Las Vegas Weekly

August 2, 2010 · 1:04 PM

Harrah’s headliner Mac King, Lewis T. Monkey and The Lunchbox-O-Magic

By Robin Leach

Mac King's Lunchbox-O-Magic.

Photo: Courtesy

From July 14 through Aug. 4, Robin Leach will be relaxing under the Tuscan sun on his annual vacation and keeping his eyes on what’s happening in Las Vegas from Italy. Meantime, a kindly crew of Las Vegas celebrities and VIPs has agreed to write guest columns for Vegas DeLuxe.

By Mac King, guest columnist

Howdy. I’m Mac King, and I’m a professional magician. Did you ever wonder how someone becomes a professional magician? It turns out that we all started as amateur magicians, with magic simply as our hobby. And we all became interested in magic basically the same way. As kids, we read a magic book, saw a magician perform or received a magic set as a gift.

In addition to my real job as a professional magician doing 10 performances a week of The Mac King Comedy Magic Show at Harrah’s, I have a rather unusual sideline enterprise. I design magic sets and write magic books that teach those interested in taking up magic as a hobby how to do simple (but extremely cool) magic tricks and stunts.

It all started in 2002 when my cousin Bill King, an extremely talented (plus funny and handsome) graphic designer approached me about doing a project combining his graphic talents and my magical knowledge to create a weekly comic strip teaching the public a simple magic stunt. Incredibly, we were able to sell this idea, and Mac King’s Magic in a Minute has been syndicated in papers throughout the world by Universal Press Syndicate (now called Universal Uclick). That weekly color strip features a cartoon version of me teaching my monkey assistant Lewis a magic trick. The comic strip has led to a number of offshoot projects.

Photo: Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada

Mac King performs a benefit show for the Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada on July 24, 2010.

Our latest endeavor is The Lunchbox-O-Magic. I thought the cultured readers of Robin Leach’s column Vegas DeLuxe would be interested in hearing about this latest project from the point-of-view of my faithful monkey assistant. Here, then, in his own words, is Lewis T. Monkey:

When Mac first approached me with the idea of a “magic lunch box,” I secretly thought to myself, “Dandy! Another one of his hair-brained, get-rich-quick schemes! When will this halfwit human ever learn?” I had promised myself after the completion of the Suitcase-O-Magic (a suitcase filled with props and instructions for 50 tricks), and again after The Great Big Ol’ Book-O-Magic (a complete magic kit in a book), and thrice again after Campfire Magic (a book that teaches 50 tricks using ordinary stuff you’d find outdoors or in your knapsack), that I was through contributing substance and wit to these vanity projects of his.

No, this time Lewis T. Monkey was going to decline his offer and instead bring his formidable talents to bear in the pursuit of his one true passion -- the emerging sport of competitive eating. Sadly, the advance money for The Lunchbox-O-Magic was exactly the same amount of cash needed to surgically remove my laparoscopic band, the very thing preventing me from serious chomping competition. So I acquiesced.

Photo: Dave Proctor/www.daplv.com

Mac King arrives at Sin City Brewing Co. at the Flamingo on May 27, 2010.

After months of toil and anguish (the kind of which only a monkey can exude), our lunchbox is complete, and I must say that I am humbled at the truly wonderful product that sits before me on my escritoire. No easy task putting together such a marvelous array of tricks to amuse and amaze, especially while doubled over in pain from a botched, yet reasonably priced (17,000 pesos) band extraction. Yes, The Lunchbox-O-Magic is something that I am truly proud to call “for sale.”

Please buy it, enjoy it, and as you do, take a moment to think of me choking down 300 bananas in less than 5 minutes.

Flamingo comedian headliner George Wallace and nightlife guru Jack Colton are tomorrow’s guest columnists.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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