I have performed in churches, in open fields, and in open-air classrooms. I had never performed for soldiers holding automatic weapons until the day I tried to leave India.
What's in the bag?
I travel with my magic. That means pieces of rope, steel rings, and a lot of decks of cards. Put that through an x-ray machine and it shows up as a pile of very strange shapes.
It was March 2023, the end of two weeks in India. At Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, on my way to the long flight home to New York, the contents of my bags made no sense to anybody.
Airport security stopped me, and soldiers from the Indian Army stood with them. Most of them spoke very little English. Several spoke none. I don't speak Hindi. I tried to explain in English. That wasn't working.
So they opened the bags and started asking about every piece. What was the rope for? Was I planning to tie up the pilot? I can only guess what they were thinking.
The Linking Rings
There was only one way to settle it. Right there at the security counter, I performed the Linking Rings, one of the oldest tricks in magic. Solid steel rings that link and unlink in your hands.
My audience was several security officers with handguns on their hips and, most important, the soldiers with the automatic weapons.
I have performed in more than 60 countries. I have never had to perform like that.
Tough crowd
They seemed convinced that I was a magician. They did not seem impressed.
One of them smiled. The rest went right back to their business. Nobody asked the question I hear after every show: "How did you do that?"
But they let me through, and I boarded my flight.