Free Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer Page A

contact, because that’s what audiences do.
    Martin said, “You! Yes, you. No, not him, you. Come on, I won’t hurt you. Oh, all right then, how about you? No? Come on, I just need two people to help. Okay, you two. Yes, right here in front. Yeah, look at me. Okay, don’t worry, you don’t even have to get up. Look, just stay there. I’ll tell you what to do.”
    With that settled, Martin again raised his arms with the backs of his hands facing the crowd. “If it’s the see-thorough cloth you want, and proof of my power you require, then I present you with both! BEHOLD!” He put his hands together over his head, grabbed the two stubs of film that were poking out of his sleeves and pulled them, spreading his arms. The crowd murmured. He extended his arm to the two volunteers in the front row, offering them the loose ends of film which extended from his hands. “Pull them, my friends. Pull them!”
    The two men pulled on the cling film, handing the excess to the people around them as it emerged from his sleeves. Martin kept up the patter to help sell the illusion. “Yes, pull! Behold! Pull and behold! I produce the see-through fabric as a spider spins silk, only I do so from my hands, not my abdomen!” By the time the rolls ran out, the entire room was draped with wrinkled cling film. The audience was examining the film, tugging it to test its strength and trying to pull it flat to look through it. The crinkling noise was deafening.
    Phillip looked delighted and Martin was confused. Phillip approached Martin, clapping his hands. “Well done! I honestly don’t think it would have ever occurred to me to do that. I really am impressed!” He shook Martin’s hand vigorously. “I see a great future for you here. Look, forget getting dinner and a bed from Pete. You’ll just end up with fleas, and that’s from the dinner.”
    “Hey!” Pete objected.
    “You know it’s true,” Phillip said, still shaking Martin’s hand. “Come stay with me. I’ve got plenty of room and a big pot of stew. I think we have a lot to talk about.”
    Martin wrenched his hand free. “I’m not going anywhere with you! You just want me to tell you how I did it. You think it’s a trick you can use to fool people.”
    The warmth drained from Phillip’s expression. His eyes darted around the room. “Look,” he said quietly, “We both know exactly how you did it, and now I think we should go back to my home and discuss it as two wizards.”
    “Two wizards?” Martin sneered, “There’s only one wizard in this room. One wizard and another guy who’s done a lot of talking.”
    Phillip turned to all the other people in the room. “Look, you’ve all seen me work, will someone please set him straight?” Something fascinating seemed to be happening on the floor, or the ceiling, or out the windows, anyplace but where the wizards were standing. Who knew medieval peasants were so shy, Martin thought.
    “Look, Phillip, if that is your real name , I’ve demonstrated my powers. Let’s see yours.”
    Phillip put an unwelcome hand on Martin’s shoulder. “Look, you made some transparent fabric. It was very nice, but don’t kid yourself. That’s nothing compared to a real wizard’s power.”
    Martin brushed off his hand. “So you say, but I still haven’t seen anything to prove it.”
    “That’s the way you want to do this? Really?” Phillip asked. “Okay, I challenge you to a wizard’s duel. We go outside, you do something to demonstrate your powers, and I warn you, it’ll take more than transparent fabric. Then, if I can beat it, I do. Then if you can beat that, you do, and we keep it up until one of us fails.”
    Moments later, Martin and Phillip were standing in the street with a large crowd lining both sides. It was dark, but not so dark that Martin couldn’t see the look on Phillip’s face, even from thirty feet away. Martin was set to go first, and that was fine with him. He was supposed to start small, but he’d