Once again I’m delighted to feature another fantastic proposal, and this week’s street magic marriage proposal story has been shared with us by the magician behind the plan, Philip, so we’ve got all the details that made this proposal so special.
Please share the story of how Mark decided to propose to Mindi
Mark wanted to propose to his girlfriend, Mindi, and wanted a magician to help make the moment extra special. I’d seen footage of magicians helping create such a wonderful moment before, and was excited when he approached me with the opportunity to do it myself. Mark and I both wanted to be able to make it something unique, but what he actually wanted me to do seemed nearly impossible.
The obvious thing to do was to make a ring appear somehow. Dozens of ideas came to mind for this. Many I’d seen in other magician’s videos and some were things I thought up on the spot. Mark wanted something a little more than this, though. He also wanted Mindi to have an extra souvenir of the moment. Sure, the ring was the big deal, but he wanted that special little something that would be a memento for her memory box.
His thought was a card trick that would have his name and her name appear on a playing card, a trick with obvious sentiments. I assured him there was no practical way to make this happen, but at 2AM one night the solution occurred to me (I mean… it was magic. Really.)
The plan was to stage the proposal on a sidewalk, during a busker-style performance. He would take Mindi to dinner and a show and on their way, they would pass by the show and stop to watch. I would happen to choose Mindi to assist in a trick, and things would take off from there.
Filming the marriage proposal without arousing suspicion seemed tricky at first. Then I decided to forget about hiding the camera and, instead, go in the opposite direction. There were two large, professional cameras out there in plain view, making it look like a promotional shoot. A few of my friends were gracious enough to swing by to watch the magic show. Their being there helped draw more of an audience.
Did anything happen that put the plan at risk?
A problem that no one expected, though, was that Mindi, who apparently loves magic, wasn’t in the mood to stop and watch the show. I quickly singled her out to help with a trick. Knowing she wasn’t too keen to be there, I had to change things up a bit in the planned routine. The audience was none the wiser, but it made things hard on the camera man, hence a few key moments aren’t too visible.
The magic show marriage proposal that actually took place was this: Mindi chose a card from the deck. The two of Hearts. This magically changed into an Ace of Hearts, which she signed her name on. Mark then chose a card and signed his name on it. Then, his name vanished from the playing card, and reappeared on the Ace of Hearts, along with Mindi’s name.
The climax of this “romantic magic trick” was Mark placing the Ace of Hearts in his hand. Mindi was asked to wave her hand over the card, but, so everyone could see, I asked Marked to crouch down. Of course, this allowed him to get down on one knee. After the magic wave, the card was turned over. The words “Will you marry me” appeared on its back, and an engagement ring appeared underneath.