You know what? To absolutely do justice here, allow me to pretty much quote one of the charter members of this group, Dr. Ronnie Moraleta:
It was on the fateful night of September 25, 1996 when a group of officers and members of Magic Circle Philippines held a meeting at Lou Hilario’s former residence at Dita St., San Antonio Village, Makati. Present then were Ferdinand Flores, Cris Castro, Ronaldo Moraleta, M.D., Marcelino Alviz, Laurence Chew, Ibarra Deri, Leo Domapias, David Elefant, Ramon Ello, Lou Hilario, Rannie Raymundo, Renato Samson and Jose Luis Valenzuela. The group discussed on the formation of a more efficient and better Magic club with the main objective of uplifting the standard of Magic in the Philippines.
Lou Hilario suggested the name Inner Magic Club, thus the birth of IMC.
The club was formally registered, through the efforts of Attorney Cyril Regalado, as a non-stock, non-profit organization with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 31, 1997 with SEC # A199701908.
Initiated primarily by Ronaldo Moraleta, M.D. with the help of then President Ferdinand “Chubby” Flores and Cyril Regalado, Inner Magic Club became Charter Ring No. 328 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians on July 30, 1997. Charter members of Ring 328 are: Herman Gil Aquino, Ronaldo Moraleta, David Elefant, Rosauro Julio, Renato Samson, Edison Chua, Ferdinand Flores, Cyril Regalado, Marcelino Alviz, Jesus Elbinias, Leo Domapias, Mark Soriano, Emily Miranda, Vincent Hugo and Napoleon Perez. It was also on this month that Filipino magicians gained worldwide recognition in the realm of Magic as IMC represented the Philippines for the first time at the 20th World Congress of Magic, more popularly known as FISM, in Dresden, Germany. Cyril Regalado even competed in the Close Up competition.
Oozing with enthusiasm, the club’s first public performance directed by Rannie Raymundo on October 17, 1997 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Little Theater entitled Salamangka Atbp. – A Journey to the World of Magic was a huge success! After this it was apparent that IMC would grace TV and charity shows continuously up to this day.
In 2003, IMC together with other Magic clubs in Asia, founded the Asian Magic Association, an alliance, which aims to unite the major Magic societies in Asia. Cris Castro who most of the time was present during the meetings eventually became and currently seats as one of its directors. Another good news came during the First Asian Magic Convention held on September 24 – 26, 2004 at Fuyong, Shenzhen, China, as Marcelino Alviz bagged second place in the Close Up competition.
Inner Magic Club was focused on forging ahead in reaching its goals as it marked another page in Filipino Magic history on September 24, 2005, on the launching of its second major and highly successful Magic show entitled “Magic ‘To!!!” at the Philamlife Theater, U.N. Avenue, Manila. Indeed, IMC’s future is looking extremely healthy and the best is yet to come!
Quite a mouthful, isn’t it? Well, needless to say, the IMC is one of the most esteemed and hallowed groups of magicians to this very day, and it is one that has gained so much worldwide recognition not just because of its illustrious members, but also because of the many steps they have, as a group, taken to assure that Philippine magic will continue to live on.
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