The Tale of the Magician's Assistant

<<

Midnight Society

>>

Air Date: Saturday, September 11, 1993

Intro: Gary (Ross Hull) walks around the campfire, saying how pleased he is to see that the rest of them are on time for his story. Frank (Jason Alisharan) accuses him of sounding like his homeroom teacher, Mr. Drego, whom both Betty Ann (Raine Pare-Coull) and Gary defend. Gary goes on to mention that Drego comes into his Dad's magic shop all the time, and is a "prestidigitator," a.k.a. a magician. This segues into Gary's story, which he cleverly introduces by using a stick as a magic wand to get the campfire roaring as opposed to the usual "midnight dust."

Story: Todd Marker (Noah Plener) and his Mother (Sally Singal) struggle to make ends meet after the passing of his father, so he applies for a "Magician's Assistant" job for the Great Shandu (James Bradford). As he's shown the ropes and taught the rules of being a magician, Todd also finds himself too curious for his own good upon the realization that slight of hand is one thing, but Shandu's wand has some real magic to it. But in trying to sneak it away to help his Mom, he find using another magician's wand has some real consequences to it.

Review: In yet another completely middle-ground episode, this plays out a bit more as fantasy comedy to me than any level of horror. That said, to be perfectly fair, this one also provides us with another one of the creepiest faces in 'AYAOTD' history; almost a pre-curser to he much creepier "Creature of Darkness" in Season 3's 'Tale of the Quicksilver.' Otherwise, I'd argue that altogether, it's one of the series' lighter episodes, and much lighter than Gary's usual storytelling with his twist endings. While it may not be a personal favourite on the whole, I still can't deny that it's memorable, if only for that one nasty character.

Closing/Moral: Gary wraps things up, dowses the fire, and the gang start heading home. A curious Frank, however, stays behind and tries seeing if Gary's "wand" will work for him, of course, to no avail. I think for the most part, this is mostly about not taking what doesn't belong to you for your own purposes, or else, there could be some kind of consequence.

3/5

---