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And now, here’s a story about true magic:
Magician Max Malini made his reputation thanks to impromptu performances.
One time, Malini sat down at a restaurant for dinner with company. He spent hours there, talking with his friends, drinking, eating. Fish soup. Lamb chops. Then a slice of chocolate cake.
During the entire time, Malini didn’t get up from the table.
Eventually, he turned to a woman at his table and asked to borrow her hat. This was at a time when women still wore hats. The woman took off hers and handed it to Malini.
Malini set a coin spinning on the table, and asked the woman, lady or eagle? The owner of the hat called out, eagle.
Malini used the hat to cover the still-spinning coin. When he lifted the hat, the coin was flat on the table, tails up, showing the eagle.
Mailini set the coin spinning a second time. He asked a man at his table, lady or eagle? The man said, lady.
Malini covered the coin with the hat again. When he lifted the hat, the coin was flat on the table, heads up, showing the lady.
Malini then set the coin spinning a third time, and covered it with the hat.
And when he lifted the hat, there was no coin at at all.
Instead, there was an enormous block of ice on the table, a cube about one foot to a side, perfectly chiseled, without a single drop of melted ice water anywhere.
And the point? In the words of another magician, screenwriter and novelist William Goldman:
“In a sense, a screenplay, whether a romance or a detective story, is a series of surprises. We detonate these as we go along. But for a surprise to be valid, we must first set the ground rules, indicate expectations.”
And now you can go back to the beginning if you like.