August 2025 Meeting
Adam Ryan
Minutes of the August 2025 Meeting of the Chattanooga Magic Club
Submitted for review by Club Secretary, Tommy Johns
Meeting Date: August 19, 2025
Members/Regulars Present: 11, Guests Present: 0
The Chattanooga Magic Club met on August 19, 2025, for its monthly meeting at Miller’s Ale House on Gunbarrel Road in Chattanooga. We met at 6:00 for a meal and a time of fellowship, which was enjoyed by all present.
At 7:05 PM, Club President Jim Driscoll called the meeting to order.
The minutes of the July meeting were presented via email prior to the meeting and approved with the following amendment, for accuracy’s sake. Tom Raidy requested the following change which was approved and has been added to the July minutes.
“Tom Raidy reported on behalf of the Bylaws Committee that work is continuing and that the first change will a change that will increase the size of the board of directors to include all elected officers, with the president serving as chair of the board.”
The treasurer’s report was presented by Adam Ryan. Our current balance is $185.05. The only expense this month was the Dan Stapleton lecture. It was reported that we currently have 14 paid members.
Under Old Business, the following items were discussed:
· The Dan Stapleton lecture was wonderful with only 6 in attendance. We owe the venue a magic show in exchange for the meeting space and they have requested a show for the residents on October 24. Members Lance Johnson and Jeffrey Williams have stepped up to provide entertainment for this event. The club appreciates their willingness to help!
· Jim Driscoll has contacted the IBM regarding IBM members in the Chattanooga area to whom we might reach out and invite to the club meetings.
· Jim also offered a report on his experience at the Kidabra Conference in Atlanta. He had a great experience and encouraged us to attend next year, which will be the last one.
· Tom Raidy asked the members present for clarification on the number of members the club’s board of governors has had historically.
Under New Business, the following items were discussed:
· Themes for upcoming meetings were announced. The theme for September will be Spooky Magic. October will be “A Season of Thanks.” November’s theme will be “Holiday Wonder.” All members are encouraged to prepare something to present.
· Upcoming mini lectures include Barry Savage presenting “Hidden Treasures” or perhaps another idea he is working on. The October and November mini-lectures will be presented by Bill Weimer, discussing Bar Magic and his experiences in the Chicago area.
· We were reminded that the date for the December meeting has been changed to Tuesday, December 2nd.
Jim Driscoll offered a motion to end the business portion of our evening at 7:30 PM. As always, this was approved unanimously.
Meeting Adjourned
Mini Lecture
A new feature of our meetings is a mini lecture by a member. This month’s mini lecture was presented by Tom Raidy who led a Roundtable Discussion about Developing Your Performing Character. He called it a “reverse lecture” where the attendees would be doing a lot of the sharing of information. After a brief introduction (of himself and the topic), Tom quoted Joe M. Tuner from a 2011 IBM lecture. Joe stated that not enough magicians spend very much time developing their character as a performer. Tom stated that his own character is just himself, amplified.
He then asked us “How did you develop your performing character?” He then called on Roger Smith, Tommy Johns, Mike Edwards, Michael Frisbee, Jeffrey Williams and Jim Driscoll to share their answer to the question. What a wonderful and diverse group! A lot of information and insight were shared.
Thanks Tom for a fun and helpful mini-lecture!
We then took a brief self care break and signed up to do some magic!
Performance and sharing time – Theme: Mystery and Metalism
This month performing for the theme were Jeffrey Williams, Tommy Johns, Roger Smith, Bill Martin, Tom Raidy, Jim Driscoll, Barry Savage and Michael Frisbee. Minds were read, futures were predicted, the unseen was seen, choices were controlled and a good time was had by all!