What's In a Smile...

No matter where I perform or who I perform for, the thing I love most about magic is the look on people’s faces when they are amazed.

There is something about magic that transports people back to that magical, kid-like place. They get a look of unbelievable wonderment on their face, and knowing that I have given them that enjoyment is better than just about anything else in life.

One of the effects that I perform when I first meet people is floating a dollar bill. At first they are amazed, and there is that look of wonder on their face. Then they start trying to figure out how I did it. They guess its static electricity or something on my hands. When they can’t figure it out, they get frustrated and want me to do it again. Then when they see it again, they are truly amazed, and I get paid if you will with their smiles and words of praise.

The other effect that I’m often asked to do is “the bunnies.” During this effect I ask for assistants to hold their hands out, and the bunnies “move” from one hand to another. There are several stages to this affect, each building on the one before it. When I get to the end, my assistant usually ends up throwing her hands up in the air. Some actually run away screaming. But no matter their reaction, I’m always left with that purely genuine smile that feeds my addiction.

It doesn’t matter if the person I’m performing for is 5 year’s old or 50. It doesn’t matter if they are a rich celebrity or a starving college student. Whenever I perform magic for someone and I get that purely genuine smile – that look that says for just a moment they wonder if magic could really be real – I feel like the richest person in the world.

A few months ago, I had the privilege of performing for a teenager’s graduation party. I found out a few weeks before the performance that the girl had special needs. Her parents told me that this would likely be the biggest celebration in their daughter’s life, and they wanted to make it extra special for her. I recently heard from the mom who told me that she and the daughter had watched the video of the performance and how special it was to see her daughter laughing and smiling as they remembered that night. There is no amount of money that can make me feel as good as knowing I gave that gift to that amazing family. And that is why I do magic.