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This is actually a picture of buffering. Don’t wait for something to load, this is it.

Because of a big boy (adult) birthday party this past Saturday night at Brooklyn Winery, I performed today for the kids at New York Methodist Hospital.  My past few times, it’s been a bit slow.  I’m not complaining, it would be great if no children had to go to the hospital but then I would just end up performing for the bored nurses.

Since it’s been a bit slow, I was taken to the pediatric ER today to perform as well.  Unfortunately I know how tedious and uneventful it can be to wait to be seen in the ER so I think this will be a welcome addition to the 2 shows for the price of 1 program.  If anything, these kids will be a great audience since they have absolutely nothing else to do but wait.

My first patient was a teenager waiting to be seen in the ER.  She was trying desperately to get a signal on her iPhone so she could watch some Netflix.  I offered some magic as an alternative, but warned her to bear with me because I may buffer from time to time.

She did take a break from her phone and really enjoyed the magic.  If you’re keeping track from my previous post, that’s magician two, technology still zero, for now…

Let me know your thoughts, feel free to leave a comment and share my blog with anyone you think would appreciate it.  We hope to keep this 2 shows for the price of 1 program going for a long, long time.  You can help by spreading the word to your friends and family.

I Beat the iPad!

I performed Monday afternoon at New York Methodist Hospital and it was a bit slow.  My crowning achievement was attained during my performance for a little 5 year old boy.

I entered his room and asked if he wanted to see some magic.  He looked up for a second from his iPad where he was playing a racing game, nodded yes, and then it was like I disappeared.   He continued to glue his eyes on the iPad.  I showed him a red spongeball and made it vanish.  He smiled what I read as a pity smile for a second and looked back at his iPad.  Explaining it went into my pocket I showed the red spongeball to him again asking which hand he thought it was in.  He casually pointed to my left hand and continued his race on the iPad.  When I showed him that hand produced a black spongeball instead of a red one, I had his attention for a second longer.  Then when my right hand produced a cube his eyes widened.  Finally when I showed him the red spongeball was back in my pocket, I had him!  For the next 5 minutes it was like what iPad?

Magician one, Technology zero, for now…

Let me know your thoughts, feel free to leave a comment and share it with anyone you think would appreciate it.

Well ok…I guess

This was from one of my regular Sunday performances at NY Burger Co (W23rd St & 10th Ave). I just love this kid's reaction. Photo courtesy of Timothy Lee Photographers

Because of Anna Bella’s 1st birthday party, this past Tuesday, I performed for the kids at New York Methodist Hospital.  There weren’t too many patients.  No matter how much I like to perform magic, I would love  to have no one to perform for at the hospital.  However, the few kids who were there were hilarious.

There was a five year old boy who when I asked “would you like to see some magic,” responded with an apathetic “nah.”  His Mom was shocked and asked him, “really?”  The boy then gave me a pity-filled, “well ok…I guess.”

This was the challenge I needed during this slow afternoon.  I knew I had to pull out all the stops and blow this kid’s mind.  I had to be so good that the next time a magician would happen to ask if he wanted to see some magic, he wouldn’t

be able to contain himself, instead of replying, “well ok…I guess.”

Each effect was more amazing than the previous and his reactions grew louder and louder.  I started with a spongeball routine that has a great twist. Now I had his attention and didn’t look back.  By the end of my little set he and his Mom were speechless.

Before I left his room, I asked if he was happy that he changed his “nah” to a “well ok…I guess” when I asked if he wanted to see some magic.  His Mom laughed and he just slowly nodded his head in silence with a great big goofy smile.

My next performance will be this Wednesday, let’s see if I have to prove myself again to any other kids.

I hope you enjoy my blog.  Feel free to leave a comment and share it with anyone you think would appreciate it.

Press!

I was mentioned in the Time Out New York Kids Blog!

If you haven’t seen on Facebook, on my website, on twitter, through my email list, or any of the print material, I have recently and will now be performing every Sunday at New York Burger Co. (470 W 23rd St at Tenth Ave).  Come and be amazed by the magic and the food!

Leave a comment and share the wonderful news!

 

A First at the Hospital

Because of an adorable boy’s 5th birthday party, I was at New York Methodist Hospital a little over a week ago.  I like to write these posts as soon as possible, but I was having a hard time.  It was the first time I recognized a child from a previous performance.  I would love to see all of these kids again, just not in the hospital.

Funny enough it was the same patient who I mentioned in an earlier post wanted to show me card tricks.  She didn’t have a deck of cards this time, but was really excited to see me.  I did every impressive effect using cards that I could remember.  It was great to see her smile.  Her doctors came in during the performance and wanted me to continue.  They could tell the overall feeling in the room was a happy one and didn’t want it to end.

My favorite moment of the afternoon was from a young boy who had to be around 12 years old going on 75.  In his mind he was too old for magic, but wanted to be polite and was willing to tolerate me and see what I had.  By the end of the routine I had him giggling seeing glimpses of a silly 12 year old peak through his 75 year old demeanor.

He thanked me on my way out and had the best line of the afternoon, “next to laughter, magic is the best medicine.”  I responded, “but didn’t I make you laugh”?  To which he replied, “yeah I guess you have the best and second best medicines.”

There’s something funny about kids acting much older than they are.  Let me know your thoughts.  Please leave a comment and link this on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you can share it.

Two Halves Still Equal a Dollar

So I’m cleaning up my apartment today and came across a torn one dollar bill and it reminded me that I haven’t posted anything on this blog for my last performance at New York Methodist Hospital.  This performance was made possible by a holiday show I did for the Wallace Foundation.  This was an adult show, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still perform for kids at the hospital.

I’ve performed a few times at the hospital now and usually end my routine with an effect utilizing a one dollar bill.  I’ve been using the same bill for almost every performance and have had the child sign their first initial on the bill.  It’s fun for me because I get to see this dollar bill with tons of initials all over it.  The downside is that this dollar bill has become very worn from all of my performances.

At this point, I’ve performed for all the children except for one last room.  A boy and girl were with one of the hospital tutors and she asked if I could do my act to give them a break from their homework.  Everything was going great, they were laughing, wowing, smiling and then we were up to the grand finale.  The boy writes his initial on the aforementioned heavily worn dollar bill and I then take the pen and poke a hole through the bill.  This did and usually gets a laugh.  There’s absolutely nothing magical about poking a hole through a one dollar bill, but ah, the Great Lerdini will fix it…or so I thought.

The next step is to pull the pen out and magically restore the heavily initialed dollar bill.  Instead, because the bill was so worn, the act of pulling the pen tore the bill right in two.  The children thought this was just part of the act and were eagerly awaiting for me to fix it.  Unfortunately this would be impossible.  I didn’t know what to do, so I made the torn bill vanish in my hands and quickly asked, “how about a card trick”?  This received dead silence and then the biggest laugh I got out of them all afternoon.

I was going to go to the bank to exchange the bill for a new one but I think this keepsake is worth more than a dollar.

2nd Time Just As Good

Yesterday was my second performance at New York Methodist Hospital in Park Slope courtesy of a Harry Potter themed double birthday in downtown Manhattan.

This time, the patients were a bit older with most ranging between 12 and 16 years old. This was fun for me as the older kids tend to be a bit more skeptical. I won over each kid and had them confused, laughing and forgetting they were at a hospital just for a moment. It has a bad monicker but “sucker” tricks are the best for this (effects where the audience thinks they know what’s going on until the last minute and then you get them). You only need one per set, and when executed well, it keeps the crowd (or patient) in the palm of your hand for the rest of the show.

Easily, best highlight was a 14 year old girl who asked if I wanted to see a card trick. Are you kidding? Of course! I show people tricks all day long and would love nothing more than to be an audience member for a moment. Unbeknownst to her, it’s very hard to say no to a kid in a hospital bed.

We talked for a while and I mentioned how she could get some books on magic out of the library to get her started and expand her repertoire. She couldn’t believe it, “you mean they tell you the secret for free”?

What Took Me So Long?

As mentioned in my previous post, I finally performed at New York Methodist Hospital in Park Slope, Brooklyn. This was part of my Two Shows for the Price of One program and it was simply, amazing.

This was my first performance and I had no idea what to expect. So I arrived and got myself all psyched up to start outside the first room on my list, a 6 year old boy. I knock on the door just about to burst out into some magic and the boy’s Mom quietly mimed, he’s sleeping. A bit of a let down, but there were unfortunately quite a few other rooms to try.

Later in my journey through the halls I knocked on the door of a little 4 year old girl. She was great and was ready to go home. The whole time she was standing next to her bed and the whole time had a huge silly smile. Her smile got even bigger after I ruffled a deck of cards producing a cartoon of a little magician getting shot out of a cannon and catching the card she named at the beginning of the trick. It was at this time that her father took a bit more notice in what I was doing and was watching each subsequent trick to try and figure them out.

I did eventually get to go to that 6 year old boy’s room. He didn’t look too comfortable and his eyes were barely open. After I made a sponge ball disappear and had that same sponge ball change into a cube and different color ball, his eyes widened and he began to smile. His Mom smiled even more, this is why I perform.

To see the reactions of the kids who were not in the most comfortable of conditions change into what they should be doing, laughing and smiling, was simply amazing.

I can’t wait until the next performance.

First of Hopefully Many Performances at Park Slope’s New York Methodist Hospital

The day is finally here.  Months ago I had the idea of performing magic for children at Methodist Hospital.  After a medical clearance, orientation, and a bit of paperwork, I will perform for the first time today!

The reason I say “of hopefully many,” is that I didn’t want to just perform sporadically and hope to entertain as many patients as possible when I can find some free time.  Instead, for every child’s birthday party I am hired, I will provide magic for a child under the care of Methodist Hospital.

This gives my clients a chance to give back to the community, and keeps me motivated as I have made a promise and will deliver on it.

This is the first step in my journey to create a socially conscious business.  Check back to see my progress.

…more info

The Great Lerdini Live at the Sidewalk Cafe

I’ve played the Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village for years as a piano player for a quite a few different bands.  Last Saturday was the first time I got to perform magic at the newly renovated club traditionally home to singer songwriters.

Magic at a bar is a bit different than magic for someone’s private party.  The audience at the latter generally wants to be there and as a result, it usually is quite easy to win them over.  At a bar, most of the room didn’t even know there was a magic show until a good 5 minutes in.  That combined with the flowing of alcohol made for an interesting mix.

Don’t let the angry guitar face mislead you, it was a great show, received really well, and a whole lot of fun.  I can’t wait to perform at this type of venue again.