A Sleight of Hand

So we went to the charity auction and magic show on Saturday night. The auction came first. There was no way I was going to bid on the live auction stuff, as I'm thrifty enough that spending thousands of dollars was not something I was willing to consider. So my wife and I wandered from table to table of silent auction items. Not wanting go to be left out completely, I spied a gardening toolset. The donation card indicated that it had been given by a local funeral home. Sticking out of the back of the bag was a trowel. Have to be good tools, I thought. They've got to be able to get six feet down! I wrote in a bid, and my wife and I joked with everyone we met that I was planning to bury her in the garden.

The magician in question was a rather reknowned almost retired magician who, we were told, once instructed David Copperfield. He did the usual tricks a magician does, making cloths change colour, spin out of his mouth, causing things to disappear, reappear. However, I robbed myself of much of the fun. Instead of enjoying the illusions, I watched his sleeves to see if he was doing odd things. I stared hard at his assistant (also his wife) to see if she made any unusual subtle gestures. I watched their props while he was doing his thing, because I've heard magicians distract you with their talking and gesturing from the other things happening on the stage.

At the end of the show, I sighed. Not only had I not spotted anything even remotely suspicious in the background, I essentially missed the magic show!