When I started learning magic, I had recently read Lord of the Rings. To tell the truth, I wanted to be Gandalf. When I would buy a trick, my reaction to the secret was often, “Is that all? People fall for THAT?”
Well, of course they do. Magic illusions, large and small, are structured so as to make use of the human brain and habits of attention and perception and assumption. But I wanted the magic to be “real.” I wanted to be Gandalf.
And then I learned that the secret isn’t the magic. Of course, we don’t tell the secret; that would destroy the mystery and take the fun out of it. But the secret isn’t the magic. The magic is what I PUT INTO it. The patter, the malarky, the tom-foolery, the story, the entertainment. Myself.
When kids say to me, “That is cheating!” I say, “Of course it’s cheating! What? You think these things REALLY come out of thin air?” But even in that interaction about the “reality” of magic is the substance of the “real” magic. The fun, the malarky, the relating, the sharing our humanness.
If you want a little extra to add to your persona as a wise olde coot, a fun aunt or uncle or grandparent, there is a lot of simple, self-working, and nearly self-working magic just waiting for you to add that special touch: YOU!
Didn’t learn magic as a kid? Neither did I. I saw my first serious magic routine in grad school. But do you have a playful side? A teasing side? A side that comes out when you relate to younger friends, like grandkids, nieces and nephews, the kid next door? Do you like to play little harmless jokes and pranks? Then you probably have the makings to be a magical aunt or uncle or grandma or grandpa or neighbor.
I have been working on an idea for a book or booklet entitled, “Magic for Grandparents and Others Old Enough to Know Better!” Joy and fun and wonder are for all ages. And so is the magic that is sometimes the bearer of those wonderful bits of our humanity.
The Magic and Malarky of Wyrd the Wyzard 
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