Inside The Linking Ring
For January 2009
by LINCOLN RINGS

The hard working staff of The Linking Ring Journal sends wishes for a Happy and Prosperous New Year, 2009. The cover story this month gives us all a look at one of our favorite personalities in the business of magic. The British Ring - I.B.M. Ring 25 - is the largest individual group in the International Brotherhood of Magicians, with over 1200 members. This year's president is Trevor Lewis, the ingenious children's magician and stand-up performer whose magic for all ages has taken him around the world.  (read more)

What you should know is that Trevor had a legitimate job once; at least he says it was. He was a ship's engineer on vessels that traveled from the country of Wales to Ireland and back. The ship's engineer is an officer charged with the responsibility of keeping everything running.  This is a fascinating look at a fascinating magician.

FINDING PRESTO by Jerry Wiesenberg

Some "detective work" reveals the whereabouts of a missing magician.  New York City's Ring 26 had been entertained numerous times by Everett Earl Johnson performing as Presto. Recently the Ring tried to contact him for a new performance, but his telephone had been disconnected. Further detective work by Ring members found that Presto, because of poor health, had been admitted to a health care facility.

MAGIC IN THE ROCKIES - A review by Barrie Richardson

I have just returned from the Fifteenth Annual Magic in the Rockies Convention hosted by I.B.M. Ring 250 - The Presto-Digitators in Fort Collins, Colorado - and what a marvelous convention it was. My enthusiasm for this convention is almost universally shared each year by the nearly two hundred seventy-five attendees of all ages and gender and by the luminaries in the magic world, who, after participating as performers or lecturers, want to return - just to "hang out."...

LETTERS FROM THE PAST  - by Samuel Patrick Smith

Horace Goldin 1873-1939 - Part One... Horace defends his invention of Sawing a Woman in Half in this spirited 1935 letter to Charles Carter.

The city of Nashville, Tennessee, was known as "The Athens of the South" long before the famous replica of the Parthenon was erected at Centennial Park in 1897.1 By the 1850s, Nashville had established the reputation as one of the most refined and educated cities in the South.

It must have been exciting to Hyman Goldstein, a fifteen-year-old Jewish immigrant from Poland who arrived in the thriving city in 1889.2 Hyman's family had immigrated gradually, as they could afford passage, and he was the last to make the trip. Arriving in New York and unable to speak English, someone attached a luggage tag to him labeled, "NASHVILLE," and eventually he arrived in Tennessee...

GENE GORDON'S MAGICAL LEGACY - by Gordon Eugene Avery (Gene Gordon) and David Ginn.

I remember . . . a wonderful evening in 1942 I spent with Bill and Gerrie Larsen in their beautiful home. Two youngsters, about ten and twelve years old, were running around. They were Bill, Jr. and Milton. I said to myself that these kids were going to make their mark in the world of finance when they grew up. Even at that age they had slot machines around the house, and visitors had to pay homage to the one-armed bandits before the boys would go to bed...

CONVERSATIONS WITH CALVERT  - by John Calvert

The Great Jack Gwynne... Jack and Anne Gwynne, without a doubt, had the greatest magic act in vaudeville. I shall never forget their act. Jack opened with the Torn & Restored Magazine, blew the audience away with a series of fast magic, and closed with the Temple of Benares. It was eleven minutes of astounding magic accompanied by a great musical score, and always worthy of a standing ovation...

MILLENNIALS RISING - MAGIC STARS OF TOMORROW by Dakota Rose

Magic and all that is ascribed to it is a deep presentiment of the powers of science. - Ralph Waldo Emerson India, also known as Bharat or Hindustan, is considered the cradle of the human race, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the greatgrandmother of tradition. And it is the playground of the fourteen-year-old, "Scientist Magician," Karun Krishna...

CUTTING UP JACKPOTS  - by Bev Bergeron

History of the Sawing a Lady in Two Parts It all began with a magician named P.T. Selbit (1879-1938), who first performed the effect in 1921. His method required a woman be tied to a table and a box lowered over her. While two volunteers held on to ropes that bound her, Selbit would use a very large saw to cut through the lady. Thus "Sawing Through a Woman" was born...

THE BUSINESS OF MAGIC - Three Unfair Advantages - by Julian Franklin

There are three ways that you can gain an almost unfair advantage over your competitors, starting tomorrow. You can implement as many or as few of them as you want but all three of them take guts, determination, and commitment, which is why most won't implement any of them. This is also exactly why those who do implement them will get such a huge competitive advantage...

OUR SIDE OF THE POND - by Elizabeth Warlock

January has traditionally been a month where magic takes a rest after the rush of the Festive Season, with people recovering from the celebrations and corporate clients refraining from spending on entertainment. However about three years ago Andi Gladwin and Rob James, two young, enthusiastic, and clever magicians, decided to do something about this January malaise by starting an annual close-up convention in Gloucester, in the Cotswold area of southwest England...

THE BRITISH RING PARADE - Compiled by Ian Adair
Illustrated by Tony Dunn

In memory of KEN DE COURCY, creative inventor, writer, performer, lecturer, and regular contributor to our annual Parades.

It's a Gamble! by Ken de Courcy • Cable Tie Thumb Tie by Ian Adair • Perfect Pair by Ian Adair • My Routine for Ball and Vase by Ian Lowe • Collectors R Us by George Hills • Freddy's Ready by Alan Gardiner • Voodoo Cards by Eddie Burke • Table Manners by Sean Carpenter • Book Test by Father Mervyn Jennings • Zombie Clown to Rabbit by Brian Eden • From Here to There and Back by Alexander Allen • A Box Table for Children's Shows by Vic Davies...

THE CARD CORNER - by Mike Powers

I'm kicking off the New Year with a very cool item from my friend and frequent contributor to the Card Corner, Paul Lelekis. It's an ace assembly but with a major twist. I'm posting Paul's original write up with his patter on the Card Corner Forum at www.mallofmagic.com. This one is far from self-working but the moves are not difficult and are well worth learning...

HAVENLY CLOSE-UP - by Tom Craven

Here's an effect you can easily carry with you, and be ready to do some magic for anyone who asks! I'm always happy to be able to include any Michael De Marco effect in my column. Those of you who've written to me about how much you like previous effects of his, will jump on this one as well. Enjoy Michael's Calculated Currency

SHOWTIME - by Peter Marucci

Several times over the past few years, I have urged you not to treat lightly a routine that was simple in execution but packed a punch with the audience. Well, this month I have another throwaway for you, which is indeed a throwaway (although you probably won't). It's called Pork and Beans..

STORYTELLING MAGIC - by Ed Solomon

Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot...  There are those memorial occasions when such toasts are in order and in most families; those include birthday celebrations, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas, and New Year's. This story concerns one such occasion...

Well, that's a quick look at what you can find in this month's edition of The Linking Ring.  If you would like to view the entire 180 pages of this magazine right now and you have Broadband Internet click here and put in the secret code when the download is completed... Mel Kientz and Scott Smith have scrunched the entire magazine into a dinky PDF format that loads in about three and a half minutes... very kool. There is in fact more to see and read but as for me... I am off to launch a cork or two and in doing so, bid you all a Happy New Year.