Portland Society of American Magicians Meeting

Last week, I was able to attend the Society of American Magicians meeting in Portland, OR. It was their Most Entertaining Card Trick contest night.

It started with John doing a prediction that played like an invisible deck, but was a very different method!

Portland Society of American Magicians Meeting

Michael did a version of Fly Cards, where cards with pictures of flies moved around and ended with the pictures of the flies being smashed.

Portland Society of American Magicians Meeting

Vinod did a routine where the cards were shuffled by a spectator and they colors ended up separating into piles of red and black cards.

Portland Society of American Magicians Meeting

Jin did a do as I do routine where at the end he and a spectator both selected the same card!

Portland Society of American Magicians Meeting

Mel is a card trick with 3 piles of cards where a selected card jumped from pile to pile!

Portland Society of American Magicians Meeting

And the final contestant Larry did a trick where aces turned to jokers and back to aces!

Portland Society of American Magicians Meeting

The winner by popular vote was Jin!

It was fun to see all the different styles of performing card tricks!

-Louie

Portland SAM #59

Last week I visited the Society of American Magicians Assembly #59 in Portland, OR. I love magic clubs, and it’s time for me to formally join this one. I’m currently not a member of the national Society of American Magicians, so I need to do that before I can be a member of the local assembly.


I think that of the barriers to entry with magic clubs is having to join the national and the local magic club. It looks like national SAM dues are $65 and the local club is $35, so it’s $100 to get involved. That’s a lot of money for someone who is just starting out in magic. However I do understand why the money is needed, and there is value to the $100. If someone starting in magic actually read the magazines and went to the meetings there’s more than $100 in value.

Society of American Magicians Assembly #59 in Portland, OR

After the magic club meeting, a few of us went down the street for a beer to keep magic jamming!

I’m a HUGE supporter of magic clubs as they helped me a lot growing up and I want to help them succeed. You should support your local magic club!

-Louie

Magic Club – SAM #59

A couple of weeks ago I popped by the Portland SAM magic club. It was their close up contest night! There were three contestants that all did card tricks, and all with very different styles!

Then after the contest we saw some magic by Gaeton from France and a demonstration of the Vampire Block Escape!

The Vampire Block Escape is a trick I’ve seen on shelves of magic shops, but had never seen any actually do the trick. This particular one was homemade and probably 60 years old!!! The trick looked great and while the style of prop isn’t modern, the trick is still great!

I’m a huge fan of magic clubs and if you aren’t popping into your local magic club, you should. Contribute to your local magic community.

-Louie