Recap of Stage/Parlor Competition

Fantastic turnout at the IBM Ring 216 Stage/Parlor Competition coordinated by our President Cal Tong and Vice President Raahul Srinivasan.

Around 45 to 50 members and guests attended this magical event. In the standard division, we had the following competitors: David Gerard, David Martinez, Fred Rasmussen, Doug Eakin, and Nathan Hadsall. In the Masters Division, we had Phil Ackerly, Will Chandler, and Dan Chan.

Stage/Parlor Competition (Standard Division) Results:
First Place: David Gerard
Second Place: Nathan Hadsall
Third Place: Doug Eakin

Stage/Parlor (Standard Division) People's Choice Award
First Place: Nathan Hadsall

Stage/Parlor (Masters Division Results) will be announced at the Ring 216 Annual Banquet in January 2013. Contact Will Chandler for Tickets.

Amazing performances by all our experienced competitors! Thanks for making this last meeting of the 2012 year a memorable event.

Upcoming Event: Ring 216 Awards Banquet and Show

Coming Jan 12, 2013, is the IBM Ring 216 Awards Banquet and Show starring Andrew Goldenhersh and Alex Wu. Tickets are selling fast. Please contact Treasurer Will Chandler for purchasing tickets (treasurer@ring216.org).

The event is for Club members, sister clubs, families and friends!

Upcoming Lecture: Andrew Goldenhersh

World-renowned magician Andrew Goldenhersh will be lecturing for us at the Ring meeting on January 9, 2013!

Member Cost: $15 / Non-Member Cost: $25

NOTE: Remember to pay your annual dues so that you can get in for the member rate!

"Pure enchantment...Andrew could entertain the gods."
-Jason Alexander
"Awesome...totally awesome! We're going to be talking about you for a very long time..."
-Johnny Depp
"To call this man a magician falls far short of his abilities. Andrew understands the real magic of entertaining."
-Genii Magazine

Andrew Goldenhersch

Read more about Andrew after the jump...

Next meeting: Stage/Parlor Competition

Join us on December 12, 2012, for the IBM Ring 216 Annual Parlor/Stage Competition.

We have 3 competitors signed up for the standard division so far! If you are interested in competing, please send me an email. In addition to the standard division, we will also have our Masters Division as well. So if you have won first place in one of the competition events in previous years, then you qualify for the master's division and can sign up for this event! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me (calvin.tong@ring216.org)

Read the competition rules here.

Recap: Ring 216 Election of Officers for 2013


The annual election of officers was held on Nov 14th at the Ring Meeting. Each nominated candidate was announced and floor nominations were opened up for each position. There was one floor nomination for Sergeant at Arms (which had no candidate).  With only one candidate for each position, candidates were approved with a showing of approval by raised hands. All positions were unanimously approved.

Here are the results:
* President - Calvin Tong
* Vice President - Raahul Srinivasan
* Secretary- John Jones
* Treasurer- Will Chandler
* Web Master - David Martinez
* Sergeant at Arms – Craig Ousterling

Recap: Ring 216 October Events

This month we held our highly anticipated Annual Close Up Competition with 6 amazing performances.  As Masters of Ceremony, Cal Tong lead the competitors through 3 Close Up Stations strategically placed in different locations in the room.  Each competitor repeated their close up act three times throughout the evening.  The 3 stations each contained 5 to 7 audience members per station.  This year’s highly skilled and entertaining competitors included new Ring 216 Member David Martinez, Professor Aldrian Estepa, Past President Doug Eakin, Vice President Raahul Srinivasan, the Amazing Alan Leeds, and Sergeant at Arms John Jones.  Memorable moments included David’s Triumph, Aldrian’s Card Transformations, Doug Eakin’s Dramatic Card Routine, Raahul’s Paste Board Miracles, Alan’s original Coin and Glass Act, and John Jones's visual coin magic.  The ballots were calculated at the end of the evening and the winners were announced to the audience.  Doug Eakin won first place, Alan Leeds won 2nd place, and Raahul Srinivasan and Adrian Estepa tied for 3rd place.  Great job by all the competitors!

Close-up Competition Magicians


Recap: Ring 216 Walk-Around competition

This was an amazing night!  Four Magi's competed in the Standard Walk Around Competition and three Magi's competed in the Masters Division.  In the Standard Division, the club members were treated to amazing performances from Alan Leeds, Aldrian Estepa, David Clavens, and John Jones.  In the Masters Division, we received magical performances from Cal Tong, Phil Ackerly, and Theron Schaub!

Congratulations to all the competitors for a job well done!  2nd place in the Standard Division goes to Aldrian Estepa, and first place goes to David Clavens!

First place winner of the Masters Division will be announced at Ring 216's Annual Banquet.

Recap: Professional Lecture by Kainoa Harbottle

Kainoa, a professor of literature and dream, treated us to some fascinating  coin and card magic, and theories on how to be better magician. He has lots of experience performing close up magic and explained how he was able to adapt it to a classroom of 100 students.

Recap: PIZZA NIGHT, Mini-Teach-Ins, and Open Performance Night!


Pizza was enjoyed by all during performing and learning sessions.  Your Officers (Cal, Raahul, Will, and Fred) had some magic prepared to perform and teach you based on their area of expertise! John Jones kicked off our Open Performances!