The Magician and the Money

We went to a birthday party for a friend’s child last weekend. It had all the usual birthday things… balloons, cake, pizza, gifts, lots of kids as well as parents and an extra bonus… a magician.

The magician, “Magic Joe” did all kinds of slight of hand tricks with handkerchiefs and even a dove named Dovini, he was very good as far as local magician talent goes... of course, he did not go so far as to cut anyone in half or drop himself into a large vat of water.

We brought 5 kids to the party. Pete, Dill and 3 of the “Boyer bunch”. They all came into the party and were very shy and reserved… for about 2 minutes. Once they saw the birthday decorations, the pizza and the small section of chairs reserved for kids they felt right at home. Pete immediately needed two hats… to wear both on his forehead like a bull. Twirler girl made the mistake of asking her big brother to help her put her pointy Dora hat on and he could not resist giving the elastic cord a little snap under her chin. All 5 had their shoes off and had gone into the play area in a flash. It really was a bit young for all the kids… although Twirler girl was adorable playing in a mock classroom teaching several baby dolls their letters. She looked just like Megamom teaching her class! I could not watch for too long because the boys were arguing over firefighter coats and who got to be the driver of the fire engine and needed adult intervention.

The kids all kind of spread out and at one point Dill and Pete were standing near the Magician when he asked if anyone had a dollar. Dill was very proud of the wallet he had (made out of duck tape) and whipped it out of his pocket quickly to show that he had a crisp dollar bill inside.

The magician asked to see it and Dill handed it to him. The sinking look on Dill’s face was priceless when Magic Joe started to crumple the dollar and turned it into a tiny little ball that we wadded into the palm of his hand. Then there was a look of shear horror when Magic Joe pulled the dollar bill apart enough so he could rip it in two. At the same time, Dill’s mouth dropped open and Pete smiled, grateful that he had kept his money in his wallet.

The magician then handed Dill the little tattered half of his dollar back and Dill slowly and sadly started to un-crumple it. His face lit up when he realized that it was a WHOLE dollar! He was giddy when magic Joe handed him the other half of his dollar….. which was now another complete, intact (but very wrinkly) dollar bill. At this point I was wishing I had a few $20 or $50 bills I could give Magic Joe so he’d double my money!!!

His next trick was to turn four dollar bills into $100 dollar bills. He flipped the bills once and they were singles, then they were hundreds. He had the kids and the grown-ups attention for that trick! Unfortunately, he put those bills back into his own pocket.

When we got home the boys were still talking about the money tricks. Pete said he wished they had learned the trick where singles turned into $100 dollar bills. We overheard both boys talking about all the things they would buy Pepper and I to make our lives better. Pepper and I smiled at each other at what sweet boys we have. As an adult I spent lots of time watching to see HOW the magician tricked his audience into believing the impossible… but it is nice to hear how magical and amazing he was through the eyes of my innocent and unjaded kids. Here's hoping we can all find happy magic in our lives! ☺