I have a regular entertainment slot at the award winning pub The Poacher Inn in South Wanborough where I do walkabout magic for the people at the bar and table magic for people sitting down. There was a lady in a wheel chair and her husband. The lady was particularly interesting because she was watching me with a knowing eye – pronounced me “a really excellent magician” and immediately booked her birthday party in the pub. We had a bit of a chat, I discovered her name was Julie, her husband Roger, and that before she had become paralysed through disease she had been a clown and worked with a number of magicians. While it is always nice to be told “you should be on TV” by people it is particularly nice to have the same praise from someone in the entertainments industry.
I asked Roger about Julie’s life and Julie gave me the name of her friend Kim – who spilled the beans….apparently Crunchie bars help with Julie’s condition so I used this knowledge to create a Julie trick.
The big day arrived, the Poachers put on a huge spread and I entertained her and her friends with a variety of mind reading, card tricks and others using everyday objects – often the magic occurring in their hands. I offered Julie a free choice from a random selection of prizes and asked her to pick a playing card.
She chose a crunchie bar and the queen of hearts. The queen was torn up and,apart from one corner, the pieces vanished in a ball of fire. When Julie opened the crunchie inside the centre of the chocolate bar was her randomly chosen card, the queen of hearts, perfectly restored apart from one corner which matched hers! That was an incredible piece of magic…..
…but it is not the most incredible piece of magic. Because Julie was told she would never move again. Through hard work and determination her upper body is responding. She can move her arms and grip things and can raise herself up. She is determined that she will walk again and I am certain that she will. The doctors are baffled and every month she improves; she is being restored. Now THAT is magic!
“Thank you soooooo much for making my birthday special. All my friends thought u were brilliant, Love Jules”
