Uncovering the true magic of childhood – apparently

 

IT STARTED with a tweeted conversation with Romina from Martyrhood. Her children had cracked open the magic kit and were going all David Copperfield on her – minus sawing women in half. That could get the carpet dirty.

It brought back memories of my childhood, torturing my cousins by making their Red Skins and Milk Bottles disappear. I even tweeted “oh, how I would have loved to watch my 12-year-old self trying to make a ball disappear under a cup”. Sadly for Romina, she’d already endured this trick a number of times by her children.

By sheer coincidence, on Christmas Day some of the O’Brien family members had put together a magic show for the rest of us. Ella even got to play the assistant, which primarily required her to stand with her hands on her hips watching the featured magician. Thankfully we didn’t have to worry about her disappearing into the back of a box or being given the straight jacket treatment inside a tank of water.

The highlight was Ella’s uncle trying to guess which coloured block was taken out of a wooden box by his niece. The fact he had to keep referring to the instructions kind of killed the magic. The O’Briens won’t be tacking this show on the road any time soon.

All this magic obviously began to rub off on Ella. While eating dinner the other night, she announces: “I have a magic trick for you all.’’ We all sit to attention, bar Li’l Holly who’s too busy showing how to magically make a sausage bake disappear. We waited with baited breath. This could be good. She’s really taken in the concept of magic through all the various tricks she’s witnessed.

“Ready?’’ she asks. We nod. Ella takes a deep breath, sits up tall and says: “Look, I can talk with my eyes closed’’.

Have you children delved into the world of magic? What’s their favourite trick?