S.A.M. Convention 2013 - recap

[Doug Thornton]

The annual S.A.M. Convention (the 85th annual conference) was held last week in Arlington, Virginia. Billed as “Convention in the Capital”, it was not exactly in Washington, DC, but close enough. Overall I’d call it a resounding success. It was great to see friends and some fine magic.

The Marriott Hotel Crystal Gateway (a rather elaborate title) with an indeterminate number of floors - the elevator went from 9 to 12 instantly - had accommodations that were mostly good. (The elevators were some of the slowest in the world; it was sometimes worthwhile taking them up to go down and vice versa. The rooms were nice, but what designer would put a towel rack eight feet away from the shower and sink? And free Wi-Fi was only available in the lobby.) The bar area was spacious and comfortable for the late-night gatherings. The hotel connects with an underground shopping center with plenty of restaurants and shops and a nearby entrance to the Metro train station to take us directly to the nation’s capital.

Al Cohen, famed for his affable personality and magic shop in Washington, was the guest of honor. I saw him in the dealers’ room and he borrowed my hat, produced two sponge dice and went into a quick routine. Delightful. Richard Kaufman had a relaxed, meandering chat with him onstage on Thursday. Al said he was always thinking about a trick, trying to find a better way to present it or end it. Thanks Al and Richard.

There’s so much to cover and I am still recovering from my Bolt Bus travelling experience to write about everything, but here are some random notes:

Registration for the week was delightful and smooth. We received a program and souvenir pin along with the usual notices and tourist information.

Tuesday, July 2nd brought us a lecture by Stephen Bargatze. I had only seen him on video and was impressed by his humor, humility and well-presented talk. (The night before I tuned into Conan O’Brien’s talk show and it was a repeat and – what a strange universe – Stephen’s son Nate performed standup comedy, mentioning his dad who started his career as a clown. Later in the week, I thanked Stephen and he told me he had texted Nate to let him know the repeat was on. Nate was very funny. Like father, like son.)

Also lecturing were Denny Haney (with lessons on the Egg Bag), Steve Marshall, Bob Sheets, Shoot Ogawa, Rick Merrill, Bruce Kalver, Christian Painter & Katalina and Levent.

My good friend from Japan, Steve Marshall, emceed the opening night Variety Show. He walked out dressed as “Steve Wonderstone” wearing a wig he could have borrowed from Pam Thompson. His Miser’s Dream was very good as always. Others performing were Steve’s buddy from Florida, Billy Scadlock who (pre-show) was Charlie Chaplin, T.J. Tanna, Doc Swan, puppeteer Scott Land and artist John Jansky, who painted a portrait of David Copperfield.

There was a panel discussion on ethics in magic (“Inspiration, Imitation and Infringement”) with Losander, Bob Sheets, Marc DeSouza and Sara Crasson.

The close-up competition featured eight contestants, the stage competition just five. Just five? Has stage magic lost its appeal? There were unfortunate technical difficulties. I have never been involved in that aspect of a show but it’s disheartening when the camera work is not audience-friendly and music cues are missed. And microphones should not crackle in 2013. End of rant.

The "Stars of Tomorrow" show featured six magicians, three young men and three young women – a nice even ratio – and they all showed confidence onstage while instilling confidence in us that the future of magic is in good hands. The cast: Alex Boyce - 16, of Endicott New York; Chase Hasty - 16, of Holdrege Nebraska; Elizabeth Scalf - 12, of Surfside Beach, South Carolina, Kimberly Zoller - 16, of Seaford, Delaware, Elizabeth Rogan - 16, from Warwickshire, England and emcee Nick Diffatte - 17, of St. Paul, Minnesota. Bravo to them!

Dr. Simon Carmel hosted the Silent Magic show featuring deaf magicians. The performers all performed admirably: Nobu Kamizuru, Matt Morgan (Magic Matt) and his wife Lillana Morgan, plus Greg Koppel and Steve Longacre, a magical comedy duo. Silent applause reigned.

That show was held on the 4th of July. It didn’t make sense to some of us that it was scheduled during the fireworks. However, immediately after, Steve, Billy, Tenka Yuki and I jumped in a cab and headed to a nearby park where we could see the last three minutes of Washington’s fireworks - above the trees. Billy was on stilts as Uncle Sam and he was a hit with scores of youngsters and their families excited to have a photo op with him. It was fun seeing the joy.

The “Welcome to Japan” show was outstanding! We can all learn a lot from our friends of the Land of the Rising Sun. Wow. Here’s the thing. The Japanese students of magic are true students; they have mentors and they study, practice, rehearse and then do it all over again. Dr. Shigeru Tashiro (yes, another doctor) emceed with some clever bits and jokes (written by Steve Marshall). Koichi Takao, perpetually smiling and now one of my favorite magicians and new friend performed a dancing handkerchief and closed the show appropriately with a story about the Japanese cherry blossoms brought to Washington and a production of blossoms from his hands. Dai Kobayashi performed a breathtaking mask-changing set which was fantastic.

Mayuco is a diminutive young lady who is a Manga character brought to life. Dazzling. She did some billiard ball productions and fooled the heck out of me. She had one ball that instantly became four. OK, I thought, that’s a nice gimmick of four balls, reminding me of one of those multiplying candle sets. But I was wrong! She held out her hand and dropped them singly into the box on her table. What?!? Then she did it again, and then once more, impossibly producing four in each hand! And again she dropped them – one-by-one – into the box. Shazam!

OK, OK, we’ve all seen a juggler that steals the show. This time it was Tempei. He made the audience cheer – and perhaps even weep - with happiness. Shoot Ogawa also had an amusing, magical performance. (He wore a white dinner jacket that would have made Guy Lombardo weep – with envy.) The young Nobu and Yuri added to an excellent show.

The final night – Saturday, July 6 – brought the “Denny Haney and Friends” comedy show. Denny (not a doctor) is the go-to guy for this kind of show and performed the Egg Bag and Multiplying Bottles. The show ran the gamut from subtle to outrageous featuring non-stop gags from Levent, low-key humor from Rick Merrill, wacky yet endearing comedy from Steve Bargatze, the usual insanity from Kohl and Company and the zany over-the-top antics of Chipper Lowell.

There was also a Buskers’ show with Bob Sheets, Bobby Maverick and the performer I saw, Michael Hilby, a very funny juggler from Germany. There were events for the young S.A.M. members plus “Underground Sessions” with Ben Train, Chris Mayhew, Tony Chang, Dan White, Dan Hauss and Eric Jones, and a balloon-twisting session.

Thank you to all involved in putting together this experience. Let’s look forward to the IBM / SAM 2014 Combined Convention in St. Louis, Missouri July 1-5. Those of us who attended the combined convention in Louisville in 2008 know it’s the place to be.

[fredreisz]

I talked with Paul C., who is in charge of the SAM competition shows. I asked about having only five stage contestants. I can remember watching competitions for hours! Of course, they now preview and select from videos. I think I undesrstood Paul correclty. He said he does not feel that the competiton stage show should be mpre than an hour long. Thus five acts! My own feeling is that is too restrictive. It also means that very few SAM members will ever get to compete on the national level. Given that half or more are often international acts, that leaves even l;ess for Americans or North Americans.

Pobably merits wider discussion. Peace...Fred (Reisz)