I have a friend, Derek Hughes, who is also a magician. He's moderately famous. He used to do table magic at the TGIFridays where I waited tables. Tuesday Nights were table magic nights. He was always very smooth, charming and professional. Then I saw him in a performance art cabaret. He did two tricks that stick out in my memory; a torn and restored newspaper, and he swallowed needles and thread and then regurgitated them threaded. I knew how the tricks were done. I had dabbled with reading magic books as a kid. I had respect for his craftsmanship. But the ART came from his patter, the context he put the tricks.

As he tore the paper, he said, "I read your obituary the other day..." He continued talking to his dead friend as he ripped the paper to shreds. A trick that I had seen red-nosed clowns do suddenly took on new depth and meaning. The tricks conclusion with the restored paper was poignant and hopeful.

The trick with the needles was darker, more personal and revealing. It's conclusion is sad and a bit sickening. That's not the impression most magicians want to leave you with. Derek isn't most magicians. He's an artist.

Derek is working as a stand-up comedian. I see him regularly in TV commercials. I watched him mentor somebody on Vh1's Celebrity Magic Show. He's carved out a minor niche of fame.

I don't know if Derek does the newspaper or needles tricks in the same way anymore. But, I will forever remember him as a table magician, who showed me a couple of tricks that I had seen before. I knew how they were done. I had been bored by them. Ho hum stuff. And still I thought, "MAN, I wish I could do that! I will NEVER see this trick the same way again! I'm not sure if I could see a better illusion." Like I said, Derek is an artist.

Thank you for this article. I've been a fan of Penn & Teller for years. Teller is brilliant and amazing.