I know I said I was going to write more about the I.B.M. but the last few days have been crazy for Cindy and I. I’m sitting in the McCaran International Airport in Las Vegas trying to catch up on my blog!
I’ll pick up with Day Two – this was the day of our magic therapy presentation. As we made our way down to the convention area, we were told that our presentation had been moved to another room. That would not have been a problem except for the fact that the new room did not have a screen for our projector. Someone scrambled and pulled a screen together for us around 12noon, 30 minutes before the doors would open.
As Cindy and I were walking down the hall, we heard a voice behind us calling her name – “Cindy, Cindy…” Turns out it was Gay Blackstone, the widow of the great Harry Blackstone, Jr. (the first magician I ever saw live on stage). She was going to be doing a presentation later that day, Q&A type event, and asked Cindy to be on the panel with her. The event would start at 4:30pm that afternoon.
It came time for our presentation but it was a slow moving crowd. By 12:55pm, there were only a few people in the room BUT, in those next few minutes, dozens of people came in. It was a nice group (about 150) interested in hearing how they can become involved with the Healing of Magic program in their communities.
The presentation was very well received and we spent a lot of time afterwards meeting people, answering questions, and providing resources to the interested ones. We met some great people and look forward to staying in touch with them, making sure they follow through on their interest to start a program.
On another note, I did get some great pictures from “Crazy Carlo” (Carlo Penso) in South Africa. He and Nikki do an outstanding job of coordinating a magic therapy program in Cape Town, working in the Renal Department of Red Cross Children’s Hospital. They work with a program called the UPliftment Program.
After our presentation, I was slated to address the I.B.M. Board of Directors at 4pm and give them an update on what has been happening with the Healing of Magic over the last year. It has been a very exciting year for us – research projects completed in Hong Kong and Toronto. And workshops presented in more than 10 cities in the U.S. as well as Hong Kong and Taipei.
Cindy left early so she could get to the room for her own presentation on Women in Magic with Gay Blackstone and Jan Jones, two famous women in the magic community. They had a tremendous group show up for their talk, more than the room was able to hold! And Cindy did a fantastic job with her contributions.
After the presentation and Board meeting, we met up with David Sandy, past-president of the I.B.M. and a great friend of ours for more than 15 years. It was good to spend some time with David. All of us have been so busy these last few years (David produces shows in Branson) that we just haven’t had the time to sit down and talk. This was a wonderful evening and went much too quickly.
After dinner, Cindy decided to head back to the room and get some rest while David and I went on to the opening show of the convention. It was a nice balance of performers and Chuck Jones & Company closed the evening with a portion of their illusion show.
David and I picked up Cindy and we all took off for MAGIC UNDERGROUND in downtown Reno to watch REAL MAGIC. This is Mark Kalin & Jinger at their finest – an incredible production of magic and illusion. They connect with the audience in a way that’s rarely seen and their genuine warmth and kindness moves beyond the stage lights and into the theatre. I highly recommend seeing this show!
After the show, we went back to the hotel and straight to bed. We would have to get up in 3 hours so we could get to the airport in time for a 6:30am flight to Las Vegas. More on that trip next time.