“Tada!” he exclaimed as he pulled my Jack of Clubs from his sleeve.
It was my card, but card tricks don’t impress me anymore. After years of studying them closely, the illusion, and the suspension of my belief in them isn’t there anymore.
I decided to give him a few more moments of my time. It was the least I could do for pulling the proper card.
This Man of Magic was like many other showmen on the walk. But oddly, he wore a heavy wool ensemble on a hot, hot day. I admired the unique stitching pattern on it and the metallic buttons it was lined with. His hair was overgrown and unkempt. The closer you got to him, the more you could smell clove cigarettes and freshly burned incense.
For all his oddities, he did have a natural vibrato that resonated with each passerby, including myself. I felt compelled to watch him. I wanted to watch him, and I wanted to study his tricks.
The sun was newly setting, everything around us, and him, had a rich auburn glow to it. That elevated his performance.
“For my next trick,” he proclaimed that he would summon electricity from the depths of his soul.
Okay, I’ll bite. I stayed. Waiting.Dialed into his every movement, making sure not to let his sleight of hand, slight my hand.
He removed his felt fedora from his head, gave it a spin. It was empty, he made sure we all knew that. He picked me again. I stuck my hand in the hat. It was empty. I felt the brim, the bottom, the stitching. I inspected it closely. After that, he asked me to tap the top of it.
I complied. Tap, tap.
When he flipped it over again, it was no longer empty. Now, a glass bulb rested inside. He pulled it out from the darkest depths of the hat.
“Wallah!” We all “ooo-d” and “aaa-d.” Where’d it come from, I thought?
For his final trick, he picked the bulb up and in an instant I heard the crack of the filament inside it. The bulb sprung to life, glowing brighter than the setting sun. The Electric Magic Man took a bow, turned, and in a moment he was gone.
We were left wanting more. Impressed, and left with an impression that we’d carry for the rest of our lives. I never did see him again.
