Sleight of Hand

B has suddenly sprouted long legs, he has the proportions of a gnat - with long feet.

He has abandoned collecting ring pulls and painting model soldiers to become a magician. Here he is in a video which he shot of himself. As you can see, he doesn't do the banter.




My favourite trick, which for some reason makes me laugh long and loud, is as follows:

He balances a Euro on his forehead, between his eyebrows.

'Can you do that?' he asks. If he is performing this trick to an adult they will more than likely answer, 'probably not', but a child can be guaranteed to shout' 'I can do that, yes I can do that let me have a go, let me have a go' at which point blank faced B hands over his Euro for them to have a go...it has a drawing pin sticking out of the back.
He has taught R the following trick: ask the person you are tricking to lend you two coins, 2 euro coins for example. Hold up one, and say 'one euro', then the other, 'one euro', with a flourish, slide the two coins together in one hand, and say 'One euro plus one euro makes two euros...now how many coins did you give me?'
'Two' says the victim, looking eagerly on.
'Oh thank you very much, I thought you were only lending them to me' (runs off with money).
B was thrilled to see ready-made tricks for sale at a brocante, the young man selling them had no need of them now that he had graduated from silver-tongued illusionist to student at a business college, say no more. For three euros apiece, B had tricks which wowed his schoolmates for many weeks, smaller boys trailed him, claiming in vain that they know how it's done.
B's career ambition, other than being a master magician, is to work at the bank like his father, and buy a flat near us, above a takeaway pizza joint so that he just has to go down and get one whenever he wants. Adolescence looms...