Author: Tom O'Lenick

President Kevin Smith called the January meeting of the Assembly 12 to order that was held at Eagle Magic and Joke Store. The fourteen members attending included: Kevin Smith, Paul Black, Brad Gudim, Larry Kahlow, Tom O’Lenick, David Stahl, Drew Hanson, Todd Anderson, Adam Moore, Manny Betinis, Don Bursell, Jerry Martin, Paul Cook, and Roger Schmitt.  

A short business meeting included our current Treasurer’s report (about $2400 is available for events and lectures), an idea for a fundraising event and discussion about meeting dates and nights. Larry Kahlow agreed to be committee chair to look into possible lectures. Brad Gudim will head up a committee to discuss fundraising options for the group. No changes were made regarding our regular Friday meeting nights. Our next meeting date was changed to Friday, Feb 28th.  

Performances followed. Manny Betinis asked a question about which type of sponge ball vanish of two he demonstrated was perfered by the group. Drew Hanson produced a flaming business card from his wallet and did an effect that used the timer app on a cell phone. Don Bursell performed Ben Blau’s “Unphased,” a card matching effect.  Adam Moore did a clever book test using a Harry Potter book. Tom O’Lenick showed a new booklet written by Nick Diffatte called “Funny,” now in its second printing.  And finally, new member Roger Schmitt had a card selected which matched another in an envelop using the “Bernard Billis Switch”. 

Coffee, chocolate chip cookies and other treats were enjoyed by the members with continued fellowship by everyone until late in the evening. Our next meeting will be the annual  SAM Hocus-Pocus Assembly 12 auction. Sort through your stuff to sell and we will see you on Friday, Feb 28th.  

The SAM Assembly #12 resumed regular monthly meetings with the the September gathering. It was well attended with 15 magicians, many of whom performed for the group. Attending: president Tom O’Lenick; VP, Larry Kahlow; Paul Ladig; Tom Faggerstrom; Jerry Martin; Jack Boyd; Paul Cook; Paul Black; Kevin Smith; Dan Witkowski; Todd Anderson; Brad Gudim; Mike Platt; Adam Moore; and Emmanuel Betinis. 

The group discussions were very lively as everyone assembled prior to the official business and performance. The group agreed to hold the October (Fri.,10/18) and December (Fri.,12/13) meetings at the Regency Apartments Community Room at 2200 Plymouth Road in Minnnetonka. The November meeting (Fri.,11/15) will be at Eagle Magic and Joke store in Burnsville (our usual location).

As a final order of business, elections were held. A big “THANK YOU” to Kevin Smith who was unanimously elected as the new club President. Larry Kahlow will continue as Vice-president. The gavel will be passed and pounded at the next meeting.

Performances by Brad Gudim showing “Lucid Dreams” caused a photograph to change magically into a selected card. Mike Platt demonstrated a Paul Richards card effect called “Coersion.” Jack Boyd did a four ace assembly and finished with “Doonebury Delight.” Adam Moore and Manny Betinis also performed. 

Jennifer Kahlow, Paul Ladig and Jerry Martin provided snacks and cookies for the group following the demonstration of magic tricks. Mingling continued well into the later evening. 

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At one of our recent SAM Assembly #12 meetings the group decided to have an upcoming meeting at the same time as the Minneapolis Magic Collector’s Expo at the Doubletree Hotel in Minneapolis. So we set about to get together at the Expo in Mid June. President Tom O’Lenick got permission from Expo organizers David Sandy and Bill Smith to allow the group to attend member Larry Kahlow’s presentation on the History of Eagle Magic and Joke Store (now the oldest remaining brick and mortar magic shop in the United States) at the Expo.

Those that attended are shown in this group picture. Larry and Jennifer Kahlow, Tom Fagerstrom,  Kevin Smith, Brad Gudim, Tom O’Lenick, Paul Black, Paul Ladig, Drew Hanson, Jerry Martin, Steve and Sandy Meyer.

The SAM Assembly #12 now embarks upon its summertime hiatus until September. Until then, best magical wishes!  

Twelve members arrived early for the May meeting to partake in the pizza and beverages that were provided by the Hocus-Pocus Assembly #12 to celebrate what appears to be Spring in Minnesota.

Spirited discussions preceded the actual business meeting about those attending the upcoming AbraCornDabra convention in Des Moines in about a week and the Minneapolis Magic Collector’s Expo on June 20-22.

The monthly theme was “Dice, remember never say Die.”
For “Teach-a-Trick,” President Tom O’Lenick showed a video on a Dice “Matrix” routine and how to learn dice stacking.

Brad Gudim showed a dice stacking routine he often performed in the past using a cup and dice that became completely transparent much to the surprise of the spectator.  Brad just happened to also have a trick in his bag mentioned by Todd Anderson and given to him years ago by Bruce Jensen called “Splat Die.”

Then, Paul Ladig demonstrated how a dice could lose it’s spots with “Spots Off” and showed an effect called “X-ray Vision Crazy Cube” where he was able to predict the number on top of a single die hidden inside two covered tubes.

Tom O’Lenick totally fooled with “Dieception.” Paul Cook rolled three dice in order to select a card. A prediction indicated that he would roll the number 10 on the dice (which he did) and his card would be the 9 of Clubs (which it was). Absolutely amazing!

Todd Anderson shared a brief story about how he acquired a Die Box created by a local member years ago. His story prompted numerous others to tell theirs. We also learned about a unique noise making “locking” sliding gimmick included in some die boxes. Todd promised to show us the Die Box at a future event.

A decision was made to gather for our next meeting at the Minneapolis Magic Collector’s Expo on Friday, June 21th (our regular monthly meeting day) at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park. President O’Lenick will make arrangements for a place to get together since many members will be attending the function anyway. Watch the SAM12.org website for further details

The group chatted for some time following the performances before heading home full of pizza.

A small but dedicated group of members attended the April meeting that was held just before the Easter weekend. As the group gathered, informal discussions about recent magical events were heard in conversations. One local event was the Masters of Illusion show held in the showroom of Mystic Lake Casino. 

When President Tom O’Lenick called the meeting to order, topics changed to upcoming events. In mid-May, AbraCornDabra will be a featured regional convention in nearby Des Moines, Iowa; former Minnesotan Nick Diffatte’s appearance at Magic Underground on April 26; Adam Trent will be at Mystic Lake Casino, the Minneapolis Collector’s Expo in June and a lecture and show by Professor Hoffman expert Dr. Will Houstoun from the UK. 

After the group business, O’Lenick reintroduced the “Teach-A-Trick” session with a presentation on Bob Hummer’s Face Up-Face Down Mysteries. Everyone broke out their cards and followed along to learn this clever trick.

Finally, individual performers showed the tricks they had prepared for the meeting theme, Card Tricks. Paul Ladig demonstrated “Chase the Ace.” Jennifer Kahlow showed a “Do As I Do” effect she called “Copy Cat.” Paul Cook fooled the group with a trick he recently learned at a FCE meeting in Ohio. A randomly chosen card predicted an amount of money that totaled $1.79. Then, Jerry Martin showed a 4 card trick where the cards reversed themselves, one at a time, until the last card changed color. First time guest Jim MacMiller did a trick with a card he named “Noah,” after one of his magic teachers. And, it turned out to be the spectator’s named card. Finally, Larry Kahlow presented the “Mental Photography” deck which many in the group had not seen before. Of course he had a few on hand for sale following the meeting!

Special thanks to Paul Ladig and Jerry Martin who provided snacks and our hosts, Jennifer and Larry Kahlow, for cookies and beverages. Magic conversation and fellowship lasted for almost another hour. 

The SAM Assembly #12 May meeting will be one week earlier than usual on Friday, May 10th and the location will be changed (for this event only) to the Regency Woods Apartments Community Room, 2200 South Plymouth Road in Minnetonka (just west of Ridgedale Mall). Plan to come a little early and share some pizza (hosted by the SAM) with your magician friends before the meeting gets started. Meeting theme: Dice tricks. But, remember never say “die!”

The snow has begun melting and Spring finally has taken root in Minnesota with temps above freezing which resulted in a good turn out for our March meeting. Unfortunately, a few regulars were not able to attend due to work conflicts and vacations in warmer locations. Nevertheless, we had spirited discussion and some great magical performances. Our theme was “Magic with thumb tips, sixth fingers, Sanada gimmicks and other appendages that can create great magic.” 

President Tom O’Lenick introduced guest John Gaspard who was on hand to promote “Sunday Night Magic” to the group. John, one of the three organizers of the monthly event at Theater in the Round, told everyone about the upcoming Peter Samuelson lecture and show happening in a week. Local magician and SAM member Steve Carlson is the opening act. Gaspard also introduced the new concept of “Flight Time” which will give some individuals a chance to perform in front of a “magic friendly” audience to try out new material. Pop Hayden is scheduled to appear at a Sunday Night Magic in the near future.

Next up we chatted about the book Del Ray, America’s Foremost – The Magician for His Time. We were fortunate to have one of Del Ray’s closest friends, David Stahl on hand to share some fascinating personal stories about Raymond Petrosky and his magic. If you are not aware of his magic you owe it to yourself to look him up on the internet!

Our performances for the evening began with Drew Hansen opening with a handkerchief vanish using a thumb tip in a non-traditional way. The hank went into the “TT” but it left the hand by way of the Vernon Wand Twirl vanish. A few moments later the handkerchief came back with the “TT” hanging at the end of the cloth. Drew got lots of laughs from the group! 

Next, Kevin Smith had a card selected and returned to the deck. He then looked for the “unique and different” card. He found three that seemed to match and finally the chosen one stood vertically on it’s own in front of him making it very “unique and different.”

Our host, Larry Kahlow showed two booklets on Thumb Tips Tricks that were written by the late Gary Darwin of Las Vegas. Kahlow passed around a collection of thumb tips he has acquired over time. Then,  also chatted about various gimmicks including the metal thumb tip used for vanishing a cigarette and the production of a silk from a cocktail napkin using a sixth finger. Something that local Minnesota magician Al Schneider often demonstrated as part of his lectures. 

Finally, Gary, an Assembly #12 guest, showed a clever signed bill switch which used a $1 Million Bill. The spectator’s borrowed signed bill was then found inside a sealed envelope that had been contained within two zippered bags. Well done and welcome, Gary!

Snacks, casual performances and magical conversations continued well into the evening.