Magic and prohibition

One week from today in 2020, I was supposed to be performing my first gig as a magician in quite a few years. A couple months before I’d found out my main client in the spirits industry was pulling out of the US, which I took as a cue to start diversifying my range of work. So for the month of February I spent a lot of time alone at home reading books, learning routines, and practicing sleight-of-hand while watching TV on the couch. I thought I was rehearsing for a performance. As it turned out, I was just rehearsing for a long year of social distancing. Obviously the gig never happened; the bar that was supposed to host it is now closed, and aside from a brief summer season of street performances and one short show for an enthusiastic kid on Zoom, magic has remained a mostly solitary pursuit...

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