Excerpt of a review by David Goodsell for Oracle Magic Magazine.

"after a day of schmoozing with old friends and wandering the town (on the 17 weekend officially began with a wine reception in the narrow, cozy lobby of the hotel. After an hour of good fellowship, we adjourned to the Bella Venezia Italian Restaurant a few blocks away.

Eight-thirty came earlier than usual the next morning as we gathered a couple blocks from the hotel for our day of discussion. Kangaroo Katie, aka Diana Enright, started us off with the provocative suggestion that we should look to use our magic to make a difference, if not in the big picture, at least in the little cube in which we operate. “What I do is sacred,” she said, “and that moment when I do touch someone I have the opportunity to change them.” Much of the discussion centered on the role of women in magic and how recent years have seen positive trends. Several men wondered what organized magic could do to attract more women. Perhaps the most cogent comment came from one of the women present (around 15% were women) who pointed out that Diana serves as a role model, and that the more female role models there are, the more women will be attracted to magic. Diana also made the observation, based on her own research, that women tend to come to magic at a later age then men.

Bob Neale followed Diana. He opened with a toast to death, as he handed me (as one of the audience) an acorn, suggesting that I plant the acorn, that it might one day be a tree, and that I might live to be buried in a coffin made from the wood of that tree. Bob has a way of constructing fables around effective magic tricks and/or puzzles. I was struck by the message of the fable, that despair and despondency can be overcome by planting seeds of possibility – the acorn.

This was followed by a lively discussion of what is magic and what is magical, and how magic is more than a trick. Hand shadows, Troublewit, origami, are all things that are very magical, and it was pointed out by Joshua Kane that there is something very sweet about watching someone (Bob, in this case) form a paper puzzle out of a dollar bill, following the fingers as they form the final image.

After a tasty buffet lunch in the informal atmosphere of the Mary Elizabaeth Inn meeting hall, David Parr opened the afternoon with his own fable, a presentation designed for Valentine’s Day in which he used a Martin Gardner body-magic stunt to illustrate the power of love. This was a delightful routine that showed how “a memorable stage picture” can (and should) be created. The gist of the message is that when the hands are placed together in a certain way, with fingertips pressed against one another, only the ring fingertips cannot be separated, and perhaps that is why the third .fingers are designated as ring fingers. To conclude, David formed his fingers and thumbs in the shape of a heart which immediately and magically glowed with a warm, red light. But, the point of the presentation is not that the magician has performed a trick and how was it done? Rather, that it was a piece of stage theatre and that we were invited into a world of make believe where “How is it done?” is not important and perhaps not even thought of until three or four days later. David also shared a routine based on an effect from the first magic book he ever owned, Spooky Magic, written expressly for kids. It was a wonderful bizarre effect with pins supposedly pushed into the thumb without inflicting pain or damage. His point, in addition to showing us another wonderful piece of theater, was that often the magic we learn early in our careers is still valid all these years later, if we will simply devise presentations for it using our accumulated experience. Responding to questions, David led us in a good discussion about the value and importance of scripting and, with input from audience members, a clear understanding that “improvisation” does not mean “winging it.”

Joshua Kane concluded the afternoon by actively involving the audience in, of all things, singing a folk round. His point was that it is critical to involve our audiences in what we do, and that to not do so is to be out of date and boring. Well, he wasn’t boring! Opinionated, outspoken, informed, brilliant, Joshua Kane is a remarkable speaker and performer. This was primarily our opportunity to hear his opinions on a number of topics of importance to him, with some interaction from us, as well. He began with a sound criticism of publications that are essentially derivatives of the work of others, variations, if you will. This was followed by the importance of constructive, proper criticism and the deconstructive impact of platitudes. Woven into these was a discussion of the fact that audiences are perfectly happy to see material they have seen before, the sale of movie DVDs being an example, as long as the performance is for and with and not at the audience. The value of experiencing something anew– an interesting concept. He admonished us to pay attention to our audiences, not just to read them, but also to let them know that we care about them. He finished his hour and a half by talking about the importance of discipline; i.e., practice and rehearsal, and about performance being play; i.e,, we should “play it whole-heartedly, play it for really high stakes. I am sure I am simplifying it way too much, but I internalized this as commitment to the art of theatrical presentation of magic. These four sessions were packed with ideas, and I was not alone in needing an hour or two to digest what we had shared. So, it was off to the hotel for a bit before the evening show.

The show opened with Joe Cabral, the Grand Magus, assisted by Robert Neale, Tim Converse, Diana Enright and Evil Dan all dressed in colorful Druid costumes, performing The Invocation traditional with ICBM gatherings. (Joe’s robe is a thing of real beauty!) Joshua Kane, our emcee for the first act, then introduced Walt Anthony, whose feature was a Zombie routine using an honest-to-goodness gold plated ball which rose under a scarf out of an antique box. The ball moved about the stage under the scarf and then appeared floating just above the top edge of the scarf. It was simple, short and effective. Walt’s character is of a well-dressed gentleman from some earlier period who shares his remarkable findings with the audience. Walt was followed by Brian Scott who was able to determine objects provided by the audience in spite of having his eyes sealed by large band-aids and wearing a stainless-steel blindfold. The high point was duplicating a word and a symbol that a spectator had written on a large pad. Heather Rogers was up next. After blowing bubbles into the air, Heather reached out and caught one which became a small crystal ball. After some billiard-ball moves it vanished and she blew larger bubbles, one of which magically became a larger crystal ball. She performed a very smooth routine with this ball, smoothly transferring it from one hand to another in a kind of juggling routine – very fluid, very skillful. Heather was followed by Santiago, who performed an interesting piece of theatre dressed in long coat and vest reflective of the Victorian era. He told a tale of a sailor tolling the hours on a ship’s bell. Suddenly, as his story went, a spirit sailing ship manned by spirit sailors, bore down on his own ship. When he attempted to ring an alarm the bell would not ring! This was a nice, bizarre piece. Young David Miller closed the first act with a cut and restored ribbon and an excellent linking rings routine set to music. David shows considerable promise.

Joe Cabral took over the emcee responsibilities for the second act, which opened with Kardor, who knows all and sees all. Kardor, a friend(!) of Robin DeWitt, presents a very funny mind-reading routine. He is as funny as he looks! Diana Enright, dressed in Chinese costume, was next. The highlight of her feature was an Afghan Bands routine accompanied by a very nice story. Joshua Kane, whose voice, uniquely his own, reminds me of the best of Harry Blackstone Jr. and Max Maven, treated us to a great version of “The Raven,” which he learned from the master, Vincent Price! We wish we could have seen Joshua do more of what he does so well. The highlight of David Hirata’s presentation was an excellent rope routine which held the audience enthralled. The closing feature was David Parr’s wonderful “Dinner with the Borgias” using four glasses of wine, three of which contain poison. Three members of the audience are called up to help. Who avoids the poison? David, of course. Every piece that David performs is a one-act play. He is superb! Joe Cabral then told his story of the circus sideshow illustrated by magic with extra-large-sized playing cards. This is a very nice routine. He then performed the closing ritual, bringing ICBM West Gala Show to a close.

Just over 40 people attended the Gathering, and around 75 enjoyed the Gala show. We think that everyone went home well satisfied. I was one of a dozen or so who hung around the next day to attend David Parr’s lecture. This was four hours well spent as David demonstrated and explained several effects. This generated several excellent discussions about presentation and magic theatre. Next stop, ICBM next November in Connecticut, and we hope that there will be another West Coast activity before too long. Congratulations to Walt Anthony, who did a great job putting this convention together.