MY CAREER IN MAGIC. When Annalisa was in third grade, I helped out at the Holiday Fair at her school. I was asked to run the Christmas Mouse booth. It was a classic carnival game adjusted for children. The Christmas Mouse would be hidden under one of the shells. The carnie—me—shuffled the shells and the child had to find the mouse. The challenge for me was to find a way for even the littlest children—kindergarteners and younger—to win. I was good at this. And then one of Annalisa’s classmates whom I knew pretty well came back to do it a second time. A third grader, smart as a whip. I took the challenge. He selected each of the three shells in turn. The Christmas Mouse was in my lap the whole time. I still remember his grin when the third shell game up empty.
When I see magicians talking about how their hours of practice are justified by the joy they get from fooling people, I understand.