Las Vegas magicians do not have it easy. We read recently of their struggle to not only make it to the strip but to stay long enough to get on a billboard or two. Schadenfreude , or the delight in the misfortune of others, is an emotion we loathe and consequently eschew with a fervor.

(Actually, we don’t have a position on schadenfreude. But had a bet with a woman we met at a McDonalds that we could use the words “schadenfreude ,” “loathe,” “eschew” and “fervor” in one sentence. Look who’s taking home the complimentary Big Angus with Cheese, Miss “I-Have-to-Work-the –Drive-Thru-Cuz-the-Manager-Confused-My-Botched-Tattoo-with-a-Positive-TB-Test”!)

David Copperfield agrees with Carrot Top, Nathan Burton, Terry Fator and Barry Manilow: Vegas is a tough nut to crack and once cracked, tough to eat the pieces of or live in – assuming one could live in a nut, cracked or not. Sorry, the metaphor voices took over again and because we are typing this on an Olivetti Lettera 22® typewriter in the backseat (or “bedroom”) of our 1978 Volkswagen Fastback (or “mobile home till things get straightened out at home”), and we have no white out (or “Wite-Out”) we are unable to correct our copy as easily as one would if one were using a computer or even a more up-to-date IBM Tech III Ribbon® with IBM Tech III Cover·up Tape®.

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