Day 2 at Miami 2006

Day 2

Today I spent time, and money, in the dealer room (picture at the left of the Japanese booths). Lots of exciting and commercial effects to tempt you, Mark Mason seemed to be doing great business. I discovered that other Ring 170 members have arrived, Kostya Kimlat, Terry Ward, Bob Trinkle and Bill Scafuzo.

Today saw the preliminary rounds of the stage contest, although I was not able to see all contestants, there were some very good ones, and some very bad ones. Joshua Jay gave his lecture today, basically the one that he gave in Orlando a few weeks ago, but in one hour instead of two. Fantasio was the other featured lecture, and he showed a number of clever ideas which you could make yourself, as well as innovative ways to use his products. Other sessions that were held, but which I did not attend, were for Collectors of Magic, Women in Magic and the IBM Executive Board meeting. At the end of the day most dealers took the opportunity to show off some of their items at the Dealer Demo session. As expected, Daytona Magic's Harry Allen was probably the most entertaining, while the Japanese showed some very interesting gadgets.



The evening saw the first of four Gala performances at the Olympia theater. This is an old vaudeville site, so very suited to magic. Possibly the fact that many great acts had stood on the same stage inspired the nights performers, as the performances were excellent.
These are some pictures taken inside the theater, before the show started. Our own Bev Bergeron performed ably as MC for the evening, linking the acts together with witty banter and magic tricks.


The first act was Farrah Siegal, a young girl who danced and juggled with dancing canes, yoyos and hula-hoop sized linking rings. She was followed by Ardan James, a mime who started with an excellent robot effect and then proceeded to amuse us with a hat and a balloon.


Junge, Junge! are a very innovative and clever act from Germany, involving interaction between the three players with their alter egos on two screens. At times it is difficult to tell what is live and what is on the screens. Tim Wright as Professor Skilldini provided some traditional comedy magic, including a well done zombie effect. The headliner for the evening was the Carmen family from Sarasota, who appeared at one of our Ring banquets a year or two ago. In addition to some traditional magic Yvonne Carmen showed off her unicycling skills, and then Vince and Yvonne performed their signature Spirit Cabinet.




The evening was closed by a balloon session, and of course the dealer room was opened again after the gala.


More news tomorrow