Day Five: Abracadabra!

Meet your Match. Super Skimmer. Crazy Fruit Loops. What do these three have in common? No, they're not the names of a new band of Disney superheroes. They are all card tricks. Our fifth 'fifty things' was to learn a magic trick with which to astound and befuddle each other.

Now, I don't really like magic. I think it's silly and weird and it's not magic is it? It's not actually magical that the card disappears, or that the woman is cut in half, or whatever; it's sleight of hand or distraction or just the magician being cleverer than his audience. If it's more than that, then I think it's a bit sinister and creepy and dangerous. And so I'm not really interested (sorry Phil Dunphy).

But nevertheless one of us suggested this activity for our list, and actually it was a lot of fun. I had that whole giggly embarrassed thing that you got as a child if you were performing a song or doing a little made up play in front of your parents or your classmates. The truth is, even the simplest card tricks were actually quite difficult, which isn't surprising really. It's all acting and confidence.

Tom chose to do a disappearing water trick whereby he claimed he could drink a glass of water that was hidden underneath a hat without touching the hat. Now you can probably see this coming (I didn't), but basically he did a load of stupid things around this hat and then invited me to remove the hat to see his triumph: the empty glass. But of course, when I removed the hat, the glass was still full of water, but not for long. With a look of glee in his eye, Tom picked up the glass and drained it. Nice "magic" trick. Ugh. Smarty pants.

My trick, however, was exceptional. I used my powers of deduction and memory to guess the identity of a particular card within the deck, without looking, after Tom had shuffled the deck to within an inch of its life. It was incredible, and safe to say Tom was completely in awe, bemused and flabbergasted at my skill and ingenuity. (I'm not sure he would agree; take my word for it.)

Anyway so that was that. I have to admit that this activity was probably the funniest and most entertaining one we've done so far. We laughed a lot and that can only be a good thing. You should try it! (But don't ask me for ideas. I will never, ever reveal how I do my tricks) Enjoy!