The Society of American Magicians

Today I want to blog about two of the biggest magic organizations I belong to, which are The Society of American Magicians (S.A.M) and The International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) I first joined the S.A.M. 22 years ago around 1988 as a Society of Young Magicians (S.Y.M) member then when I was 16 changed to an adult member. In Victoria where I grew up at that time Tony Eng, Jack Poulter, and Donald Dunphy helped to run the S.Y.M. They had meetings one a month which was a great place for young magicians to learn and grow.  This club still exists today and is run by The Victoria Magician Circle however now I believe the club is linked to the I.B.M junior members club. In Victoria when I was involved in this club there were very few S.A.M members in Victoria and no assembly but I have kept my membership active all these years. When I was 16 I joined the Victoria Magic Circle which is an I.B.M. Ring. So at that time in 1991 I joined the I.B.M. and I am also still a member to this day. So why I am writing about these two organizations? Well after to moving to Japan, I found there are only a few Magic Clubs here in Japan that are affiliated with these two organizations and none near where I live on Shikoku. There are probably two main reasons for this, one, it’s expensive and second the publications for both these organizations are in English which makes it hard for a non-English speaker to get use out of. Anyways I am still proud to be a part of both these organizations. What I like is now in the age of the Internet is that I can get their publications on-line. I have the hardcopy versions sent to my mother back in Canada because it’s to expensive to have them shipped here. This your I changed my S.A.M membership to just the online version. I would like to see some more social networking features on the websites of these clubs but I am sure that they will soon come. I have to say over the years as being members of both organizations has been beneficial for me and I would recommend them to to anyone looking for a way to show they are really interested in magic. I know politics has caused problems for people in both but that is kind of normal for any organization. Just remember what you are there for to share and learn magic and I will find that they can be very beneficial for you.

Aaron