On 15 December, our ring kicked off our meeting “Impromptu Magic” at 7.50pm in a cozy room at the National Library Board. It attracted 28 members and 2 guests.
Our emcee and Ring Treasurer Victor Heng masterfully led the meeting from beginning to end with his amiability and finesse as a professional trainer.
Our performers included James Pang, Jeremy Pei, John Teo, Desmond Peh, Goh Yin Xian, Tommy Kian, Dr Lim Thou Tin, and Ng Kah King. In summary, we enjoyed effects with rarely seen collectibles, “mathemagic”, magic with Rubik’s Cube, coin and pen routines, iPhone magic, fork mutilation, and card effects.
During the break, Baharudin recorded our members each performing a trick for our commemorative video. He used this footage to produce a short film for our Christmas greeting that was posted on our Facebook page.
After our break, committee-member Baharudin gave a lecture on the use of invisible thread. He performed levitation and suspension effects with a ring and spinning and levitating a coin. He demonstrated effects based on his application of the “Venom”. He generously shared why he used a few sets of this tool, setup, anchor points, how he practised, the importance of thread orientation after performing certain animation effects, and other useful handlings and hacks.
Thereafter, Dr Loke Han Yin shared the upcoming collaboration with the magic club of Republic Polytechnic. All fully paid members would receive a complimentary ticket to this public show on 20 January that would involve four magicians from our ring, and four students from the tertiary technical institution. The theatre venue seats 346 audience members, so that would be a grand experience for both selected performers and members.
We then held our Lucky draw, where curiosity mired with optimism: which magician doesn’t enjoy an occasional spot of luck? Since we instituted this fun monthly motivation for attending members, our monthly attendance has remained steady at about 25-30.
Our dealers capped the evening with introduction of magic products. Yin Xian shared new products marketed and sold by “The Fundamentals”.
Jeremy Pei closed our session with a Torn & Restored Poster, which drew much applause after a few unexplainable happenings. His effect looked great on video. He also shared an effect on diminishing dice, appearing wand, and closed with his rendition of the “Ultimate Three Card Monte”/”Unconquered Card” as popularised by Michael Skinner and Mike Rogers respectviely.
Our meeting ended on a high festive note near 10.00pm, with members making a beeline to the dealer’s tables, and resuming their enthusiastic chats with each other.