For the fifth time, Noland Montgomery, a professional magician from Beltsville, Md., has won the annual Dan Lacey Memorial Magic Contest sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Magicians, Ring 50, the National Capital Ring.

The winner of the contest is deemed the Washington D.C. area “Magician of the Year,” by IBM Ring 50. Montgomery edged out eight other competitors.

Montgomery, 57, who has been doing magic since he was 12 years old, performed Karell Fox’s vanishing cane to wand; a multiplying billiard balls comedy routine and finished with a comedy linking ring routine.

A graduate of Yale College with a major in history, Montgomery has performed magic for private parties, birthdays, weddings, corporate events, banquets, fundraisers, shopping mall promotions, picnics and the White House Easter Egg Roll. He has performed in several restaurants throughout the Washington area and does street magic regularly in Alexandria, Va.,

In addition to being a long-time member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, Montgomery is a past president of the Society of American Magicians local Assembly 23.

Dan Lacey was a two-term president of Ring 50 who died way before his time in 2000. The contest in his honor began in 2003.