savetheearth | First trick: Video

[ Alexander Mercure is staring at his phone as if it were an unwanted kitten in his living room, coughing up hairballs made of pure gold. ]

Ah… Haha….

[ An instant later, his lips are parted in a dazzling smile, revealing his whitened teeth, which show even brighter against his made-up face. He’s clad in a top hat, white tie and tails, every inch covered in sequins. From the silver dust on his cheekbones to the gold fringe on his sleeves, he glitters. ]

Goodness, what a surpriiiiise! Why, here I’ve been reading about all of you amazing people, only to find myself one of your number. The “numbers club,” how adorable. That means something a little different here in Las Vegas, haha! Anyway, anyway! I suppose I ought to introduce myself. I’m Alexander Mercure. But my friends call me…

[ DRAMATIC PAUSE ]

Alexander… the Great!

[ A beat, wherein he looks very very serious — and then collapses all over in giggles. ]

Ahahhaha, forgive me. That’s the name of my show. It’s at the Flamingo. Nightly at nine and twice on Sundays. I’ve heard that some of you are coming to visit our fair city, so I’d like to extend an invitation to each and every one of you. Be sure to stop backstage afterwards, I’d loooove to meet all of you wonderful heroes!

[ Everything about this screams setup, from the "superpowered" girl in his show (ordinary parlour tricks), to the numbers in his head (third-rate mentalism), to this bizarre network. It's elaborate, but it's obviously just a marketing ploy, if one wants to be generous; or a confidence scheme, if one doesn't.

Well! If anybody thinks they're going to fool Alexander the Great, they've got another thing coming. Already he's turning the tables on these people — whoever they are — and using their fancy network to pimp his show.

He starts to wave goodbye — but hesitates, putting his (sequined) white-gloved fingers to his lips. ]

Aaaaaah, but I’ve noted that some of you are rather young. No kiddies at the evening shows, sorry about that. Twenty-one and older, if you please. [ wink wink ] Little angels can come to the Sunday matinee.

[ Wiggling his sparkling fingers: ]

Bye byeeeeeeeee!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, I don't know. You had enough sequins to be a showgirl, and you might have been very good at a Rocky Horror Picture Show.

It's just you have terrible timing! I've always wanted to see a magic show, and I just moved from California. Our layover was even in Vegas, and I didn't even leave the airport.

[ sequins are part of the show, the show!!! ]

You just moved from California to New Jersey?

Oh dear, I'm sorry.

I know! It's such a big change. The weather alone, I have zero winter clothes and it's still so cool here!

If there are any videos of your act, I'll have to watch one and show my brother.

Oh?

Is... is your brother interested in magic?

More like a sudden interest in swords and sorcery or something. He has this strange black sword that came out of nowhere.

I watch everything with my brother, so I'm sure he'd find it interesting!

[ And here he'd been about to nerd out talking about magic.

Thinly: ]

Oh, well in that case, he's bound to be disappointed. I've got nothing to do with swords or sorcery.

We've never seen a magic show, though. Do you saw people in half or make doves appear? Is it that type of show? I've heard of David Copperfield before.

[ Her voice lowers and she leans closer to her phone. ]

We're not supposed to ask how you do it, right?

I — yes, I do all of that.

[ David Copperfield is the only living magician Alex is not jealous of, but that's only because he desperately wants to be David Copperfield. ]

And, my goodness, I'd be surprised if you hadn't heard of David Copperfield. He had his own stage show in Chicago when he was only eighteen, and his first television special at twenty-one. He was really the first magician to unite a magic show with a story, or at least he was the first to do it well. And he —

[ It's at this point he realizes his fanboying is beginning to get away from him. ]

Ahaha, anyway. I'm sure you don't care about all that. I do have a few videos up on Youtube, but they're from a few years ago.

[ No way! That excitement is infectious across audio and she returns the sentiment with equal interest. ]

Really? Eighteen? I'm sure you're just as good as Mr. Copperfield. And if you're not now, then you'll get there with practice. You should send me your videos! Even if they're old. Or record another performance - oh - but well, wouldn't that be bad for ticket sales.

I've always thought those shows sounded so fanciful! If you ever go on tour and come to Locke City, I'd love to see a little magic up close!

[ It's a good thing she can't see, because he really does blush at all that. ]

I — hahaha! No, no. I mean —

[ He's flustered. ]

Er, most professional magicians started at a very young age. In childhood. I didn't start until relatively late, so —

[ Once again his tongue is way ahead of his brain; fortunately he manages to stop before he tells her exactly how he got into magic. ]

So, so yes. Yes! Sure! I'll send you a link!

[ He sends her a link, to a video from 2010, a clip of his act on America's Got Talent (he made it to the quarter finals before being beaten by an opera-singing parrot). In it, he plays not a magician, but a bumbling fellow to whom magic happens. His handkerchief turns into doves just as soon as he tries to blow his nose in it; and he can't put on his hat, because it keeps getting infested by rabbits. ]

OH MY GOD! You were on America's Got Talent! That's amazing! I saw that episode when it aired! Wow, it was awhile ago, but you got your own show! Congratulations!

[ Someone is more than ecstatic for you! It's like meeting a famous person and surprisingly, this would still be her first despite living in California. ]

The skit was so natural looking, too. It wasn't nearly as stuffy and forced. It looked like street magic, right? The type where you can stand anywhere around the magician and they just do amazing things. I wish I could learn that...

[ She trails on to mention that it's 'so cool' in quieter tones. ]

[ In the entertainment business, most people don't gush like that; there's a constant atmosphere of competition. Or else, if they do, it's insincere. He has had a few groupies, who he made the mistake of sleeping with before realizing that they were all completely insane.

But this girl is on the other side of the country and she has nothing to gain by this, at least that he can ascertain. Her bubbly enthusiasm sounds authentic and real — words he would never apply to anyone or anything in Vegas. It's enough to make something tightly bound up inside of his cold heart start to unwind.

...

And that won't do at all, so he replies crisply: ]

I can't tell you how any particular trick is done, you understand, but there are lots of books on the subject, and Youtube videos besides. After that, it's simply a matter of practice.

First trick: Video

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