Assembly 23 Treasurer Noland Montgomery was featured in a great article and video for The Washington Post. Check it out:
Here's the Real Trick: Practice Makes Presto
Monday, June 30, 2008
Former Assembly President James Munton Gives Free Lecture
An email from James:
Hi everyone!
Hi everyone!
I can't wait to get back and see all my old magic buddies! I'm really excited about this lecture. If you came to the previous lecture I did for SAM 23 you'll know I put an emphasis on workable material that you'll be able to go out and actually use. Several of the routines are from my own performing repertoire that I use every week to earn a living. I'll also have new material (and products!) so if you did attend the previous lecture there will be plenty of new stuff, including a brand new mentalism routine that I think is well worth coming to the lecture to learn.
Anyway, the lecture is F-R_E*E but only if you register in advance. Otherwise it is $5 at the door.
Here is the info:
When: July 11 at 8PM
Where: Falls Church Community Center, 223 Little Falls St., Falls Church, VA
There will be over $300 worth of fantastic door prizes for a few lucky people, but only if you register now!
For more information about the lecture and a registration form, please click on the link below:
Big thanks to Larry Lipman for helping to organize everything. Look forward to seeing you all there!
Best regards,
James
P.S. I hope you can also make it to one of my shows at the International Spy Museum.
--
James Munton
Friday, June 20, 2008
Egg Bag - June 2008
Monthly Newsletter of the Larry West Assembly No. 23 Society of American Magicians
The Larry West Assembly meets the 3rd Wednesday every month at the National Press Club, at 14th and F Streets, N.W. in Washington, D.C.
Join us for magic, fun and fellowship. Cocktails start at 6 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting at 8 p.m. Dress code: please remember that the Assembly is a guest of the National Press Club. Gentlemen should dress business casual or better–no Tee-shirts, shorts, jeans or flip-flops to the dinner meetings. Ladies should dress correspondingly appropriately.
OUR NEXT MEETING – JUNE 18, 2008
ANNUAL DUES:
Dues are now past due! Our dues are only $10 per year, a real bargain. If you have not yet paid dues for the new fiscal year (April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009), you may pay the Treasurer, Noland Montgomery, at the meeting or mail your check payable to “Larry West Assembly 23” to Noland Montgomery, P.O. Box 581, Beltsville, Maryland 20704-0581.
Theme for this meeting:
The theme is “Show us what you want to show us,” which is to say, there is no official theme this month. The meeting will be an opportunity for each member to show us a work in progress, or showcase a favorite routine, as he or she chooses. This is also an opportunity for performers looking for constructive feed back on their routines to ask for and receive it from other members.
OFFICER ELECTION: The following officers for the new term (July 2008-June 2009) were nominated at the May 2008 meeting, and will be voted on at the June 18, 2008 meeting: President: Matt Hiller; Vice President: Lars Klores; Treasurer: Noland Montgomery; Secretary: Ray Eyler. The incoming president is also responsible for appointing the Assembly reporter and Web Site Administrator.
FUTURE THEMES:
July-“Show us what you want to show us”
(Additonal themes to be added after installation of Assembly’s new President)
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE:
I’ve been president of enough organizations to know that while the president often gets the credit for a successful year, many people contributed to that success.
I believe we have had a successful year in the Larry West Assembly 23 and a lot of people are responsible for it.
This past year we began two new endeavors I hope will continue in the future.
The first was the mini-lectures at the end of our regular meetings. Many thanks to all those who lectured. I learned some things and I hope others did as well. I hope we can continue the practice of having one member a month offer a mini-lecture.
The second new endeavor was the inaugural “Sammy Award.” This year we honored Barry Taylor at an evening I think many will remember for a long time. Many thanks to our incoming president, Matt Hiller, for taking on this task and organizing a great event. I hope we continue the Sammy Awards. It gave us great exposure in the magic community and we should do all we can to continue encouraging the area’s top magicians to be a part of S.A.M. Assembly 23.
Over the years, we have had a long and excellent relationship with the National Press Club and this year we expanded that in a couple of ways.
After a long hiatus, the Press Club last year held the first of what is likely to be an annual summer family picnic and they asked us to be a part of it. Many thanks to Sam Brothers and Dwight Redman, who joined me doing walk-around magic and a kid’s show for the NPC picnickers. They’ve asked us back again this summer.
As usual, we participated in the Press Club’s annual holiday party in December. Hugh Turley, Dwight Redman and I did walk-around for the adults and children – many thanks.
Once again, we were called on to be a part of the NPC presidential inauguration. Thanks to Noland Montgomery for filling the bill that night.
It only comes around once in a hundred years, but this year the Press Club celebrated its centennial and asked us to be a part of the entertainment. A big thanks to Dwight Redman, “The Legendary” Rick Beatty, and Cristian Vidrascu for doing walk-around magic at the centennial.
And finally, we capped the year with our annual Close Up Magic Show in April. Based on several successful previous years, this year we had an overflow turnout and were forced to open a third room.
Many thanks to our performers: Bud Smith, Hugh Turley, Lee Eyler, Sam Brothers, Dwight Redman and Lars Klores. This marked Lars’ debut performance before a large audience and I hope it was just the first of his many performances. A big thanks to Noland Montgomery, who jumped in to help perform because our performers had to do three rooms instead of two. Steve Javes, as usual, did his elegant emcee role; and a huge hand to Ray Eyler, practically fresh out of the hospital, who pitched in as the third emcee.
There were some other highlights to the year, primarily our lecture with George Schindler. Again, that event reached out to the greater Washington magic community and I think we should continue striving for such top quality lecturers.
We tried something this year that, I think, had mixed success. Instead of having a monthly theme as we have had for many years, I thought maybe we should have a breather and allow members to just “show us what you want to show us.”
I hope that worked for you, but now that we’ve had that breather, I for one, would welcome monthly themes. Sometimes I find them restraining, but they also challenge us to think about new material or new ways to use old material, and I think that is a good thing.
As I said earlier, many people are responsible for our success. I want to particularly thank Ray Eyler for his advice and encouragement at the beginning of my term. Ray was largely responsible for our selection of George Schindler. It’s good to have Ray back after a rough several months.
Thanks to Sam Brothers for keeping track of what we did every month and to Lars Klores who kept up our website. I hope we continue to make good use of that site and hopefully attract new members.
Finally, I want to express my appreciation to Noland Montgomery. Not only is Noland an award-winning magician, he is also one of the most organized people I know. The club would not have run as efficiently as it did this year without Noland.
In addition to serving as our treasurer, (and with our hefty $10 dues he has made a substantial down-payment on a leaky rowboat) Noland also jumped in and took over publication of the Egg Bag in Ray’s absence. And Noland was constantly giving me suggestions and making sure that what needed to be done was being done. We are truly lucky to have Noland as such an active member.
A lot of people contributed this past year, but if there is one weakness in our club it is that we are stretched awfully thin. If we are to survive and thrive in the future we need to attract more new members who will contribute. One such new member is Joe Tessmer. Not only has Joe taken an increased interest in the performance of magic but he has also generously contributed his talents as a photographer to help us document and promote our activities, such as taking pictures at the evening to honor Barry and at the close up show.
We need new blood and people willing to pitch in and carry the load of responsibilities for running this club and performing at future events for the National Press Club. I encourage each of you to be on the lookout for new members who can make a contribution to our assembly. And I encourage those who have not been as active in the past as they could be to also contribute more.
If you review the list of those who participated and contributed this past year, many of them are the ones who have contributed significantly in the past. We need more participation and willingness to serve.
At Wednesday night’s meeting, we will elect a new slate of officers. I offer them best wishes for an even more successful 2008-2009. It has been an honor to serve this past year as your president.
Larry Lipman, President,
Society of American Magicians Assembly 23
The Larry West Assembly
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