Day Of Magic Revue

I arrived at the Day Of Magic at the Everett PUD at about 8:30 am...Having never been to one of these events I did not know the protocol. I had emailed my friend Roger Needham advising him that I would be needing a table to sell some of my magic that has been sitting around collecting dust... Also I was hoping to sell a magic table or two as I have about four sitting around as well.. I noticed immediately that all the magicians there early setting up sales tables are really there to get a jump on buying stuff from other magicians. Not me! I had slept zero hours from the previous night so was tired from the 55 mile drive to Everett. I started dragging in tables and setting up. I also had several Used DVD"s to sell, those sold nicely. I think I sold about 90 to a hundred bucks worth of old magic clutter. It paid for my fees to attend the function and I made a bit of money so ended in the black in the money dept.!!!
I had a great time! I gave out my name and business card to a few people who may be interested in purchasing a table "down the road." We all know that means "it ain't gonna happen!" That's O.K.

I met many magicians and budding magicians like myself. A young boy of about 13-14 named Adam and his father approached my table and inquired about the set of Phoenix cups and balls I had on sale. (Sorry Tom! I have three sets).. anyway, the boy was performing on stage later in the day, but is involved in "Stage" magic and had never seen the cups and ball. His father prompted me to perform the routine so I of course set up and went into it. I haven't performed the cups and balls using the Phoenix cups in over a year. I have been using the Gazzo Routine and pouch so it would be interesting to handle the smaller cups again. As the routine progressed it dawned on me that I was drawing a crowd. Weird. My adrenaline began to spike but I carried on. The routine went superbly and I fooled them all! Many smiles were seen in the crowd, a crowd of mostly magicians. It was fun! I had one man ask me if I taught the cups and balls. I told him I would love too, but also directed him to the Michael Ammar DVD's on the cups and balls. He replied that he already owned them.
Flattering to be asked!
Soon it was time for the headliner to lecture. Oscar Munoz. He was very funny. I wish I could be so funny. He has a very wonderful wit and relaxed demeanor with his audience. He taught some moves using a sponge donut. FUNNY! Also he performed his linking rings routine. Very Nice. A Nice linking balloons routine involving three balloons. Some great tips on performing and a few easy to make gimmicks. I wanted to buy his lecture notes but by the time I got to his table, he was sold out! Oscar, to his credit, did not have a "Bunch" of tricks to sell. He was truly there at the disposal of the audience to teach and not just "hawk" his magic. There just wasn't any magic tricks to buy!
Well, after lunch or before, I don't quite remember.... the contest was held for anyone wanting to perform. There were seven entrants. I must apologize as I do not remember all of their names....
First to perform though was a friend of mine. John The Magic Guy.

John performed his cups and balls routine which is almost identical to mine. John and I were both at the Gazzo Master class last year. I liked Johns performance, he came out with some great comedy warm up before he jumped into his routine. I think the time spent on his opening monologue cost him however, because the performers only had eight minutes and John had to rush through his ending of the cups and balls.I was actually rooting for John to take home some hardware. He is becoming quite a nice entertainer.

Up next was a young man, Sterling Deitz (s), not sure how to spell his last name. I am sure you and the magic community will be seeing a lot of this performer. He wowed the crowd. He is a disciple of Jeff McBride. He did his whole routine to music and had many dance steps. It was a very nice, fast paced routine. I believe Sterling has been a direct pupil to McBride for about two years. It showed.
Linking rings, Card flourishes that never seemed to end.A wonderful lighted dancing cane that ended in A D'liteful sequence and so much more I can't remember it all! He had good poise and crowd presence as one would expect of a McBride student.
Jeff Dial performed a wonderful Renaissance piece. Actually it was Whit Haydn's comedy linking ring routine. Jeff was dressed in Renaissance garb., spoke in the dialect of the day with all the thees and thous and M'ladies... Funny, but watching this routine was like gold to me as Scotty and I have been delving into it recently. Jeffs stage presence was very good as well. I voted for him. I spoke with him later and got to meet his wife. Nice people!

Payne did a wonderful sponge ball routine. He was funny, eloquent and waxed poetic. The sponge ball routine revolved around three college coeds and a vampire. the three coeds were red sponge balls and of course the vampire was a black sponge ball. Having been bitten by the vampire, the coed turned a sickly green. Of course the coeds win in the end and vanquish the dastardly vampire with a very large cross. This from Payne, an avowed atheist, drew much laughter!
Sorry I cannot remember the other performers names. They were quite good and it was great fun, one was a children's performer from Canada and did a nice schtick involving two children and the needle thru balloon.
Another did a stand up card trick. He quipped that he might not win but guaranteed he had the shortest routine.
Another magi did a nice routine using four audience members and they each selected a very large card with a number on it, numbers 1-5. They could trade numbers if they liked and many did. One number was left to the magician. No one new what the numbers were. They corresponded to brown paper bags on a table that were upside down. One bag had a knife in it, or so we were told... Each spectator was asked one by one to reveal their number, hold their hand over the bag that matched and slam their hand down onto the bag. no one got hurt and the magicians number revealed the knife. I wish I knew his name because he took second place in the competition. Tied for second with Payne.
Sterling Deitz took first in both categories.
Later we were treated to some magic buy several children and then the headliner performed his magic act. Oscar had the crowd eating out of his hands.most all of his magic was performed to music
I won't go into all that he did but I will say that his control of the "billiard' balls was excellent. He had a wonderful trick involving a little girl and a change bag and the appearance/disappearance of a live dove. Had the audience in stitches.

I ran into Becky, and Nash and hung with them a bit as well as Roger Needham and it was nice to see Glen Price again,and Prof. Gizmo too!
Well, by now you are snoozing, which is what I should be doing but my magical mind isn't letting me!