| Report
by: Lupe Nielsen
The
evening of December 4 was a special night for us. The local IBM
Ring # 257 named Norm Nielsen Magician of the Year, and gave him
a well deserved tribute at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The
festivities started at 5:30 pm when the attendees started to arrive.
Magicians from near and far came to the big party. This was truly
a who’s who from the magic world. Some names included: Lance
Burton, Simon Lovell, Steve Dacri, Franz Harary, Joaquin Ayala,
Kevin James, Jeff McBride and Abbi Spinner, Fielding West, Goldfinger
and Dove, Jeff Hobson, Amos Levkovitch, Kevin James and Antonio,
Tony Clark, Carl Ballantine, Peter Reveen, Justin Tranz, James Dimmare,
Stan Allen, and many, many more. Approximately 125 people attended.
Some like Gay Blackstone (President of the Magic Castle) and Mark
Nelson came all the way from California. Our friend Albert Telles
came all the way from Texas for the occasion.
Norm
was deeply touched by all who attended. He felt blessed to know
that so many people cared about him and came to the event.
Live
jazz piano music was provided by Mike Close. We particularly enjoyed
when he played “If I Had My Way”, which was the theme
used by the late Jay Marshall during his Lefty routine (we all miss
Jay so much…) A buffet meal was served at 6:00 pm and the
show started at 7:00 pm. The entire show was centered around Norm.
All the performers gave their time and talents to honor him.
Roger
Dreyer started the festivities by giving away door prizes. Two children
were called on stage to pick the lucky winners. There was a very
funny moment when one of the winning numbers happened to be one
of the kids’ parents! Roger then introduced the MC for the
evening: Jeff Hobson. Jeff must be the funniest man alive. His sense
of humor and timing was exquisite, and he had people laughing right
from the start. The lineup was as follows:
- Carl
Ballantine – Was quite funny, and did a vanishing bill routine.
- Aye
Jaye – Roasted Norm in his unique, carney way. He is hilarious.
- Simon
Lovell, Jeff Hobson and Steve Dacri – Performed a 3 men
“Card in Mouth” routine.
- Gary
Darwin - Performed a "Vanishing Toe" routine. He sure
has a great sense of humor!
- Goldfinger
and Dove – Performed a series of routines to music. Effects
included their signature “Three Card Monte Routine”,
a “Professor’s Nightmare” routine (with the
“Goldfinger” touch!), and their “Circle of Life”
routine that comprises a “Flags of All Nations” theme
with a large banner that congratulated Norm as the grand finale.
-
Kevin James – Performed his version of the Floating Violin
(with Antonio – dressed as Norm Nielsen - with a blond wig
and all - making it float under the cloth). Quite a funny bit.
- Joaquin
Ayala – Told the audience the story of a Mexican magician
that copied Norm’s Act. And yes, we can attest that it was
a true story!
- Will
Roya – Performed his juggling act to everyone’s delight.
- Fielding
West – He did one of the best Vanishing Coke Bottle routines
we have seen.
- Johnny
and Pam Thompson – Performed a very funny version of “Six
Card Repeat” and made everyone laugh with their mental routine.
- Jeff
Hobson – Did a very funny “printing” routine.
He took a blank sheet of paper and passed it through a magic printing
press. The final result was a poster of “Norma” Nielsen
(i.e. Norm in drag).
- Amos
Levkovitch – Closed the show with his beautiful Dove Act.
- Finally
the show closed when three awards were given to Norm: The first
two were awards of excellence from both the Society of American
Magicians, and the International Brotherhood of Magicians, and
the third award was the Magician of the Year trophy from Ring
257.
The
evening came to a close as they served coffee, tea and desserts
after the show.
This
will truly be a memorable evening for us. We specially want to thank
Roger Dreyer (from Fantasma Magic) and Al Jensen for making this
event possible. And of course a big THANK YOU goes to all the performers
and members of Ring 257. The lineup for the show was such, that
we would not have missed it for the world!
And,
if you attended this event, please receive a big THANK YOU from
the bottom of our hearts.
Norm
Nielsen Tribute - Dec. 4, 2006
The Orleans Hotel, Las Vegas
(Click on images to enlarge)
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