As kids in the middle of winter, we got dressed up and drove to the Palace Theater in downtown Cleveland. My dad was super excited. We were seeing Harry Blackstone Jr, the son of The Great Blackstone, whom my dad had seen as a kid. The Great Blackstone invented, with Thomas Edison’s help, the floating light bulb trick. That light bulb and the Cassadaga Cabinet were the first two magician props accepted by the Smithsonian. [1]

Dad was over the moon for us to see the Great Blackstone’s son. 

I had tried my terrible hand at magic. Not sure if this was before or after seeing Blackstone. But I had my plastic magic top hat from which I could magically produce stuffed animals! I was always spilling milk in the basement as I tried to master that trick.

In my seat, I leaned forward, mesmerized by the …