Because You Really Care About My Magic Career: Did a birthday party last night, and had a lot of fun. For those who care about such things, this was my set:

Sponge Balls
Cups and Balls
Thumbcuffs
Hyrum, the Hilarious Haunted Hank
Cut & Restored Rope
Sucker Torn & Restored Napkin
Sid Fleischman's "You, Too, Can Saw a Girl in Half"
David Regal's "Letter Perfect."

It went well. I cut my thumb (but not off) and the final letter in the birthday party boy's name didn't show up, but for my first paid show it didn't go too bad.

The kids are at that fun age where they're not really interested in applauding. When you hit a trick, they just sit there, silent, but their eyes get about as big around as quarters.

And I did hear one, "Now that was real magic."

Another interesting point--on Gazzo's "Cups and Balls" tape, he talks about how to make it look like the fruit produced at the end is too big for the cup. I thought this was kind of a stretch--what audience member pays that much attention?--but yes, one kid did say, "It doesn't look like it would fit." Thank you, Gazzo.

I had a good time.