The Magic of Magic

Nothing livens things up quite like a magician. Suddenly, ordinary items: a spoon, a coin, a deck of cards, take on strange and mysterious qualities. Everyone watches and tries to figure out, "how did he do that?"

I've liked magic since I was about nine years old. For some reason, my dad and I wound up in a store that sold used comic books and, incidentally, a few magic tricks. Dad went to the other end of the store and pretended to be busy while the store owner showed me a few tricks and how they worked.

Amazing! I picked up the "Chinese Laundry Ticket" trick and a few others, then went home to practice. And how well do I remember my parents having company and inviting me down into the den to perform.

Probably about two years later, 6th grade or so, our class put on a variety show. I was never the outgoing type, and Bill Quarles beat me to the sign-up sheet to put on a magic act. But 'fate winked her eye' so to speak, and Bill either had acute stage-fright or a genuine malady. In any event, he couldn't perform so I stepped in. My assistant was Ellen Henningsen, easily the prettiest girl in the class. No laundry tickets this time; this was my step up into the majors. So I did the trick where the magician pours a FULL PITCHER OF MILK into a hat, then displays a nearly empty pitcher, and turns over the hat which is -- presto! -- also empty.

I did a few warm-up illusions which I don't remember, then while presenting the pièce de résistance, I dared to glance at the audience ... for the first time during my performance.

"Never the outgoing type" promptly froze, then began a sort of disco dance from my elbows to my fingertips. Ellen looked at me in shock as milk began splashing from the pitcher and sprinkling into the hat, where it ought not to have gone, needless to say.

She turned the hat over and expected more of a mess than we got. The hat was a felt Stetson (thanks, Dad!) and absorbed most of my mistake. I wobbled offstage and applause filled the "Little Theater."

Except for an occasional card trick, a disappearing coin, and a migrating table trick my wife and I perfected when our kids were still young enough to fool, my magic seems to have pretty much gone dormant. But with grandkids on the scene who are intrigued by that sort of thing, I perked up when I saw Steve Fearson's Download Magic. Steve is a pro, having created illusions for some of magic's heavy hitters, such as David Copperfield and David Blaine. For the price and the fun of it, Download Magic can't be beat.

Hey! Put a little magic in your life! Sure worked for me.