The Modern Mystic League
MAY 2023
Blackburn & District Society of Magicians
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Telepathy Personified
MML members, friends and family members assembled for a very special Chairman’s Day on 14th May, when we welcomed Joy Spencer to speak about her parents – Ron and Nancy, known throughout the land for their telepathy act, Minds in Harmony.
Joy began with the words of Eddie Dawes, writing in the Foreword to their book, Telepathy Personified: ‘From the moment they appeared on stage, they radiated warmth and friendliness, and spectators instinctively knew they could relax, secure in the knowledge that here was a charming couple who were clearly about to share with them their own enjoyment in presenting some mysteries of the mind.’
Joy had brought all of Ron and Nancy’s props (including a phrenologist’s head, which had been the most difficult volunteered article for a Nancy to decipher) and Nancy’s beautiful stage gowns, all of which she had designed and made herself.
Joy gave a fascinating potted biography of her parents, commencing when Nancy met Ron as a patient when she was a nurse, becoming uncharacteristically ‘all fingers and thumbs’ in his presence. They married in June 1946, but while on honeymoon they received the news that Ron was to be posted to Germany. Nancy followed, to nearby Denmark.
Initially, they experimented with thought transmission, then enlisted their mothers to sit on the front row to convey secret messages . . . until their signs contradicted each other!
Joy demonstrated the use of coloured silks, ESP cards, a clock face and a globe of the world, for which Nancy mastered the codes for 260 different countries – all used in the art of prediction. As a trained pianist, Nancy was able to play any tune secretly selected by audience members, although the need for a piano on stage often proved impractical.
Joy began with the words of Eddie Dawes, writing in the Foreword to their book, Telepathy Personified: ‘From the moment they appeared on stage, they radiated warmth and friendliness, and spectators instinctively knew they could relax, secure in the knowledge that here was a charming couple who were clearly about to share with them their own enjoyment in presenting some mysteries of the mind.’
Joy had brought all of Ron and Nancy’s props (including a phrenologist’s head, which had been the most difficult volunteered article for a Nancy to decipher) and Nancy’s beautiful stage gowns, all of which she had designed and made herself.
Joy gave a fascinating potted biography of her parents, commencing when Nancy met Ron as a patient when she was a nurse, becoming uncharacteristically ‘all fingers and thumbs’ in his presence. They married in June 1946, but while on honeymoon they received the news that Ron was to be posted to Germany. Nancy followed, to nearby Denmark.
Initially, they experimented with thought transmission, then enlisted their mothers to sit on the front row to convey secret messages . . . until their signs contradicted each other!
Joy demonstrated the use of coloured silks, ESP cards, a clock face and a globe of the world, for which Nancy mastered the codes for 260 different countries – all used in the art of prediction. As a trained pianist, Nancy was able to play any tune secretly selected by audience members, although the need for a piano on stage often proved impractical.
The fame of the duo spread and, to emulate the Piddingtons, Ron proposed thought transference to Nancy while suspended in a hot air balloon; ballooning being a particular hobby of the Spencer family.
Joy also dealt with a book test, using an impressive Dictionary of Quotations, slate writing, a “What’s my Line?” scenario and the use of a tarot pack – but always light-heartedly. Nancy would ‘romance’ her volunteer helpers, revealing facts slowly and hesitantly for greater authenticity.
Ron and Nancy enjoyed sixty years of married life, and Nancy continued to perform small magic tricks until shortly before her death at the age of 94. Scandalously, while Ron was honoured as a Gold Star Member of the Inner Magic Circle, Nancy, as a woman, was not even allowed to join!
Along the way we even learned some fascinating trivia, such as the fact that Ron’s grandfather set the record for travelling the length of the country on a penny-farthing bicycle and taught Charkes Dickens how to ride.
Joy rounded off the afternoon with a video made at The Magic Circle, when Ron was already 80 years old but had lost little of his sparkle; and so we were treated once again to a performance, followed by an informative Q&A session.
It was a marvellous way to begin our time in our new headquarters at Woodlands, and Roger was warmly thanked for arranging yet another memorable Chairman’s Day.
Joy also dealt with a book test, using an impressive Dictionary of Quotations, slate writing, a “What’s my Line?” scenario and the use of a tarot pack – but always light-heartedly. Nancy would ‘romance’ her volunteer helpers, revealing facts slowly and hesitantly for greater authenticity.
Ron and Nancy enjoyed sixty years of married life, and Nancy continued to perform small magic tricks until shortly before her death at the age of 94. Scandalously, while Ron was honoured as a Gold Star Member of the Inner Magic Circle, Nancy, as a woman, was not even allowed to join!
Along the way we even learned some fascinating trivia, such as the fact that Ron’s grandfather set the record for travelling the length of the country on a penny-farthing bicycle and taught Charkes Dickens how to ride.
Joy rounded off the afternoon with a video made at The Magic Circle, when Ron was already 80 years old but had lost little of his sparkle; and so we were treated once again to a performance, followed by an informative Q&A session.
It was a marvellous way to begin our time in our new headquarters at Woodlands, and Roger was warmly thanked for arranging yet another memorable Chairman’s Day.