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Passing On the Magic

Mark Twain writes at the end of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer:

So endeth this chronicle. It being strictly a history of a boy, it
must stop here; the story could not go much further without becoming the history
of a man. When one writes a novel about grown people, he knows exactly where to
stop — that is, with a marriage; but when he writes of juveniles, he must stop
where he best can.

Somber prose for those of us past the amorphous line between boy and
man.

The Washington
Post featured an article on some young magicians for whom the luster of the
art is fading. It begins with recollections of a train trip back from magic camp
last summer and ends with teenage magicians now finding interests other than
magic.

Nathan Lefkowits of Columbia provides the recollection of the train ride home
from magic camp. He recalled for the author the bewildered stares of the other
passengers as the boys and girls boarded with doves, color-changing
handkerchiefs, and cards from nowhere.

“The reality is that the life of a real, young magician is much more
prosaic than that of Harry Potter and his wand-wielding crew.”

The reporter joined Mr. Lefkowits around his kitchen table to view some of
his collection:

There were topsy-turvy bottles as well as a squared circle and
change bag, which are used to make things disappear. He had a book titled
“Prethoughts — Mentalism” and another by legendary magician Harry Houdini. Also
on the table was a DVD called “The Self-Levitation Video,” which Lefkowits
dismissed as not worth the effort.

The young magician learned to love the art during an after-school program in
elementary school. He found the Harry Potter books, began to practice, and meet
up with other young magicians in the appropriately-named Society of Young
Magicians.

Mr. Lefkowits moved on to purchase effects, enter contests, and then
performing for birthday parties at a healthy $30.00 per half-hour show. It was
intoxicating for the young man. “I get completely lost in it. I don’t even think
while I’m doing it.”

Mr. Lefkowits now uses the hours formerly devoted to practice to perfect his
driving skills, pack and listen to his iPod, and studying. “It seems that for
ordinary Muggles, magic loses its luster when you don’t need it to fend off an
evil wizard who obliterated your family.”

Passing On the Magic

Mark Twain writes at the end of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer:

Somber prose for those of us past the amorphous line between boy and
man.

“The reality is that the life of a real, young magician is much more
prosaic than that of Harry Potter and his wand-wielding crew.”

The reporter joined Mr. Lefkowits around his kitchen table to view some of
his collection:

There were topsy-turvy bottles as well as a squared circle and
change bag, which are used to make things disappear. He had a book titled
“Prethoughts — Mentalism” and another by legendary magician Harry Houdini. Also
on the table was a DVD called “The Self-Levitation Video,” which Lefkowits
dismissed as not worth the effort.