Now You See It, Now You Don’t

I’ve at all times loved watching magicians carry out magic methods. Detroit’s Milky the Clown used to entertain us children, making issues seem and disappear. It was largely milk, and solely after we stated the magic phrases, “Twin Pines!” Twin Pines Dairy was his sponsor. He taught us to place the glass of milk to our lips, tip the glass up and tilt our heads again. Presto, the milk disappeared. And it tasted good!

I by no means discovered learn how to do any actual magic methods myself. It appeared too difficult, however that was OK. I didn’t actually wish to know the secrets and techniques. It was rather more enjoyable attempting to determine it out.

In 1992, I attended a David Copperfield present at Wharton Center in East Lansing. I sat on the aisle, and Copperfield got here into the viewers and stopped subsequent to the girl immediately in entrance of me. He was just a few toes away when he waved a handkerchief in entrance of her face and it was a long-stemmed pink rose, full with thorns. She was appropriately shocked and thrilled.

I don’t know the place that rose got here from, however I bear in mind pondering that these thorns might have been an issue.

Some of the illusions he carried out that evening had been simply unimaginable. They had been, certainly, all illusions. He didn’t actually make issues disappear, however it positive appeared prefer it. Once he made the Statue of Liberty disappear on nationwide tv. Lady Liberty, poof, gone. Just like that!

He continues to be performing as we speak in Las Vegas if you wish to see for your self.

Perhaps one of many biggest reveals I ever noticed was additionally in Vegas years in the past. Sigfried and Roy on the Mirage Hotel, an acceptable venue for positive. The spectacular present had some eighty dancers and twelve acrobats – in addition to quite a few expert animal handlers and technical employees – along with a big menagerie of huge cats together with white tigers, Bengal tigers, lions, snow leopards, noticed leopards, jaguars and black jaguars, a horse known as Favorite and a really lovely Thai elephant known as Gildah.

During the present, they introduced white tiger cubs in a basket into the viewers for us to pet and fawn over. Big cats appeared and disappeared all in the course of the present. But essentially the most memorable a part of the present, which I can nonetheless see if I shut my eyes, was making the elephant disappear.

Gildah, the elephant, was standing solely 20 toes or so from me. One of the performers raised the aspect of a mammoth field and immediately dropped it once more. No elephant! There wasn’t even time for the elephant to drop by the ground. It was clearly nonetheless there…someplace, however neither I nor the remainder of the group might see the place.

A couple of seconds later, in one other a part of the stage, they raised a really giant drape of some type and, presto, there was the elephant! How did they try this? I didn’t see any smoke or mirrors, however the phantasm occurred proper earlier than my eyes and to today I’m baffled.

Gildah didn’t appear to thoughts in any respect. She carried out all through the remainder of the present.

Over the years I’ve loved many different magicians and illusionists, as I’m positive you might have. I had lunch in the future with Penn and Teller within the U.S. Senate eating room. We talked about nearly every part besides magic. I simply couldn’t deliver myself to ask them any of the secrets and techniques.

It was all innocent enjoyable, however I have to admit there are some issues I want we actually might make disappear. Don’t you? Say the magic phrases!

Contact Rick at [email protected]