For President Wendy Sobel the September meeting would be her final one for the year. So with joy and a bit of sadness, she called the meeting to order on September 5th. The October meeting would be our traditional banquet and installation of new officers.
However, another tradition for the September meeting is recognition of our founder, Caryl Fleming. So long-time member Bob Weiss took some time to talk about Fleming’s legacy and the many contributions he had made over so many years to the entire magic community.
Wendy did remind us that our October meeting would be the banquet and installing the new officers—as well as a “mind-blowing” performance by the hilarious Robert Baxt.
The theme for September was “Magic to Music” and it was a very good choice as quite a few members rose to the occasion with music of almost every kind to complement their effects.
Rachel Slocomb told us a story (both funny and sad) of her 37th birthday celebration with some rapid changes of costume and props as she narrated a tale that did not end happily—but it was by all means one of the most creative ones the Ring has ever seen. Reid Eckman provided a smooth and polished approach to the linking rings with a routine that had some clever moves that got the applause he definitely earned. David Martinez did a card assembly but was interrupted by a “phone call” from his mother who hilariously kept getting in the way of both his music and his magic. Amazingly he still managed to get all the court cards separated into their own glasses. Mark Antonio used his time wisely as he showed us the routine he would be using to audition for the Magic Castle. It was a beautifully executed version of the cups and balls as well as a routine with the Ninja Rings. There was no doubt in most minds he would pass the test (and we found out a week later he definitely did!) Gerry Schiller needed an eight-year old to be his audience volunteer but there were no kids to be found. So Manny Gonzales (though quite a bit older) played the part—and he played it “to the hilt.” It was a version of the classic Twentieth (or now the Twenty-first Century) silks that ended with a large Blendo. Gerry went a step further by producing a dove from the silk—but then to the gasp of his audience, he put the dove in a paper bag and crushed it! He did save the day—remember it was supposed to be a kids’ show—by showing his audience it was really a rubber bird! It took some persuasion but we got Wendy to do her rope routine and she did it to the tune of the song “A Whole New World” from the Disney film Aladdin—and she did it very beautifully. Bob Weiss performed (and sang along) to “Hyacinth House” ending with the words “Why do you throw the Jack of Hearts away?” and doing just that as his deck of cards turned to blanks!
It was one of the most creative evenings this reporter has witnessed in many, many years with Ring 21 with lots of great magic and some great music to accompany it.
-Gerry Schiller
