Boffo!

Last year and this, Le Grand Pressigny hosted un grand spectacle de magie, a magic show, absolutely free and gratis. You might think this would consist of old uncle Louis in a shiny tail coat doing card tricks that fool nobody, but no! The magicians concerned were both extremely professional, with the "how did they do that" coefficient at 10 out of 10.It's all what Terry Pratchett refers to as "boffo" - showmanship and misdirection - but boy were they good at it.

Nothing up my sleeve

This year the hall was packed for the featured magician, "Max". Just "Max"! Yes, there were a couple of card tricks, but how did he get four complete strangers from the audience to pick the four cards that were written on a piece of wallpaper inside a sealed roll? Time and again he produced a flock of paper butterflies from variously shredded paper, only to reveal the paper whole again. He showed a small audience member three methods of tying knots in a rope without letting go of it, allowing him to win two candy bars by getting it right the first time and then again, then to win back the candy bars with a trick knot, twice carefully showing him how to tie it from no more than a yard away! The lad then regained the candy bars by tying two knots simultaneously, one with each hand. The long rope Max cut, knotted, untied, moved the knot, untied it again, yes two pieces of rope but not the same length, tied again, moved the knot again .... The flying table, no strings attached... And where did the live canary go?

The audience loved it. It was great to see so many children, most of whom were right at the front and eager to join in. Many of them were rewarded with balloon animals, including a bouncy scarlet octopus. During the interval, soft drinks, cakes and crêpes were served as somewhat sticky finger food, and I suspect that sugary smears will continue to turn up on the Salle des Fêtes stacking chairs in months to come.

Watch him kids! Did you see how it's done?

Our neighbour told us that Max is presently the acknowledged best magician in France. He told us to look out for him on Le Plus Grand Cabaret du Monde on the Reveillon edition. Not bad for a village in La France Profonde!