So I decided to head out to Jo's last night to help her with exams. She is currently about to do her final Wednesday so I quizzed her with some pysch questions from the text book. I left around about 10:30pm and headed back to Tooting Broadway, a good 10 minute walk. Weather was a little barmy, strange as it's Autumn and well it's been cold each and every other night, so I enjoyed the cool breeze and headed off to the tube, inserted my return ticket and headed down to the platform.

Now on the way from work to Tooting I was sardined most of the way, but managed to find a piece of some paper and it described an American Naval Muslim Chaplain who was arrested and convicted in Camp Delta in Cuba. He was there to serve as a chaplain to the inmates and people managed to twist it into destroying his life and making him become one of those inmates. Very interesting read - looks like he has written a book (Yee) God and Country, then I read up on that one of the two Ronnie's had died, and read some exerts from his biography from the other Ronnie and John Cleese in regards to the David Frost Report. Highly entertaining and found myself in Tooting no problems, a little disheveled and sweaty but survived the ride.

So on the way home, I knew I was going to get a seat, but probably not a paper as by then the cleaners would have taken them all, fortunately I found the most oldest Metro on the tube which looked like it had travelled all around London all day to end up in my hands, it's dog earred corners and foot-printed pages were testiment to the strife it acheived to turn up still readable and still efficiently enough time to read for my 1 hour trip home on the tube.

However - I get off onto the Piccadilly line and I've read the Metro and now have another 30 minutes, so I sit down with a few people this time in the carriage. Some large guy to my right (thinking Italian) and two Russians to my left. A nice looking girl sitting next to the large guy and a frumpy looking one sitting on reading. A typical night home. Now I'm in the tube relaxed position, head in one hand, eyes closed and thinking happy thoughts when I hear the 'Italian' guy speaking to the nice looking one. I'm thinking he's a pimp, he's a dirty old bastard or he's loaded as he is sleazing it up hardcore, they are talking chit-chat and I realise by the time she gets off she is amused by him but they are now departing their ways for eternity and only fate slip in where needed.

So back to relaxed position and 20 minutes to get home, and then he starts on the frumpy one... and I hear the word --- 'Magic tricks'. So I look up and he produces a deck of cards and is asking her to pick one... I'm saying to myself 'I suppose if you ugly and bald like you mate, I'd have to find a magic trick to work it.' Then he does a nice simple card trip and she's all astonished. He turns to me and I'm captivated but dubious.

'What's your name?'
'Luke'
'Do you believe in magic?'
'Yes and no'
'Do you believe in ghosts?'
'No'
'Ok Luke, I have a deck of cards take one....'

I take one - 9 of clubs - and give it back to him. He then tells me to cut the cards and he puts it into the sleeve packet and says;

'Hold this string...' He is holding an imaginary string above the pack of cards in the sleeve...
I hold the string.... and he says 'I thought you don't believe in ghosts?!'

Now I laugh, he's broken my ice and everyone else in the carriage is now looking up, so I go on and he says.. 'Pull'

And as I pull out flies my card from the deck in the sleeve... nice trick!

I'm laughing and saying nice trick.... he's saying 'Yes but not magic...'

He then fans the cards again and says 'Pick...' I pick a 10 of hearts and put it back in the pack and cut the cards again. He then says 'Put them in piles.' I arrange them in a 4 piles. 'Pick up a pile.' So I pick up the second pile.
'Your card is in here you think?'
'How the hell would I know...' I say.
'Ok now I take this and I going to deal five cards from the top... one two three four and five. Now Luke... Magic --- pick up your card.'

I'm looking at five cards in front of me, and the odds are stacked against him, I know for certain one of those cards is mine, and mediorce magician can slip it in, but now I choose. So I choose the third card... It's the 10 of hearts, the other 4 are all different. I'm astonished and puzzled as I wanted to show him up and he just showed me up... I know a lot of these tricks depend on word and gesture association but that just flattened me.

'One more...' I'm currently deciding to even miss my station if he keeps going.
He pulls out another pack from his jacket pocket, old packet seen better days with an elastic band around the top and the front card is a 4 of Spades.... he fans them out and then puts them back together...
'Now Luke, think of a card in your head.'
I'm thinking, and I want to do this bastard over... 2 of hearts hit me, then I change it to say
'Ace of spades'
Now he's fanned these cards back out and one is upside down... he turns it over and yep it's the
ACE OF SPADES! I then said... 'Fucking hell I was going to say 2 of hearts.' I yelp with some of the passengers clapping in the background.

'Ahhhhh Luke I knew you were going to think that too.' He looks down tapping his a finger from his other hand on his forehead and while he has it fanned out I see the corner of another card which is turned over... I reach over and I pull it out and turn it over....

I still don't know how he did it, nor do I wish to learn how, but it made my night and I'm still smiling today because of this encounter.

Maybe you don't need to believe in the essence of magic of what society of individuals may think and what the dictionaries phrase, but I realise you need to remember the magic of the event which has happened at that instant, and realise that people aren't really who you think they are....

he was from Slovakia.