Newsletter: 135 for November 2007 Dave welcomed everyone along this evening and mentioned it was lovely to see so many faces. David Croucher agreed to be tea boy for us tonight so Zac had a night off! Firstly Dave gave his thanks on behalf of Geoff for the success of the recent Fairlight show. Brenda and Mike had kindly handed out copies of the newspaper article to those involved. We were currently sure how much ACES made out of it yet but as this was going into the Welfare Fund it wasn’t a huge deal. Everyone was encouraged to think about more charity 50:50 for next year as we would like to be in a position to purchase additional stage resources for the Club’s use. Reg Moores asked whether we had been in touch with Radio Lewes to promote the Society and Nicky said she would contact them to find out more. Nicky was delighted to let everyone know that during a recent holiday to Turkey that Lynn and Patrick had decided to get engaged and everyone wished them well and offered congratulations. Another magic wedding to look forward to and after the great time we had a Dave and Paula’s, it was bound to be another great bash for everyone concerned! Dave then let everyone know that unfortunately he had not been chosen to audition for Britain’s Got Talent next time. Bad luck Dave but as a plus Martin and Nicky had been asked to participate in a documentary on BBC4 in May next year and were discussing an article with a journalist from the Daily Mirror. Stan outlined the IBM convention and confirmed some of the performers attending and the dates of 24-28 September. Nicky and Martin then mentioned next year’s annual dinner as they would like to be in a position to book up again at Halland Forge. They reiterated that should numbers top 50, the restaurant will close for us so please give some thought to who you can invite along next time. Nicky also mentioned that with John Holden’s agreement, we would be happy to let members pay, say, £10 monthly to cover their dinner cost which we would hope to keep at a similar level to this year. We would think about the second Sunday in October as a possible date bearing in mind Jumbo Day at Portsmouth and the IBM. Nicky also reminded members of January’s Bring a Friend evening whereby members could invite magical friends to join us and on the presentation of a green ticket, they would not be charged. Members of Southdowns would be joining us anyway as part of our bi-annual exchange visit. Stan had been given tickets for them. This month’s Challenge was levitation against holder John Holden and Mike Pettitt. Mike started off by levitating a £10 note to music – beautifully done and I really have no idea how he did this. If only I knew, I could make a fortune! John took to the stage (there really is no stopping this man!) and Pierre came out again levitating a rose to music and then handing similar roses to the ladies in the room. Dave pointed out that perhaps this gave his an advantage to the voting but we would see later on just who would win and who would challenge ... Tonight’s main theme was “Magic with a bang” and although fireworks would have been good (probably not practical in a wooden hall perhaps!) and Patrick started off with a freely chosen card taken by David C. and this being fired at with a very loud bang from his comedy gun. The chosen card was shown to be shot right through with a bullet hole! After this first effect of the night, Stan made mention that there was some discussion about guns being used for magic and that he intended to take his to a local police station to confirm whether this was the case. The IBM certainly felt it was but hopefully Stan will update us at the Christmas party as to their advice on the subject. Bob then jumped up and using a couple of Tom Hooper’s old tricks found Dave P.’s card inside a balanced balloon. He then shot a hole in Dave’s chosen card. To those of you not reading this properly, I would suggest to you all that there would appear to be a theme occurring here!? Mike Pettitt was next to entertain and he told the assembled masses that the effect Bob had just used was actually the 1931 version. He had arranged to show us the slightly different 1934 one with involved tearing a corner off the chosen card, handing it to the spectator and the card appeared with a corner missing which was, of course, fitted perfectly. He followed this with a bank raid effect with Lynn and Patrick and Lynn was the receiver of her second gift of the night, some chocolate money! There was now no favouritism in the Challenge Trophy stakes... After tea the winner of this month’s Challenge was announced and with a the performers both showing us all some lovely levitational magic, it was very, very close (honestly it really was!) but John was declared the victor by a very, very small margin and was immediately challenged to Ribbons from Lynn. First time up Lynn, don’t let us girls down! Dave had decided to get up and show us all how to create one of his amazing balloon hats with Lynn following step by step instructions to make one for Patrick. After much squeaking and popping (no banging!) they both succeeded in making very fetching milinary. Gentleman Stan was up last with some magic with no bangs showing us all that a business card prediction could become an ACES card with very little trouble. Quickly and efficiently performed by one of next year’s IBM performers’ inspirations. Thank you Stan. So the evening finished with a bang, having started off with one and all were reminded to bring friends and family, food and raffle prizes to our Christmas Party next month. Meeting finished at 10pm. Written by: Nicky Lewis |
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