Lucky Coin

Just a side note. Typing by thumb and blackberry at the airport.

I left in a fog this morning and forgot to put change in my pocket. I knew after the first cup of coffee I bought I would have change but my "magic" coin would not with me this trip.

I always carry a foreign coin in my pocket. The only requirement is that it be a different size or shape than any American coin so I can easily find it in a pocket full of coins.

This started years ago in college as a coin to do magic tricks and practice rolling across my knuckles. I have nervous energy and it helps. Well it has become a tradition, sort of a good luck symbol for a long time.

I have had several, they eventually get lost, I say they move on and I replace it with another. I have never done a show in the last 30 years that a "magic coin" was not in my pocket on stage. The Wiz (my production stage manager) still checks to see if I have the coin in my pocket before I go on stage for "The two and only".

Sandi drove me to the airport this morning and I mentioned my lucky coin wasn't with me. Not being as superstitious as me she pretty much said I would get over it and be fine.

She is right, and I decide this will be the time I no longer need to carry a magic coin on stage with me.

I get to Starbucks at the airport and there is a large foreign coin sitting alone on top of the cash register that catches my eye. I ask, and the cashier who doesn't know anything about it; doesn't know what it is or how it got there. I get my change and say "You want to sell me that coin for a dollar?" She jumped at the chance. I have a new magic coin. Very odd after my conversation to the airport. It is a Hong Kong 5 dollar piece. I like it.

Just as I am ready to move past the need for a magic coin, another one finds me. I see it as a very positive sign. You may see it as an over active imagination. We are both right.

As you were,
Jay

www.monkeyjoke.com