Magic!

The campers at Camp Kitaki of the YMCA, loved my fiery performances, and each year I enhanced my stories with new and exciting magic. One summer, the pop bottle rocket taped to the end of my sword went off and did not take flight as it was supposed to do. Instead it spun round and shot straight down into the collar of my shirt, exploding with a bang that had the audience on the edge of their seats.

Another time, I used sleight of hand with a lighter and flash paper to create a huge fireball before 200 kids seated at an evening campfire. I used an entire page of the highly flammable stuff, and as dusk settled on the woods, I tossed the fireball into the air. At that point, a dove flew out the shadowy woods and passed completely through my huge fireball! I stood there, gaping up in amazement and the audience gasped in surprise. That poor dove struck three trees on his dazed flight out of there, leaving behind a scattering of blackened feathers.

After campfire ended, director Bob Furman walked up to me shaking his head, saying, “Wow, that fireball was great tonight! But how did you perform that trick with the dove?”

I casually blew on my knuckles and said, “Magic!”

A year later, when invited to become a Guest Artist out at the Regional Center, principal Sandy Delano, urged me to use my magical swords during my performance. She explained that she had received a grant for her middle school students, and all she needed was 10 kids to sign up for my program. So she said, “Really wow them, will you?”

Ten minutes into my story, I raised my sword, flicked the lighter taped to the hilt, and fire trickled up the blade. When it ignited the flash paper on the tip, the sparkle addictive began to crackle. So I gave a quick snap of my wrist, which usually left a scattering of bright sparkles in the air. This time, however, the flash packet flew off of my sword, sailed over my head, and landed directly in the center pocket of the pool table behind me!

Earlier, this kid had stuffed his homework into the very pocket of this table, and when the fiery flash packet connected with the wadded up mass of papers, the whole thing caught fire. It was then that all fifty kids seated in front of me began pointing excitedly at the pool table, and when I turned around to look, a two-foot geyser of flame was rising out of that center pocket! One teacher, Chris Lyford, casually walked over, tipped his can of Mountain Dew into the fiery pocket, and promptly extinguished the fire.

About this time, principal Sandy Delano, appeared in the room, gaping at the scorched table. The kids were wide-eyed with disbelief. The teachers looked to her, gauging her reaction. And I stood there, wondering if I was about to get fired as a Guest Artist. Sandy dramatically placed her hand over her heart and said, “Goodness gracious! Great balls of fire!”

Later, 35 kids signed up to participate in my program, because as they put it, “We want to see what he burns down next!”