Pittsburgh 2011 SAM Conference: Looking Back

With a phenomenal closing show, the Pittsburgh 2011 SAM Conference, and its four days of magic bliss, came to its end. This writeup isn't an attempt to cover all the proceedings as my prior commitments caused me to miss entire lectures and events. Nor is it meant to be a review of the conference or a critique of the acts and lectures. These are simply the highlights that remain strongest in my mind.

The Face Off
The "Pennsylvania - Ohio, Close-up Face Off," featuring Paul Gertner Marc Desousa, Ed Ellis and Joshua Jay was a blast. I particularly enjoyed Desousa's presentation of card trick that was based on Japan's "Hachi" legend - a dog who represented loyalty to his owner by waiting for him at a train stop, day after day, after his owner had died. Equally involving was Desousa's presentation with the Native American dream catcher. Gertner and Ellis were fantastic, while Jay's multiple card selection that had him finding numerous cards by means inspired by famous magicians around the world, which I understand is a segment from his one-man show, was a treat.

The Thursday evening show, "Pennsylvania's Greatest Magicians," featured some stand outs. Fresh from their recent appearances on "America's Got Talent," The Alexanders presented some stunning illusions that they had recently performed on the show. Since I saw "Wicked" on Broadway some years back, I knew that some magician would eventually levitate to the song, "Defying Gravity." I finally got to experience this during the performance by The Beckers, with Bobbie Becker actually singing the song. Extremely cool.

Lectures
Lectures were informative. During his lecture, I finally got to enjoy Paul Gertner's FISM act. And Josh Jay's offered some fantastic material. While I am familiar with these effects from Jay's DVDs, which I have reviewed, seeing these live reminded me of their strengths.

Stars of Tomorrow
The "Stars of Tomorrow" show proved to be entertaining, featuring youthful magicians with poise and grace far beyond their years. 11-year-old Isabelle Dodd, introduced as "little Miss Magic," by hilarious and energetic host Hayden Childress, was a huge hit with her Chinese themed act. I was equally impressed by James Wilson's take on pirates with an act that featured a search for treasure.

The Contests
I have come to enjoy watching the magic competitions. In close-up, Andost offered a bewildering theme of colored lights that seemingly influenced a slick combination of color changes and oil and water effects. I enjoyed Shin Lim's magic at the IBM convention last year in San Diego and was impressed with the theatrical touches that he added this year. Hector Mancha featured a whimsical routine where a card was seemingly alive with a mind of its own. (To learn of the winners, I'll leave that to the SAM's site.)

The stage competition was equally intriguing. Beyond the crisp and fast card productions and other manipulations by Lee Young Woo (with a Spanish flair) and Kim Hyunjoon. Richard Forget offered an effect that can only be described as "zombie fire." Forget also produced a drum set on stage and offered manipulations - vanishes and multiplications - with the drum sticks. The pair of Rhythm of Magic tore up the stage with their high level ballroom dancing and stunning illusions. I enjoyed the manipulations combined with a painting theme by Hiroshi Yamamoto, as well as the intriguing manipulation and use of lamps by Andost, an act that I have enjoyed in the past.

At the finals, Michael Close proved to be a hilarious master of ceremonies (after all, he wrote the book on comedy). His spontaneous riff after a halt in one contestant's routine proved to be a memorable point of the evening. It was even referred to by Shawn Farquhar (who did an equally good job of overseeing and entertaining at the next night's show).

The closing show, "Champions of Magic," was phenomenal. Card manipulator extra ordinaire An Ha Lim opened and nearly brought the show to a stop. I have admired the work of this artist in the past and enjoyed seeing it again. I'm also a big fan of Soma, who recently appeared on "Penn & Teller: Fool Us (you can watch video of the show here). David Kaplan was hilarious, as always, and it was a true pleasure to watch the smoldering, charismatic Michael Grasso, known best for his progression in last year's "America's Got Talent" competition. When he performs, Grasso owns the stage.

"Thanks"
I enjoyed meeting many of you. Thank you so much for coming up and saying "hello" and your kind words. And thanks to my Pittsburgh friends for making my time in the Steel City so memorable. I'm mentally relaxed (if not a bit sleep-deprived), but ready to fly back to Los Angeles and get back to the task of entertaining with renewed vigor. Finally, thanks to all of the hard work by the SAM and for putting on such a fantastic conference.