“ANYTIME I’M IN TOWN LONG ENOUGH TO CATCH ANOTHER GUY’S ACT, IT’S A GOOD THING. IT WAS A GOOD SHOW.”

Hmm, Pete thought. A good show.

A lukewarm magician-to-magician review to be sure. Pete suspected jealousy. He picked up another magazine.

Magic Monthly printed photos of twelve touring magicians and listed their statistics beneath them. Pete loved this kind of thing. Finn the Fantastic was one of the twelve featured. So was Emperor. Pete compared the two.

AGE:

Finn the Fantastic: 49

Roman Emperor: 35

FAVORITE CITY TO PERFORM IN:

Finn the Fantastic: Cleveland, Ohio. I love the nightlife. And the burgers!

Roman Emperor: BLANK

ORIGIN:

Finn the Fantastic: Minneapolis. The big city. Go Gophers!

Roman Emperor: BLANK

ACHIEVEMENTS:

Finn the Fantastic: MAA Newcomer of the Year. 5 time MAA Magician of the Year. Runner-up twice. First place in the annual Midwest Magician Convention 11 years running. Performed live on Channel 8 St. Paul in the Afternoon and once on Good Morning Alabama. 8 times on the cover of Magic Monthly. Thanks guys!

Roman Emperor: None.

INFLUENCES:

Finn the Fantastic: The Great Don Deanie. Art Andrews.

Roman Emperor: Every magician that has come before me.

HOBBIES:

Finn the Fantastic: Drawing. Driving. Shuffleboard. Starting my own line of tricks—Finntastic. Look for it soon!

Roman Emperor: BLANK

FAVORITE TRICK OF YOUR OWN/SPECIALTY:

Finn the Fantastic: Moving things with my mind.

Roman Emperor: Moving things with my mind.

Pete knew Finn was being modest. He could have named fifty more awards he’d received. The entire Finntastic catalog rested in a chest in Pete’s bedroom. But Emperor…

Pete experienced that personal touch again. Emperor had given answers Pete no doubt brushed past the first time he’d read the article. But now there seemed to be more meaning in them. As if even with the blanks, Emperor had spoken.

Pete imagined him onstage at the Domino in Goblin. In his mind’s eye an amalgamation of every black-and-white photo of Emperor and Maggie became one, until the stage in the Domino was big enough to hold them all.

He read on.

Next up: Presto’s “Year in Review” from two years ago. The cover showed a top hat with white stars spilling out. The text read:

WHAT A YEAR FOR MAGIC!

PRESTO TELLS YOU WHAT HAPPENED WHERE AND WHO MADE WAVES

It was a “best of” listing. And since there were only so many magicians on the circuit, the same names came up often. The Newcomer of the Year, Ron Dander, was a guy Pete remembered reading about. But Dander had dropped out of the business about the time the magazine came out. Top Magician went to Finn the Fantastic.

Emperor’s name wasn’t listed anywhere. Not once.

Whether it was because the issue came out so soon after the Kerry Theatre fiasco, Pete didn’t know.

Not a single ranking out of the two hundred or so possibilities was awarded to Roman Emperor, a magician who, Pete knew, had more presence in the scene than a good half of the names. Reading this particular issue, one wouldn’t think Emperor existed at all.