It’s 1 a.m. in our busy emergency department, and I’m assessing a 6-year-old breathing quickly.
To me, it just doesn’t add up.
He’s had our full viral wheeze treatment over an hour ago, and on auscultation, he’s not wheezy anymore; his oxygen saturations are perfect.
So why is he breathing so fast? His father tells him to “breathe normally!” but that just worsens things.
So I offered him a magic trick: get out a coin and a torch, and explain that the torch is actually a magic wand, and I will make the coin disappear. He’s mesmerised as the coin vanishes and comes out of his nose.
Best of all, I’ve been watching his breathing. And it’s back to normal.
You’re a wizard, Harry!
I know what you’re thinking: “Magic? Really? I can’t do that.” But guess what: you’re probably already performing magic and didn’t even know it.
Any professional magician will tell you magic isn’t about manual dexterity or cards. It’s mainly about engaging an audience member with a story. Professor Roger Kneebone put it perfectly when he wrote that magic is “about building a shared narrative that makes sense for audience and performer. The magic is in the telling.” (RL Kneebone 2017)
Have you ever examined a child’s abdomen and correctly guessed what they had for breakfast? (Cereal!) Or alleviate their fear of your stethoscope by examining their parent? I’m sure you have your own ways of doing what paediatricians do best: creating instant rapport and a playful shared space where unusual moments feel fun rather than scary for the child. This means you’re already thinking and performing like a magician.
So I figured, since we already have so much in common, we might as well borrow some of their tricks, right?
It’s for us, too
Published literature on improving patient well-being with magic tricks dates back to 1915 when conjurer Charles Folkard wrote “Tricks for the Trenches and Wards.”
What is also clear from the literature is that countless healthcare-based magic projects and NGOs benefit the audience (Lee KT et al., 2024) and the magicians themselves (Wiseman and Watt, 2018). Performing magic has become a recognised way to develop skills – including imagination, storytelling, and emotional empathy.
Over the past five years, I’ve been on a deep dive into the world of magic and performed for at least one child every shift. I pick my audience carefully, offering a magic trick when it could help me diagnostically or if the child looks particularly miserable.
It hasn’t slowed me down, and most patients have loved it. Especially if they’ve been having a rubbish day.
But best of all, it’s changed my practice and I’m a better clinician for it.
Enough patter, show us the tricks!
I’ve developed these three tricks to suit the hospital environment. They’re quick, big on story, and low on props.
For the first two, you only need a pen and a coin. Boom, you’ve got tricks for kids up to 9 years old. The third trick calls for just three cards – and is great for older kids and teenagers.
Trick 1 – The Candle Torch
A perfect way to break the ice with a scared-looking toddler, I use this trick all the time. After blowing out a pen torch like a candle, I also have an easier time later when I need to check their tonsils.
Though most popular with children of 18 months and above, it’s such a magical effect that I’ve even found infants as young as six months old who enjoy me blowing out the light, too.
Trick 2 – The Disappearing Coin
This trick works for kids from about 2 and a half years of age.
Since you can make the coin appear from anywhere (behind their ear, up their nose, in their mother’s pocket), this is one of those rare tricks you can repeat. It’s perfect for distracting a child during a procedure or just turning a physical examination into a fun adventure as you pretend you’re looking for the coin.
Trick 3 – The Magic Card
This is my favourite magic trick. It’s a version of “This, That and the Other” by Stephen Tucker, which I adapted for paediatric practice with Dr Hugh Johnson, a friend and brilliant London-based paediatrician magician.
It took me a few hours of practice to get it right, but it’s been well worth it. With only three cards in your pocket, you can blow people’s minds – and the reactions to the final card are amazing and often quite moving.
It’s particularly effective at helping teenagers in a mental health crisis understand that we, in their medical team, care about them.
References
Kneebone, R.L., 2017. Performing magic, performing medicine. The Lancet, 389(10065), pp.148-149.
Wiseman, R. and Watt, C., 2018. Achieving the impossible: a review of magic-based interventions and their effects on wellbeing. PeerJ, 6, p.e6081.
Lee, K.T., Chen, Y.C., Yang, Y.C. and Wang, W.L., 2023. On practicing magicine, from wonder to care: A systematic review of studies that apply magic in healthcare. Social Science & Medicine, p.116541.
