Magic, Pete Davidson & Swallowing Frogs Whole.
Issue 4: Sorry, it's literally about those things.
Last night we went to see David Blaine and I guess Pete Davidson had the same idea because he was there too. The show was good, though most of the magic involved David either vomiting on command or holding his breath for a really, really long time. He also poked a lot of holes in his body. At one point, he brought Pete Davidson onstage for a trick that involved an ice pick which, seemingly inevitably now, Pete Davidson helped push through David Blaine’s arm.
The trick that stuck with me the most (spoilers, sorry) was when David Blaine regurgitated a live frog into a wine glass. The frog hung in the water, limp and stunned, as an equally stunned woman held her hand over the top of the wine glass to stop it from jumping out. Afterward, David assured us that the frog was a rescue frog and was perfectly okay, waiting safely backstage, presumably ready to be swallowed again another night. The trick stuck with me for a number of reasons. Namely because I think that frog needs rescuing twice. It also reminded me of that Mark Twain quote, “If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning … Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day”. I doubt David ate that frog first thing in the morning. Perhaps that’s the magic: saving the worst part of your day until nighttime, in front of an audience of people. Or perhaps swallowing live animals is easy for David, now. Just a regular part of his day. Personally, I think a better approach might be to ask why you have to swallow a frog whole, then find a way around it.
Seeing the frog, limp and stunned, reminded me of the flamingo enclosure at The Flamingo, where the birds sit, day after day, being gawked at by tourists. Or the dolphins at The Mirage, four of which died last year. Recently, the rest have been relocated to “world-class care” at SeaWorld. They’re rescues, too. I suppose that’s part of the magic of Vegas: that you can see any number of animals in any number of unreasonable situations, and be told that they’re perfectly fine.
Pete Davidson didn’t stick around for the frog trick. He bolted from the theatre as soon as he was offstage. I guess he didn’t want to be gawked at by several hundred Vegas tourists, or worse, swallowed whole by fans.