One day, when I was 6 years old, my Uncle Alfred, a fabulous amateur magician, taught me 2 tricks. First he performed them, fooling me badly with both, and then taught them to me. (It's amazing what a little begging can do). I can't remember which one he showed me first, so I'll write about both. One trick was a classic coin trick that is overlooked by many contemporary magicians because either they don't know about it, or they look upon it as a beginner's trick and turn up their noses to it. But it's real fooler. Unlike most coin vanishes it is a complete vanish, and can be performed in short sleeves - the coin disappears and the spectator has no clue. The magician is sitting at a table and announces he/she will make a borrowed penny (or nickel or dime) disappear. The magician rubs the coin against his/her elbow twice and is unsuccessful. On the third try, the coin has completely vanished without a trace, both hands being shown completely empty.
The other trick was a card trick. The spectator picks a card, looks at it, and it is then placed face-down on top the deck. The magician then brings the deck behind his/her back and proclaims that the identity of the card will be determined by the sense of touch alone. The deck is brought back into view and the deck is held with the bottom card facing the spectator. The magician says that it is a difficult trick and would like one clue, and so the spectator is asked: "Is your card the same color as this one?" It doesn't matter what they say. The deck is again placed behind the magician's back and after a little acting, as if concentrating intently, the magician correctly announces the name of the selected card. A very simple method. When the cards are first placed behind the back, the top card is turned face-up on the deck, so when the deck is shown to the spectator, while the spectator is looking at the bottom card, the magician can see the top card because it is face-up. When the deck is again placed behind the back, the magician already knows the identity of the selection, and flips the top card face-down again, hiding the evidence as to how it was done. Very easy to do, but actually pretty clever.
After that little session with Uncle Alfred, I announced to him that I wanted to become a magician, just like him.
And I did...