Midnight Magic

 Abra Cadabra, MMers! Did anyone else see the ads for the midnight magic show in Topsham last night? Apparently there was one, and one of our intrepid readers actually got a ticket. Ray from Topsham shared his thoughts on Malachai Blackstone, the Midnight Magician.

Did you see these plastered around Topsham?

Hey Malevolent Maine,

Did you guys catch the magician, Malachai Blackstone, last night at the Turvy in Topsham? It was a midnight show, which I thought was pretty cool. You also needed a password just to buy a ticket. You could only get the password by following some clues around town, like a scavenger hunt. It's probably safe to tell you the word now, "hierophant." Anyways, the show was pretty good. I had never heard of Blackstone before, but I thought it would be something cool to do. The guy came out in an almost old-school look, black pants, black tie, red cape. He didn't have a top hat, but just about. His magic was insane though! It was so good. I can't figure out how he did any of his tricks. AT one point, he had four people from the audience go up and tie him all up. They each held onto one end of the rope, in each of the four corners. Then all of a sudden, the ropes started wiggling up and down, like that thing those crossfit guys do in the gym. The ropes were pulled right out of their hands and untied themselves. It was crazy. There was another one where I'm pretty sure a sword went right through his heart. It was wild! Anyways, I love your blog and thought that maybe this guy might fit the bill for the unexplained.

Well, Ray and anyone else who went to the show, we didn't make it, but it sounds pretty cool. We did some research into this Malachai Blackstone. He's apparently a traveling magician, though so far he's only down shows in New England. No one knows too much about him, but according to one interview he did for Magic Monthly, the trade magazine for magicians (who knew it even existed), he's been practicing his craft for the past twelve years and considered one of the best, if strangest, up and coming magicians.

Have you seen Malacha
i Blackstone?

Not exactly normal MM kind of stuff, but a little deeper digging revealed some interesting things. No one is quite sure who books Blackstone. No one is even really sure he's performing until the day before the show. He doesn't have an agent, and he only takes his portion of the door sales in cash. No one knows how the pamphlets for his shows get distributed, no one knows who hides the clues over town. He doesn't have a website, email address, social media, or phone number. He's completely off the grid. Oh, and he always performs at midnight. 

Strange, right? Ray had one last thing to tell us:

I have to tell you about his last trick. It was crazy. So he stood in the middle of the stage, almost all of the lights were dim, so he was just standing there. He kind of looked like a ghost in his black clothes. I'm not afraid to admit that at that moment I sort of had the feeling that I was looking at a ghost, like this whole show had been a haunting of some kind. Crazy, I know. Anyways, he looks out at the audience after standing still for a really long time. I thought for sure he was looking right at me, but the couple of people I talked to said the exact same thing. It must have been a trick of the stage or whatever. Anyways, after standing there for five minutes or so, he says something like, "This world is not enough. It is too small, too contained. There are tremendous and treacherous things beyond. The end is not the end. There is the infinite." Then, and I swear to God this is true, he like rippled. Like when you hold two corners of a piece of paper and make it bend. He distorted and stretched. I wanted to look away because I thought he would burst, but I couldn't. I couldn't even blink. His voice was all around us but he wasn't talking. He was moving through space right in front of me, but he hadn't left the stage. Then he simply vanished. Not like on TV or something, I can't really explain it. He just disappeared. Strangest thing I ever saw. I wanted to cry for some reason, but I didn't. I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about Blackstone. It was the greatest magic trick I have ever seen. 

And it was terrible.

Well, there you have it, MMers. Anyone else catch Blackstone's midnight show? Anyone know where he's performing next? Shoot us a message if you have any info!

Stay safe out there, Maine.