September 2022 Ring Report
If you had attended our September meeting, you’d now know who Louis B Histed was. He invented the Square Circle and apparently also had a deep love for card magic. That’s how our guest lecturer, Jeff Hinchliffe, introduced his well-attended club get together as we kicked off our year.
Jeff is a talented magician. He’s a smart, thoughtful, and engaging performer and gives a marvelous lecture. Ring 17 was thrilled to have him with us. It was our first meeting after over two years of hanging out together online. It was great to be back.
The club was entertained and engaged. Jeff’s magic is rooted in the work behind the work, but he’s never in it for the pursuit of the merely academic. He cares about the magic, the audience and the moment. He really is looking to fool you badly. He wants you scratching your head one second and gasping the next. His work on Mnemonica is a thing of beauty to watch unfold. The immediacy of how he teases out his magic while he spritzes from one revelation to the next is a skill you can only get from working an effect this way and that. He knows how to interact with the crowd, and he knows how to get them involved. I love how Jeff thinks.
We learned about variations on Vernon’s Out of Sight and Out of Mind, the power behind revealing thought of cards, a few fine points on mentalism, and some practical ideas on the Breather Crimp. Jeff talked about Si Stebbins and tipped us a little on how he approaches improvisation and jazzing. We even found out that The Colouring Book was originally unpacked in Scot’s Discovery of Witchcraft. Hard to believe Reginald felt compelled to expose this in the 16th century. I wonder what the going rate for a birthday party was as the enlightenment project began to unfold.
Jeff took us to a few new levels regarding forcing techniques. We were surrounded in subtleties as he shared little bits of helpful business from Michael Weber, Max Maven and Mel Stover. In between he reminded us of the rich tradition and history that we’re all a part of.
For example, I had read about The Stranger Card years ago in Expert Card Technique and have now, thanks to Jeff, rediscovered the brilliance of it. A handy tool for those of us in the miracle making business. One of those “worth the price of admission” moments.
Jeff is a generous performer and gifted teacher. When he’s not lecturing, creating or performing he can be found at the Browsers Den in Toronto. Yes, an actual brick and mortar shop. A great place to get your magic from and an intimate spot to hang out. Stop by next time you’re in Toronto.
We were thrilled to have Jeff start off our year. He may not be doing the lecture circuit soon, but if he decides to and travel downs that road, you need to host him at your club. You’ll learn a ton, be entertained, get a little history lesson in between and oh yeah, did I mention? He’ll knock your socks off. I’ve been wandering around barefoot for days now.
David Peck - Oct 2022
