What Happened at the Meeting on 19th August

Joel Howlett led off the magic with manipulation of ping pong balls.  Joel has spent a considerable chunk of his life training himself in manipulation for magic tricks, and it showed !  We just could not take our eyes off his presentation, it was so gripping.

Next, Noel Clair, the host for the evening of magic “Balls and Things”, multiplied sponge balls and also vanished them.  Using a United States half dollar coin (because it is larger and easier to handle), he did the “paddle move” with it.

John Ferguson poured red liquid (water with food dye) into a plastic cup, then upended it and pulled out a (dry)  silk handkerchief of the same colour – had the water solidified ?

Our President, David Whitson, started his presentation with the vanishing cane. Rolling the cane up in newspaper, he suddenly crumpled up the newspaper to show the cane had vanished. He did a routine with the Linking Rings.  He showed the “Silver Sceptre” item.

David then performed Pavel’s “Knots on Rope” – a favourite of his. He displayed a rope in a cylinder, and as he pulled the rope out of the cylinder, knots formed on the rope – true knots that he had to unravel to present a plain rope !

A full magic routine was road-tested by Steve Irwin.  Using a small Buddha statue, he did a prediction of a card.  This produced the wrong card, but then he burnt the card to show the chosen 4D.  Using flossing thread, he plucked off piece of thread, and gathered them into his hand, and then straightened them out to show they had all joined together. With a volunteer, he launched into a “Do As I Do” card routine, and despite the swap-overs  they ended up on the same card.  Next, with a beautiful “Aladdin Lamp”, he levitated a silk, and did colour changes as part of a story.   With a small “Las Vegas” illuminated sign, he used Casino cards, and the chosen card matched the correct gambling chip.   All in all, a very enjoyable collection of fascinating items.

2022 Syllabus and Office Bearers

Normally, the meetings of Newcastle Society are held on the third Friday of each month (except December) at 7.30 pm at Mayfield Bowling Club, 2A Ingall St, Mayfield. The Club is opposite Albion Street, beside Park Street on one side and the Mayfield Swimming Centre on the other.

However, during the COVID Lockdown, the meetings are being held at a private home.                                                      

Fri 17 Feb    Packet Card Tricks

Fri 17 Mar     Ropes, Strings & Things   

Fri 14 Apr      Colour Changing Classics 

Fri 19 May     Card Tricks with a Borrowed Deck  

Fri 16 Jun       Bar Betchas and Puzzles  

Fri 21 Jul        Silks and Handkerchiefs     Host Joel Howlett

Fri  18 Aug     Balls and Other Things       Host Noel CLair

Fri  15 Sept     Paper and Everyday Objects   Host Al Hirschel

Fri  20 Oct      Apparatus and Gimmicks     Andrew Pickard

Fri  17 Nov     Coins and the AGM            Steve Irwin

Of course, you may not be interested in any of these themes.  No problem!  You are MOST WELCOME to bring along something entirely different that you have been working on and do it in the performance section of the meeting.  The only reason for having a theme is to broaden our horizons, and if yours are already broader than these themes, so much the better !

Office Bearers for 2023
At the  2022 Annual General Meeting, the following Officers were elected:
Patron:      Graham Holstein                  President:   David Whitson
Vice-President:   Joel Howlett               Acting Secretary:   David Whitson
Assistant Secretary:  Joel Howlett    
Treasurer: Al Hirschel
Archivist:  Steve Howlett                       Auditor:  Cyrus Taraparwalla
Editors for Facebook and Blogspot -  Andrew Pickard and John Ferguson

 

Will I be Welcome at the Club ?

 

 Meetings

 
During this present time, because of COVID restrictions, meetings are held at a private home

Normally,
Newcastle Society of Magicians meets on the third Friday of each month (except December) at 7.30 pm at Mayfield Bowling Club, 2A Ingall St, Mayfield.  The Club is opposite Albion Street, beside Park Street on one side and the Mayfield Swimming Centre on the other.  Check at the bar to find the room we have been allocated.

The meeting starts at 7.30 pm with those present performing magic (if they wish) for the others present. Around 8.30pm to 9pm there is a 10 minute break to get refreshments, then a business meeting starts that can last for a half hour to an hour depending on what events are coming up.


Contact Details
If you want to contact us by phone, you can ring  our Vice-President, Joel Howlett on 4942 3593.


But, Will I Be Welcome ?

Anyone with a genuine interest in magic is welcome to our meetings.  The usual procedure is to attend for three meetings and then to apply to join the society. The current membership fee for one year is $20.

Because we meet in a registered club, those under 18 are expected to be accompanied by parent or guardian. While this may be inconvenient for some folk, meeting in a club means that room hire is only a modest expense, and we can keep our club fees down.

What Happened at the Meeting on 22nd July 2022

Steve Irwin led off the magic with his “Las Vegas” card routine containing several card items, together with items involving matching cards and casino chips.

This evening the magic was presented by Joel Howlett, starting with colour changing ribbons to multi-coloured streamer.  Then he displayed five cards, which clearly had blue backs and white (blank) faces.  These changed in his hands to cards with red backs and the card faces were now a Royal flush of poker.   He then converted a picture of a balloon to an actual balloon.

David Whitson started his segment with the production of a silk from a change bag, then performed the Rising Wand (Silver Sceptre).  He did a very colourful production of a dragon silk from a change bag.  

Noel Clair used  a flexible wooden straw and showed that it would bend whichever way he commanded.  Next he performed colour change silks accompanied by a story that he had made up to fit the act.

Using a crystal cylinder that we could see was empty, John Ferguson produced from it a coloured streamer.   Then, showing a red box was empty, he produced from it a silk with “Thank You” printed on it as his final item.

 

What Happened at the Meeting on Friday21st May 2021

 

Al Hirschel was the host of this evening, the theme being "Card Tricks with a Borrowed Deck".  He performed the "echidna coin matrix", covering the coins with cards. The story he told, of an echidna burrowing from one corner of the matrix to the other, fitted the item well.   When he launched into the "Diamonds on the Islands" trick, we knew we were in for a treat. Al tells the story with vigour, and makes the trick come alive.

Another coin matrix trick was done by Noel Clair.  He called it "The Flying Kangaroo".  He generously shared the working of it with us, and Jeff Clark videoed this.

John Ferguson did a card trick called "The Lazy Magician".  First,  he selected a prediction card, and then dealt off a small number of cards until the spectator told him to stop.  Then the spectator took the cards and dealt them into two piles.  He asked the spectator to turn over both top cards – one was the value card, and one was the suit card, and these matched the prediction card.  

Next John laid out a square of cards flat on the card mat and asked everyone how to add four cards so that the pattern of a swastika was formed. Neil Lynch was able to solve this puzzle, giving the clue "negative space".  (This trick was used in the TV show "Foyle's War".)

Steve Irwin showed us four cards face up.  Then as he closed and opened the talon of cards three times, each card turned faced down in turn, showing a red back.  When the fourth card turned over, Steve showed us the backs of the other three cards, and they were all blue !  Your reporter wonders if he was using the Elmsley Count – and if he was, he is extra good at it !

"John Bannon's Card Trick" was performed for us by David Whitson.  He did not explain it, but recommended that we search the internet under this title to find the explanation.

Jeff Clark asked for a card to be chosen, and the outcome was that he showed us his T-shirt with the name of the card correctly displayed on it.  He then did a 23 card prediction trick.

Al Hirschel wrapped up the whole night by doing an excellent Jack Assembly.

One of the magicians said to me at the end of the night, "That was an evening of really great magic !"

What Happened at the meeting on Friday 19th March 2021

 The meeting was hosted by Noel Clare, who treated us to “Rope Through finger” and an assortment of “Ring and Rope” magic and moves with props large and small. 

Andrew Pickard was up next with his “Houdini Card Trick” (Card Through Ribbon) and three to one ropes. 

Joel Howlett did a very visual version of the classic cut and restored ribbon and then added variety to his set by doing a ‘torn and restored paper’ and “card in chewing gum packet”. 

Al Hirschel was keen to show off his beautiful Viking Magic brass tubes that mysteriously caused two coloured pencils to change places. 

David Whitson generously performed a whole host of rope effects for us including Coloured Rope Link, Card Through Ribbon, Professors Wands (“Professor’s Nightmare with Rope”), Stiff Rope, Joining Ropes and his version of Pavel’s Yellow Rope (Knots through the tube / a David Whitson Classic!). 

At the request of Neil Lynch a discussion on “Magic with Australian Money” and Joel Howlett’s version of the “Card To Wallet” followed. 

Barbara Whitson also joined the fun by showing members her “Divination / Fortune Telling Pack of Cards”.

What Happened at the Meeting on Friday 19th February 2021

The theme for the evening was "Packet Card Tricks", hosted by JEFF CLARK.  Jeff dealt most of the suit of clubs, saying they were soldiers, and the cards left were the King and Queen, to be guarded by the soldiers.  Next, placing the deck in a glass, he caused each of the four aces to appear suddenly in turn.

Jeff had a card selected from the pack and returned to it.  It was the five of hearts.  He tossed the deck in the air and caught the 5H.  Then he folded up the T-shirt he was wearing, and it displayed the 5H.

The next magician was JOEL HOWLETT, who had a spectator choose a card, and then replace it in the deck.   The spectator then spread out the deck, and the spectator pushed one card out of the spread – and it was the chosen card !!  This left us all amazed.  Joel did the "knot on" - "knot off" rope, and followed this with the jumping knot, which jumps from a white rope to a red rope, and when undone, we find the white section that jumped is permanently part of the rope!

In Joel's hands, four coins appeared and disappeared in the air until none were left.

Coin appearances and disappearances were also the theme of NOEL CLAIR'S performance, using a coin matrix.  Next, using Australian platypus coins, Noel taught an item as a workshop.  He taught us how to cause the coins to tumble down into his hand and transfer to his other hand.

STEVE IRWIN displayed an arrangement of 24 five cent coins in the shape of a figure "9".  He asked a spectator to choose a number between 10 and 20, and count through the coins, then to count backwards to show a miracle happening !

Covering up a deck of cards in a tea towel, GRAHAM HOLSTEIN held up the bundle and declared what the face card would be, and he was correct.

ANDREW PICKARD asked for a one card among six to be chosen by a volunteer – it was the ten of clubs.   Repeatedly tapping the talon of cards on the table, Andrew revealed one card coming up – it was the ten of clubs !

He then lost the ten of clubs in the deck, spread the deck and the ten of clubs came out of it.

Our President, DAVID WHITSON presented the card item "Chase the Ace", with ginormous cards.  The magician has total control of the cards.  Next he presented the Diminishing Cards, causing them to shrink – and shrink - five times.

He asked a spectator to STOP ! him while he was spreading through the pack, in order to choose a card.  He revealed the card by displaying the well-known "52-on-one" card which has all the 52 cards on the back.

Using an ancient packet item bought from Weirdo's Magic (a Sydney Magic shop from the 1950's) David displayed 4 Kings.  They changed to 4 Aces.  They changed to 4 blank cards.   Al Hirschel commented that this was the most popular card trick. David added that it's a trick that a ten year old can do. 

One of our members commented afterwards that this was a thoroughly good night !