear were very high quality and pure genius.