Encounter With A Magician: Take Two

For a city of 8 million people, New York can feel like a very small place sometimes. It’s easier than you might think to run into a familiar face -- a fact of which I was reminded yesterday.

I was crossing 42nd Street and Broadway when I looked up and spotted none other than Daniel, the adorable magician I happened to meet during a Times Square stroll on Friday.

Déjà vu all over again: Daniel and I ended up crossing paths twice in as many days

We both laughed, as he predicted that we’ll continue to bump into each other until we have no choice but to go on a date. Though I gave Daniel my number, he quipped that I’m more likely to date Donald Trump than a spirited street artist.

Daniel’s self-deprecating charm is a welcome contrast to the last magician I went out with, an overconfident Aussie whom I met during my days as a Sydney resident six years ago.

He showed up wearing an electric blue silk shirt, unbuttoned enough to reveal more of his chest than I wanted to see, along with a magic charms pendant and a belt buckle adorned with a deck of cards.

Over the course of our evening together, the Aussie made more than a few double entendres about how he would like to make our clothes disappear. After drinks at a bar near Sydney’s famed Opera House, I opted to disappear (fully clothed) myself.

Thankfully, Daniel appears to have a more artful approach to affairs of the heart. Yesterday, holding up his coins and cards, he suddenly shouted to the throngs of passersby--

“This girl will go on a date with me if I make a million dollars! And I’m going to earn it $100,000 at a time!”

Only in New York would such a bold declaration fail to elicit any response. It did not, though, go unnoticed by me. A man has to dream after all, and I’m more than a little curious to find out where Daniel lands in his bid for Harry Potter-sized stardom.

Meanwhile, it’s good to know that serendipity is alive and well in my hometown -- and it appears that Cupid is too.