Bill Clinton and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, in the suite where I performed, New York

A major highlight in my performing career took place on April 26, 2009.

The Waldorf-Astoria’s Director of Diplomatic Affairs invited me to entertain Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia.

The Crown Prince and his royal court were staying in the Waldorf Towers during an extended visit to New York. After all, the NY Times once called the Waldorf “the unofficial palace of New York.” The room where my performance took place is shown in the above picture. (I had the same interpreter as Bill Clinton!)

On the night of the show, I was instructed to arrive several hours early, in case the Crown Prince wanted to see me before dinner. As it turned out, he chose to have my show after dinner, which wasn’t served until very late in the evening. I was told to wait  3 or 4 hours, which I had expected to do, since apparently Saudis approach time differently than we do. When dinner was finally over, I began the show in front of the Crown Prince and about thirty royal advisors and princes.

The Crown Prince sat in a throne at the far end of the room under a picture of King Abdullah (as you can see in the above picture), and the two long walls of the suite were lined with miniature thrones, and low tables. Each of the tables had a gigantic sampler box of Godiva chocolates on it, as well as dates, cookies and other confections, including my favorite: Mariebelle chocolates. Saudis apparently have a sweet tooth. Before the show, butlers walked around the room, serving cardamom tea to the princes.

Each piece of MarieBelle chocolate is a work of art.

The Saudi liaison told me that if the Crown Prince gets tired, then they would give me a signal to stop at once. The liaison asked me how long my performance would be. Typically, the show runs a solid 90 minutes, but I figured that since we started late I shouldn’t go on too long. The liaison suggested I aim for 20 minutes, and see how the Crown Prince likes it.

I was given a brief lesson in protocol, and was instructed to address the Crown Prince as “Your Majesty.” And, I was to be certain not to walk within ten feet of his throne.

By the end of the night, I had performed for 55 minutes, and was standing 18 inches from his nose.

The show went well, although I noticed that the princes were all observing the Crown Prince to see his reaction. If he smiled, they smiled. If he laughed, they laughed. And if he clapped, they clapped. This led to some awkward moments since some of the younger princes had to stifle their reactions in order not to step out of line.

Chamber Magic is a language-driven show, and my audience consisted entirely of Arabic-speakers. Yes, many of them also spoke English, and yes, I had an interpreter, but there were still many jokes and asides that were tough to follow if you’re not a native speaker. On the fly, I was forced to modify the show so that there was less talk and more visual magic.

I decided to break out the hundred dollar bill trick. This, as it turns out, became the highlight of the evening.

Here’s what they saw. I borrowed a $1 bill from one of the royal advisors, and folded it up. Seconds later, I unfolded the bill and displayed that it had changed it into a $100 bill. This made everyone sit up straight.

The Crown Prince said, “Do it again.” Fortunately I was prepared to do this several more times, and I had a variety of methods prepared so that each repetition would be more baffling than the last.

I borrowed another dollar, and this time, visually changed it into $5 bill. After seeing a $100 a few moments ago, this was something of a let-down. I then successively transformed that bill into a $10, a $20, and finally another $100 bill. (The same bill changed four times.)

Seeing this, there was one prince who lept out of his seat – Prince Shtayat. (I’m not sure of the spelling here.) I had been warned that he was a loose cannon, and that if need be, I should do a trick to poke fun at him. Sensing a chance, I asked Prince Shtayat if he had a $100 in his pocket. He fished around, found one, and handed it to me. I proceeded to do the same trick in reverse – changing his $100 bill into a $1 bill! I handed the dollar bill back to him, and the whole room burst out laughing.

The Crown Prince summoned me close. Remembering my protocol lesson, I hung back in deference. He summoned me closer and said, “Do it again.” Sensing that I’d hit a chord, I removed a handful of singles from my pocket. I showed the fronts and backs of each $1 bill, and held them in a stack at my fingertips, at the Crown Prince’s eye level. After a quick shake, all of the bills visually transformed into $100 bills. If you’ve never seen this trick before, it really looks like a special effect in the movies.

I showed him the fronts and backs of each fresh $100 bill, and pocketed them. As I did so, the Crown Prince said through his interpreter, “Tell me your address. I will send a truck filled with $1 bills to you.”

From that moment on, the show went very smoothly. I saw the awakened sparkle of youthful glee in the eye of a man who can, quite literally, have it all.

In general, when you are obsessed with controlling every aspect of your life, it’s rare that you face the existence of the inexplicable.

For me, the ability to bear this message is the reason why I am a magician. I love to show people who are at the top of their game – whether they run successful companies, or even control the world’s oil supply – that there’s more to life. That they haven’t yet seen it all. That we are all capable of feeling that glow of wonder.

I’ll always remember my “Arabian Night.”