It's the End of an Era

Well, IBM Ring 266 met for its very final time last night at Trinity Baptist Church in Tyler. That's been our regular meeting place for the past (roughly) 9 years, and we're moving to a new location in Tyler. Mark Kilsby (who's served more terms as the Ring's V.P. than anyone cares to count) is a member at that church, so he's been the Keeper of the Keys......and we owed him a hearty thanks for the annoyance of doing that for such a LONG run! The mayor of Tyler issued a proclamation in Mark's honor which was presented by a city Councilman and Linda Gish made him an award adorned with many keys/club members' names. We had a great dinner, although the event was bitter-sweet....but many good things to come down the road!  Merry Christmas to all, by the way!

Mark Kilsby (left, wearing tie) with Tyler city Councilman D. Bowdre

Mu-hahahahahahha! (Evil laugh!!!!)

So, no, it's not exactly magic, but I acted in a haunted attraction in Tyler, Texas recently (still planning on doing another night soon). It's fun!

ACES 2015

Well, the last post I made here covered us doing some planning for a mini magic convention in Tyler, Texas. Well, that event actually happened!! Yep, we did it! (I'm as amazed as anyone else might be!) It was called the Association of Christian Entertainers Symposium and it was held at Trinity Baptist Church on January 16th and 17th.  Duane Laflin, Steve Varro, Del Wilson and David McCullough lectured, along with Kit Scott and they all taught us some great stuff. Here's a quick photo of the stage, about 3 hours before we started (more photos to follow!):

Gone to the dogs

OK, technically speaking....this isn't exactly related to magic........HOWEVER: last week, I was at a planning meeting at David Gish's house (along with George Garrett and Mark Kilsby) and I just felt the need to take a photo of one of David's dogs.....so here it is! [note Mark Kilsbys' foot in the background]. Planning for a big magic event in Tyler for 2015.

Ice!

Last Monday (5-20-2013) Kenrick "Ice" McDonald lectured for IBM Ring 266 in Tyler, Texas. It was terrific!

Rich the Clown

His driver's license might read, George Garrett, but whatever you call him, you'll certainly consider him to be talented! I visited the Tyler Fellowship of Christian Magicians chapter a couple of weeks back, and George did a mini-workshop on gospel clowning. I've never hidden my general disdain for most forms of gospel magic, but his was classy, poignant, well-considered and tasteful all the way around......very nice!! What might you say if I told you this guy designed and built Kirby Van Burch's appearing helicopter?!  ......that's no clowning around, either!

As I like to document the history of magic performance all over Texas, I thought this was proper: in February, our club, IBM Ring 266 in Tyler, awarded a certificate of appreciation to Gene and Neta Colteaux for their many years of service to our magic club. Gene served as our Ring's President for 3 straight years and Neta was our Ring's secretary for more years than anyone can count (about 7, I think, but could be longer!), she also spent the last two years as our Ring's Treasurer. They both were excellent as officers for our Ring! (Far right is our Ring's new President, Jerry Abercrombie.)

Gregory Wilson!

Holy Mother Magnus in a buttermilk biscuit........Gregory Wilson is AAAAA-------WWWWWWESOME!!!!!!!

This guy has re-awakened a love for performing magic in me that I just can't describe!! A bunch of us from the Tyler IBM Ring saw him lecture in Longview, Texas a few weeks back........words cannot describe this man's thinking! Absolute brilliance!!

I had the great privilege of having dinner a few nights ago with Richard Hatch. He was at Discovery Science Place in Tyler performing and our Ring's V.P. (Mark Kilsby) and I went out to dinner with him and his friend, Joe (from Houston). Richard is a smart guy!  Recently sold H&R Magic Books to a former employee.

Nathan Kranzo is coming to Tyler

The East Texas Court of Magic (IBM Ring 266) will soon host Nathan Kranzo.....originator of numerous close-up and mentalism effects. Nathan is slated to lecture for our Ring on February 7th in the beautiful city of Tyler, Texas. I'll try to get a photo up soon.

I did a show!

A couple of Sundays ago....I performed at the Holiday Inn Express (located on S. Broadway in Tyler, Texas)...for my church's 3-year anniversary party. Fifteen minutes.....and only two flub-ups! It was fun!

Sweetheart Banquet

Ring 266 has performed the past couple of years for the annual Sweetheart Banquet held at Trinity Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas. Unfortunately this year, the banquet was cancelled......so no performance.......and I had Danny Archer's "Animental" all worked up and ready to go!! Maybe next year..............

General update

I'm a little behind on posting.......in February, our local magic club held a Chinese auction at our usual meeting place: Trinity Baptist Church in Tyler. Lots of club members donated a wide array of interesting items......I'm sad to report that I won absolutely nothing!!! Oh well, there's always next year. The club raised quite a bit of money. Our March meeting was devoted to our annual swap and sell. I netted some key goodies at that event. My current favorite: a set of Buddha papers.

On March 7th, we (as a club) performed a benefit show at Trinity Baptist Church to assist a young lady in raising funds to go on a misson trip to Japan. There were some pre-show tensions between a couple of club members (maybe between a few club members is a more appropriate was to put it!) Nonetheless, the show went off quite amiably (I was a bit surprised to tell the truth)......lots of performers: Dillon Humphrey, Gene and Neta Colteaux, Janice Ernest and Mark Kilsby co-emceed [and both did a splendid job, quite frankly]. Other performers included: Johnathan Ernest, Robert E. "Pappy" Lee (yep, Robert E. Lee is his real name!)......there were a few more performers, but I forget their names at this present time.....sorry!
That's about it for now....check back soon!

Mark Kilsby as Santa

Duane Laflin

The Tyler Magic Club (in Tyler, Texas) enjoyed a fantastic all day workshop on Saturday, November 15th featuring Duane Laflin. The workshop was held at Trinity Baptist Church and was well attended by clowns and magicians from the greater Tyler area, Dallas and Shreveport. Duane is a super guy and a committed family entertainer.

Tyler Magic Club (October meeting)

The Tyler Magic Club had a great meeting last night. Good participation. My presentation of Animentalism was received somewhat flatly (not saying I didn't deserve such a response!). We threw around some of my alternate handling ideas.....I'm going to move forward on this one. Conceptually, it needs to be darkened up just a bit!