Society of American Magicians Assembly 12|
|
|
|
|
Jerry Johnson of Richfield, Minnesota, died October 30, 2008 after an eight-month illness. He was 76. Jerry grew up on a farm in Forest Lake, MN, and began studying magic at age eleven. He built many of his tricks and wrote his own patter which resulted in his unique style of comedy stage magic. He began performing as a young teenager and continued to do shows until his retirement in 1997. He was known for his original moves, quick wit, and humor. After graduating from Forest Lake High School, he attended Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN for two years before being drafted into the Army. He was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky where he played the trumpet in the 74th Army Band and performed magic in shows for Special Services. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1958 with a degree in education. The family moved to San Diego, California where, for two years, Jerry taught English and Speech at La Jolla Jr. Sr. High School. He then took a job with Retail Credit Company as insurance inspector, was able to transfer to Minneapolis, and work a total of twenty two years. In 1983 he returned to education and worked with computers in a special education school district until he retired. During his years in San Diego and later in Minneapolis, he belonged to the SAM and IBM, holding offices in both organizations. He won the Silver Medal for stage magic at the 1983 SAM Convention, and in 2000 he won the First Place Award for Comedy Magic at the Houdini Club of Wisconsin. Jerry is survived by his wife of 55 years Connie; four daughters: Pam, Ann, Leslie, and Kim; and two grandsons: Phillip Morley and Leo Plumer.
|
||
In area magic news, Geoff Williams reported that he saw Litchfield, Minn. native Dan Sperry perform locally with about 300 people in attendance. Dan performed a very limited engagement here between the close of World’s Greatest Magic and starting in V, The Ultimate Variety Show in Las Vegas.
There were 30-40 people at last month’s event honoring Bruce Jensen. Will Earley did an excellent job as the lead organizer and spoke poignantly about Bruce’s influence in Will’s life and magic. Tom Olenick presented an excellent commemorative video with well-wishes from a prestigious group of magicians who Larry Kahlow helped contact.
Jerry Johnson’s cancer has recurred in multiple locations. He started chemo several weeks ago, had a stroke on Saturday, and is back in the hospital.
President Adam Moore shared a message from I.B.M. Ring 19 President Rick Andresen inviting all Assembly 12 members to attend the Ring 19 meeting on October 13th.
Geoff Williams will be at John Luka’s Motor City Close-Up Convention in November and at Fechter’s Finger Flicking Frolic in April. He will also be shooting a new single-trick DVD on Jack Elmsley’s LA Wowee Zowee Card Prediction Miracle.
As you know, or could probably guess from the preceding paragraph, Geoff is a great magician and a great teacher. We have all learned something from him either formally through his lectures and videos or informally after an Assembly meeting. So, in honor of Geoff, we asked everyone to perform “Something You Learned from Geoff Williams.”
Darnay began with Knot So Tuff, Larry Kalow demonstrated a Vanishing and Appearing Knot, Bruce Kilber shared Talking Jokers. Secretary/Treasurer Dave Taylor “stumbled through” Coincidence, and Adam showed Geoff’s set up for linking rubber bands. Then it was Geoff’s turn.
He started with Miracle Coin Vanish. Next was Arnold Schwarzenquarter by Scott Franz (based on Dizzy Dial). Geoff then performed and taught Card in Pocket which he introduced as a way to build confidence palming cards. He followed this with a routine Scott Franz created in response to spectators who showed him the 21 Card Trick. It’s the same effect — except the cards are face down. Geoff closed with Paul Harris’ Solid Deception.
