Blue Line Street Magicians

My train was stopped for about ten minutes tonight between Clark/Lake and Grand on my way home and it was fantastic!  A street magician in the Monroe station asked what I was carrying and I told him a little about the Monopticon (pictured below) and he tried it on with only slight hesitation. He seemed pretty into it. Then he did a magic trick and I suddenly had two red balls in the hand where I had only one to start with and I went, "*GASP!* What?!" and fished for money. None. He was okay with that. We'd traded interesting visual experiences.

So then we got on the train and I was excited the guy and his co-magician get on the same car as me so I could watch some more tricks happen to/with/for other people, but they were just sitting and chatting, not doing anything UNTIL! the train stops! where it isn't supposed to! and the lights go out! and then they come back on! And then the magic begins.

They were mainly focused on two different guys a short way down from me and I quickly figured out  the trick from back at the station. Perspective is an amazing thing. At some point in our delay the younger of the two magicians who seemed like The Card Guy (as opposed to The Red Balls Guy) came my way and introduced himself  (the tricks would naturally follow) but then he saw the Monopticon and remembered me from the station.  He asked what it was called and what it was and suddenly the whole car was listening and so I taught a handful of people about my Monopticon and what it's good for.  The Red Balls Guy renamed it A Matter of Perception. The Card Guy declined my offer to try it on (if my chosen field was of sleight of hand, I would also be wary of ever taking my eyes off a person, let alone allowing them to blindfold me with mirrors) and then asked, "You go to the Art Institute, huh?" I told him yes and he nodded knowingly and went back to impress the young guy some more. Art Institute kids apparently don't need card tricks.

The train started up and I fished around some more and found a lone dollar crumpled in my backpack. As we pulled up to my stop I handed it to The Red Balls Guy and he asked again what that thing was called. "The Monopticon," I said, "...or A Matter of Perspective."  He smiled and replied, "Yeah, we know about perspective."

Yeah, we do.