A large crowd gathers in front of the large black-and-white circular tent. A sign next to the entrance reads: Vincent Lee, Illusionist.  No one has seen the tent before today, but the mystery of how such a large thing arrived in the midst of an empty parking lot seemingly overnight is enough to grab the crowd’s attention as they anxiously wait to be allowed in.

Minutes later, a young man with bright red hair exits the tent. Without speaking, he takes out a sign and glass jar. Admission: $5. Curiosity piqued, the crowd quietly pays the fee without complaint as they enter the mysterious tent. No one speaks as they look around the tent before quietly taking their seats. The inside is arranged with chairs in a replica of stadium seating; each row circling the center is slightly raised above the previous as they get further away from the center so that each of the hundred or so chairs is provided with a clear view of the small stage in the middle. Soon, each chair has been taken, save for two: the ones to the left and right of the entrance in the top row.  The audience wonders how one could have dug so deep and perfectly into the ground without anyone noticing.

The crowd notices two things at once: one, that there is now a raven haired man in a black coat occupying the seat at the top to the right of the entrance when they were certain that there had been no one there previously, and two, where the audience had entered seems to have disappeared as if there had never been one in the first place. Even with these mysterious happenings, no one panics, not yet.

Soon their attention is diverted from both of these strange events as the empty chair suddenly bursts into flame. The panic is instant; those occupying the chairs nearest to the flaming one jump out and rush to the exit, only to realize that there is none. The flames slowly grow higher, staying close to the chair, around the wood, yet it does not appear to be burning. In the frenzy, not one person notices as the man in the seat across gets up out of his seat and takes off his coat, revealing a white button-down shirt. He grasps it coat and throws it across the aisle to the burning chair. Everyone’s eyes are drawn to the coat as it slowly changes into a length of black silk that ripples like water as it lands upon the flaming seat. The flames immediately vanish, leaving no hint that there were ever flames, save for the slight burning smell that lingers in the air.

The man pulls back the silk with a flourish, revealing a still-intact chair on which now perch two snow-white doves.

Another flourish, and the silk becomes a black top hat that is placed upon the man’s head. He acknowledges his audience with a subtle bow.

The illusionist has made his entrance.

A few people manage to clap, but the rest are stunned into silence at the wondrous event that had just happened.

The performance is continuous. Displays that the audience has difficulty thinking of as tricks meld into one another. Doves vanish frequently, only to appear once again on top of hats or seated on shoulders. There is also a large raven whose feathers seem to shimmer a dark green as the light hits them. The audience is immersed, so captivated with Vincent Lee’s performance that they don’t even stop to comprehend how he could accomplish these great feats. There is no room for mirrors or tricks of light.

Every single one of his tricks are immediate and palpable. He turns a woman’s ring into sand and back again. The doves become small mice that scurry around the tent, causing many people to jump up in alarm. At one point all the chairs in the room are lifted off the ground, and everyone clutches on to the sides to avoid slipping off.

To end his performance, the man calls the black raven over to fly above his head, and everyone gasps as it turns to a cloud of numerous petals of a light pink shade that softly glide down to the ground. When the last petal hits the floor around the man’s feet, they realize that the man has disappeared.

The exit reappears once again and everyone shuffles out in wonder. Those five dollars where definitely not five dollars wasted.