I’m a sucker for card tricks. You know that face kids make when they’re awestricken with amazement? Eyes wide. Brows up. Mouth gracing the floor. Yeah, that’s my face when I witness a good card trick. I’ve got a few great tricks up my sleeve (see what I did there) but I am not a magician by any means.

My friend, Mickey, though is a regular Houdini. He has at least fifty tricks involving “Pick a card. Any card,” but many go above and beyond that. Some involve burning cards, some involve signing cards, and some involve shuffling cards numerous times. One even consists of two people picking cards, wadding them up, putting the cards in their mouths, and when they take them out, they posses the card of the opposite person. Sorcery, I tell you.

He attends a college located hours away and I hadn’t seen him since last summer, but as I walked to grab dinner two nights ago, I ran into none other than Houdini himself. After having a small freak-out reunion, I learned that he is on spring break this week and was visiting some peeps in the area. We hung out until late and when he pulled out cards, you would have thought Christmas had come early.

He proceeded to mesmerize me with tricks, but then agreed to teach me a couple. They were relatively easy and I thought I had the hang of them. Mickey headed out and I added three new tricks to my repertoire.

Earlier today, while with some friends, I decided to share my new mind-blowers. I had done a few tricks for them before and they were eager to watch. The first trick worked exactly the way it was supposed to, although short and easy. I was a little unsure about the second trick, which showed because by the time I had gotten to the end I had messed up somewhere and it wasn’t going to work. I was like, “Okay, forget this one.” I was sure of my next trick. After doing everything perfectly, I got to that oh-so-famous line: “Is this your card?”

Instead of amazement I got a reply. “No.”

“Crap. Well, this is awkward.”

I guess I need to practice a little more before I become a famous magician on the Vegas strip.