Johnny Ace Palmer visits Ring 313!
Johnny Ace Palmer, a world champion magician, has, through a lifetime devoted to practicing magic, accomplished what no other magician has been able to do. In the summer of 1988 in the Netherlands, he became the first and only close-up magician in history to capture the World Championship title across all eight categories of the competition (i.e., even against stage magicians).
Every three years, the International Federation of Magic Societies, known as FISM, holds the World Congress of Magic, a gathering of magicians from all over the world. By far the most significant event at the FISM Congress is always the competitions. In 1988, they were held in several categories of magic, including six stage categories and two close-up categories. First, second, and third place prizes were awarded in each category, and from among all the categories, one person was selected to receive the overall Grand Prix award, giving that person claim to the title of World Champion Magician. (Note: Beginning in 2003, separate Grand Prix awards were created for the close-up and stage divisions, so that Johnny's comprehensive win is unmatched and no longer possible.)
Until recently, the winner of the Grand Prix had always been chosen from one of the stage categories, and since the focus of the FISM competition is generally oriented more towards the stage, it was always assumed that there would never be a Grand Prix winner from the close-up category. So it was that Johnny Ace Palmer, a young close-up magician from Warren, Ohio, by combining his winningly warm and appealing personality with a mastery of sleight of hand skills, and by bringing the theatrical elements of the stage up close, turned the magic world upside down in the Hague, Holland, by becoming the only close-up magician in history (and, incidentally, only the second American) to capture the title of "World Champion Magician."
Please RSVP for a spot in the Irvine Ranch Water District meeting room. This month the limit has been raised above 25 people however, because the guest lecturer is Johnny Ace Palmer, we want to be certain we do not have too many in person participants. Overflow audience can ZOOM into the meeting.
The new limit is fifty!
Come join the fun at Ring 313!