It was 7:14 pm when my friend Jen and I arrived at The Magic Castle in Hollywood, CA. Our dear friend, Spaff, was anxiously waiting for us outside the front door. We had precisely one minute to navigate our way through the castle and into the Parlor of Prestidigitation for Helder Guimarães’s 7:15 show. We ran – in heels, and dresses – across the ornate carpet of the castle’s main floor and up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Classy to say the least. We made it just before the doors closed.
If you’re at all into magic then you’ve probably heard of Helder Guimarães and if you haven’t, then you’re probably not as into magic as you like to pretend. Look him up. He’s extremely gifted. In true Rachel fashion, at the end of the show I shook Helder’s hand and said something contained like, “That was really, really good,” when what I was feeling on the inside was closer to, “That was effing mind-blowing!!!! How is that possible? I’m going to crawl into a whole and never come out because I no longer know what’s real and what isn’t.” I spent the next hour on a bar stool, rocking back and forth, staring at nothing in particular, trying to figure out how Helder could have done the things he did. As a kid who grew up asking “why” about everything, I’m not one to just be amazed and then let it go. So here’s your warning, Helder: I WILL figure it out. It’s only a matter of time…
The rest of the night was as fantastic as it started. Spaff introduced me and Jen to a number of great people, the waiter gave us a cheese plate on the house, and we saw two more magic shows featuring magicians Tina Lenert, Mike Caveney, and John Gaughan & Lady Mystina.
It was a great night indeed. But perhaps equally as mind-blowing to all the magic we saw at the castle last night, was our ride home with Uber driver Frank. Jen and I got into the car and after the usual pleasantries that are exchanged with a driver (minus the fist bump – this wasn’t a Lift car), Frank started asking us questions about the Magic Castle in his thick Ugandan accent. It is important to note here that on the console between the driver seat and the front passenger seat was a long wooden box. “What’s in the box?” Jen asked, rather innocently I would like to add.
“It’s my rattle snake.” Frank answered. I’m a bit of a magician myself.
“Oh yeah?” Jen inserted skeptically.
“Yes, and he makes candy.” But HOW does he make candy, I thought, and WHY…
Frank continued, “Do you want to pet my snake?”
… Wait. What? In that moment, everything came to stop. I was no longer thinking about Helder’s amazing card tricks or Tina Lenert’s mop man or the crispy, purple grapes on the cheese plate. I looked at Jen. Did he just say what I think he said?
“Uhh, no thanks.” Jen replied politely, yet firmly. “I’ll give you a peak in case you change your mind,” Frank said as he slowly opened the lid of the wooden box. Sure enough, there was candy in the box, but neither one of us was about to reach for it. Frank sensed our hesitation and closed the lid. “It’s ok, my snake can be shy. Maybe another time.”
WHAT?!?! For the second time in the same night, I found myself questioning what’s real and what isn’t. In what world does this conversation actually happen? I’m going to attribute it to a cultural barrier. The rest of the ride was quiet with the occasional squawk of my contained laughter at the unintentional innuendos on the part of Frank. Finally, we arrived at our destination.
“Thanks for the ride,” I mustered as I got out of the car. And what a ride last night was.
Me, Spaff, and Jen at The Magic Castle
The Love Shoebox 