Society of American Magicians Assembly 12

Our March meeting was held at Eagle Magic in Burnsville, with 11 people in attendance and 1 person on Zoom (Hey Keith!!). Our theme this month: Spur-of-the-Moment Magic, or Impromptu Magic With Everyday Objects!

During the business portion of the meeting, Treasurer Adam Moore gave us the good news that SAM12 made money at the auction last month! Next up we launched into an lively discussion of our SAM12 Book Club we’re starting in the Fall. We’re going to start with the Hugard classic “The Royal Road to Card Magic”. Next we talked about upcoming conventions and the SAM 12 members planning to go: Several are going to the Gateway Closeup Convention in St. Louis in April, and many are attending Abracorndabra in Iowa in May–in fact, our May SAM12 meeting will be at Abracorndabra!

On to performances: SAM12 Vice President Larry Kahlow started us off with a card trick, and Adam Moore did a very smooth Crazy Man’s Handcuffs.  Paul Cook did a nice mentalism effect, like a Living and Dead Test with a twist (People I Like / Don’t Like). Next, Paul Ladig performed Key thru Bill, and Brad Gudim worked his magic with four coins.  SAM12 Scribe Paul Sedler made us gasp with his Penrose Pendant, and Tom Fagerstrom made a rubber band jump from finger to finger and a loop of rope pass through a spectator’s arm. Fiinally Jeff Kohagen performed the Al Baker coin thru handkerchief. 
The evening ended with the usual socializing and snacks. Next month is our annual SAM12 movie night. Join us in person or online from anywhere in the world via Zoom. Get the details at SAM12.org.

See this in the May 2025 MUM Magazine

For our February meeting, it was time once again for our annual SAM12 Auction. Twenty-one people attended this year at Eagle Magic in Burnsville. It was a chance to add to your collection or subtract, and often, people did both. Is $100 too much to pay for that book at the bookstore? How about $10 at the auction? SOLD!!

This year we had: books, DVDs, books, a card fountain, DVDs, needle through arm, books, sponge bunnies, and some books!! There were even some vintage posters!! Everything was sold at “I don’t want this anymore” prices. There was something for everyone during our very casual auction, with many laughs and stories. As usual, refreshments and socializing brought the evening to a close.

Join us for our next meeting, won’t you? Either in person or via Zoom. We meet on the third Friday of the month. More information at SAM12.org.

See this in the April 2025 MUM Magazine

Happy New Year from SAM12!! This month’s theme is “Magic with Heart” as we look ahead to Valentine’s Day. We had a large group of 17 people in person at Eagle Magic, with no one joining us via Zoom.

During the Business portion of our meeting, we reminded everyone of our annual SAM12 magic auction on February 21st. It’s a chance to sell unwanted magic and/or buy someone else’s unwanted magic. We also plan on having our 2nd annual Movie Night, complete with a special guest star. Finer details are still being worked out, but it’s scheduled for March 21st.  SAM12 President Kevin Smith threw out the idea of adding a book club section to our monthly meeting. After much debate we put it to a vote and it passed!! Now that it’s passed, we will work out the details and hopefully start the book club with our April meeting. Stay tuned!! Other magic news: Keith Hochstedler recently performed for 20 ten year olds and had to deal with a heckler in the front row the entire show. That led to a great discussion on how to deal with hecklers of various ages and what realistically “should” happen. 
Performances: Manny Betinis did an entertaining sponge heart routine, complete with awful puns. SAM12 Treasurer Adam Moore did a great performance of a borrowed ring appearing on a wand held by two spectators. Paul Ladig produced a huge bouquet of flowers from his Tora Rose Botania. Finally, Sandy Meyer brought down the house with a series of Valentine’s Day-themed tricks! Thanks, Sandy!!

The evening ended with the usual socializing and snacks. Next month we’re having our annual SAM12 Magic Auction. Join us in person or online from anywhere in the world via Zoom. Get the details at SAM12.org.

Look for this in the March 2025 MUM Magazine

Our December meeting was our annual Chili Dinner and Holiday Celebration! 13 people joined, plus one via Zoom, so it was a large crowd at Discovery United Methodist Church. Special thanks go to Sandy Meyer (and Steve!) who catered the dinner. The menu was chili, cornbread casserole, coleslaw, and an array of brownies, cookies, and cakes for dessert. Very good food, and everyone enjoyed it.

The business portion of the meeting was short, and included a brief confirmation of our upcoming 2025 meetings: January-normal meeting (theme: hearts and valentines), February–our Annual Auction, March–our “move night” (movie and guest To Be Announced…)

For the rest of the meeting, there were many conversations, stories told, and a couple of tricks presented (Paul Laidig demonstrated his work-in-progress goldfish production, and Larry Kahlow showed us the Stop Light trick). 

Everyone enjoyed the food and the company, and it was a great end of the year celebration. SAM 12 wishes everyone a Happy New Year, and please join us for our next meeting, in person or online from anywhere in the world via Zoom. Get the details at SAM12.org!

Look for this in the February 2025 MUM Magazine

Another SAM12 assembly meeting again with the strange but topical theme of Foul/Fowl Magic!! 13 people joined us at Eagle Magic and one person attended via Zoom (Hi Sandy!!). We welcomed two new SAM 12 members, too: Keith Hochstedler and Walt Pattinson!

The meeting started with the presentation of a plaque celebrating Eagle Magic’s 125th anniversary to the owner, and long-time SAM 12 member and former president,  Larry Kahlow.  It’s great to have North America’s oldest brick-and-mortar magic shop in the Twin Cities, and SAM 12 and Eagle Magic have had a great relationship over the years!

During the business portion of the meeting, SAM12 Treasurer Adam Moore gave his report: A reminder to pay your SAM12 dues, and a brief explanation of his struggles getting non-profit status for the club. Luckily we had an accountant in attendance who had some great advice for Adam.

Next, a few updates from the members: Larry and Jennifer Kahlow took the Sun Princess Magic Castle Cruise. Paul Ladig performed at a retirement home. Manny Betinis worked at a couple of holiday parties and did some walk-around magic at a wedding. SAM12 Treasurer Adam Moore spent some time in Vegas recently and saw a bunch of great shows including Minneapolis native Nick Deffatte. He’s also working on a new solo show. Looking ahead to our upcoming meetings, we talked about our annual chili dinner and holiday celebration in December and the annual auction in February.

On to the performances: Larry Kahlow gave us a mini-lecture on dove pans, demonstrating several different versions and how to get a larger rabbit to fit comfortably in a load pan. Paul Ladig used his “black art “ box to make a duck disappear. Manny Betinis told an amusing Thanksgiving story while performing Color Monte with some homemade cards–amazing!! Jeff Kohagen continues to work on his double color change–just when you think it can’t get any better; it does. SAM12 Scribe Paul Sedler brought an old Star Trek-themed, packet trick called “Star Trick”, a strange trick with some very bad reveals, putting it firmly in the “foul” category. SAM12 President Kevin Smith folded a yellow paper origami bird that found a selected card. Lastly, Adam Moore is working on a book test trick and asked for some advice on adding a little punch to the ending.

The evening ended with the usual socializing and snacks. Next month we’re having our annual Chili Dinner and Holiday Party. Join us in person or online from anywhere in the world via Zoom. Get the details at SAM12.org.

Look for this in the January 2025 MUM Magazine