Coming Dec. 14: Ring 216 Stage & Parlor Magic Competition

 The 2022 Stage & Parlor Magic Competition is just around the corner — Wednesday, Dec. 14. Come on out to support your fellow magicians as they present their best material in a parlor setting... think the Parlor of Prestidigitation at the Magic Castle (without the cover charge).

And be sure to bring your friends and family because magic is always better when there are more people to enjoy it! Your guests can be fellow magicians or, preferably, non-magicians who love magic.

The performances start at 7:30 p.m. sharp! We'll be at our usual location at Yu-Ai Kai Senior Center, 588 North 4th Street, San Jose, CA.

Sign up to perform!

Whether you're a past winner, a brand-new entrant, or something in between, now's your chance to share your routines and show off your skills. This is a great, low-stress way to hone your act and get feedback. Remember: The goal is to do your best and not focus on winning. Just have fun!

If you're thinking of competing, please keep in mind the following information:

Parlor is defined as an act presented in a formal stand-up setting with a sound system and curtains. There will be 5-6 rows of seating.

But remember that we don't have raked seating, so be aware that people in the 2nd or 3rd row will not be able to see the top of a table.

All paid members are allowed to compete, including past winners.

If you've won in the past, you must perform a different act.

Acts should be around 6 minutes long, so start timing yourself. (Depending on the number of participants, this number may be larger or smaller.)

Check out all the competition rules.

To sign up, send an email to president@ring216.org.

Meeting Report - October 2022: Close-Up Competition

On October 12, 2022, Ring 216 held its first live, in-person Close-Up competition since the beginning of the pandemic. There were nine competitors and a good contingent of audience attendees, with more watching on Zoom. Only those attending in person were given ballots to vote.

In the Standard Division (those who had not previously one a contest), Jeff Friend divined a word that a spectator selected from the collected works of Shakespeare; Jonathan Chen burned people with his version of changing dollar bills to hundreds; Syd Kashima transformed a selected card and then teleported it to his pocket; and the card a spectator selected from Mitch Kothe turned out to be the only non-blank card in the deck, and then vanished to reappear in the card case.

In the Masters Division, Meriam Al-Sultan caused two selected cards to fuse together in a most off-beat manner; James Chan performed an ambitious card routine and three-card monte; Tom Collett brought aces to the top of a spectator-shuffled deck and then used them to make coins appear and gather together; John Morgan performed a routine in which red and black cards outfoxed the magician, and then showed how knotted handkerchiefs can mysteriously become undone; and Calvin Tong dazzled with sleight of hand involving three coins that underwent multiple transformations.

The winner of the Master’s Division was Calvin Tong. The People’s Choice Award in the division was a tie between Calvin Tong and James Chan. The winner of the Standard Division was Jonathan Chen, and the People’s Choice was won by Mitch Kothe.

It felt very good to have everyone back seeing live magic again.