I have worn a ring on my little finger for over 10 years. It hasn't always been the same ring, but I have done the same thing with the ring: I've done magic with it. There is an old vaudevillian sign of excellence, which is wearing a specifically designated ring on the hand you are gifted with. A close examination of some vaudevillians such as Jimmy Durante, Edgar Bergen and Chico Marx all reveal this forgotten fraternity. If you look at several of Fred Astaire's movies you will see the great dancer wearing this signature of his affiliation with excellence among entertainers.

Given that I am ambidextrous (a necessity of my practice as a magician) I chose my left hand to wear the magical ring opposite from where I wear my wedding ring. When my left hand is opened to show that my magical ring has vanished, I wanted the hand devoid of any rings.

Recently, in March 2003, I performed at a trade show in Manhattan at the gargantuan Javits Center for the MITANI/USA company, a Japanese eyewear concern of first rate designs made out of space-age metals and laminates. I used the ring as a quick trick to gain interest in the people passing by. I thought, as I have many times before, "I must get a duplicate of this ring. If I lost the ring, I would be without my special prop." The ring I worked with is unique and has been on my left hand for better than five years. After six hours a day performing at Javits, for MITANI/USA (a good salesman always mentions their product several times you know), I decided that I would have the ring duplicated by a jeweler on East 12th Street in Manhattan. I figured the jeweler was a good person because she had her studio right next to a close friend of mine and working with her I could always get in a visit with my friend. She was, and is, also a very fine jewelry designer.

On March 30th I brought my precious ring ti my jeweler, named Dede, to have her begin work on duplicating the design. (I had thought of simply buying another ring similar to my own, but tried for five years all over Manhattan -- I originally bought the ring from a street vendor in SoHo -- but never found another like it.) I paid Dede a deposit against work to be done and on April 6th I approved the wax cast of the ring, and also found that she thought to show me a catalogue where I could buy the ring cheaply, making her duplication work unnecessary. But she was not able to find my simple barrel design ring, popular in the 1970's.

Then, on April 9th, as final arrangements were to be made for getting the ring pre-cast and then cast in silver, Dede's bags were stolen aboard a train coming into Manhattan and her wax model, silver cast and my original right was lost. How ironic! When I went to have my ring duplicated for fear I would lose it, in the process of duplication, my ring was lost! I was devastated. Dede was very upset. The ring is an integral part of my stage routine, as I have many lines and moves that relate to the ring. I had a show in 3 days where I needed my ring. (I always tell clients that I can do anything they see on my demo tape and my tape opens with me making my ring appear.)

I decided that I would walk from one end of Bleeker Street on April 10th to the other in search of a ring similar to mine for the show, even though I had searched this area of New York many times. Luck was with me, on my fourth stop, I found almost exactly my ring. 5/8th's of an inch bigger in diameter and 1/8th of an inch smaller in band width, but workable. Dede was very relived -- she had felt badly and had offered to go shopping endeavoring to find the ring.

In the meantime, I spoke with Dede about how to proceed. She offered that because of her measurements, and pictures, she could recreate the ring and send it off to the caster in Rhode Island. But, there were no guarantees as to the ring being exactly what I needed. I decided to gamble. The ring was sent to the caster in the middle of April. The caster asked if I only wanted one ring made since the idea was to have more than one should I ever lose the ring. I agreed. He made several more. Because I was booked for a TV show May 17th, I checked in with him to see about his progress. This was about May 9th. That's when something really strange happened.

We agreed he'd complete the ring May 14th, overnight mail it to me to arrive on the 15th so I could rehearse with it in time for the TV show on the 17th. The rings arrived via express mail as promised on May 15th looking gorgeous, better than the original. And on May 15, at about 8pm I got a very unexpected email from Dede.

It seemed that even though her bags had been gone for over a month, she decided -- on a whim -- to call the train company -- again -- and ask if anything had been returned. Lo and behold, on the day I received the duplicate rings in the mail from Rhode Island, her bags were returned intact, complete with my original ring!

Shortly thereafter, I picked up my original ring, showed her the replacement I had bought, and the new rings she had designed. What an odyssey! Now I have extra rings I am creating a special magic routine with these...almost as if the world had wanted me to, and provided this "lesson" to prod this creativity. At least that is my positive spin on things. Another might say I just got lucky.

Sometimes the notion of synchronicity is excited, or made apparent to those involved, because of trauma. There is slight trauma in the loss of Dede's bags (containing her very specific jewelry tools), and my trauma because of loss of my special ring. As well, in addition to the loss, there was great gain and then a great return. Everything came full circle, in dates, times and physical reality. All involved agreed this was kind of spooky. Several people offered to appeal to St. Jude and St. Christopher for the return of my ring. Whatever happened, it worked!

Don't ever lose hope when you lose something. Thought and the will to persist can keep
hope alive. I know this in many more extreme cases than the loss (and return) of my magical ring.