Elysha and I are dancing at The Moth Ball in 2015 when a Moth staffer approaches and asks for me to follow her. A donor would like to meet me. Elysha ditches me for the restroom, and I follow the staffer into the dining room, where I am introduced to a man named David.
“I’d like you to tell your story again,” he says. “So I can record it into my phone.”
I agree, even though the request is odd. While we wait for the Moth staffer to secure us a quiet spot, I ask the man if he’s ever told a story before.
“I did a TED Talk once about how I held my breath for seventeen minutes.”
I stare at him. “Are you David Blaine?” I asked. “The world-famous magician?”
“Yes,” he says. “I thought they told you.”
I tell my story again. David Blaine records my performance. Then he offers to perform a card trick for me. I agree.
David Blaine then proceeds to convince me that magic is real. At the end of his trick, I find a playing card that I had signed in my shoe, which I never removed throughout the duration of the trick. It’s so unbelievable that I am a little frightened. I turn to a New Yorker reporter who tagged along to watch the trick.
“Did you see that?” I ask.
“How did he do it?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” I say. “It’s impossible. I think he made a deal with the devil.”
David Blaine laughs. “I’d like to talk to you more about storytelling, if you don’t mind. Let me give you my card.”
“Okay,” I say.
“You already have it,” he says. “Left breast pocket.”
Sure enough, it’s there. It’s a playing card — the king of spades — with his contact information embedded within.
We say good-bye, and I go and find Elysha. I tell her what she just missed. She’s still angry to this day.