Calgary girl dubbed London the Magnificent makes famous magician cry
A letter from a nine-year-old Calgary girl who's an aspiring magician to a famous entertainment duo is charming people around the world, after one half of Penn & Teller tweeted it to his two million followers.
Penn Jillette tweeted a photo of the letter — scrawled in pencil and adorned with drawings of playing cards and a rabbit in a hat — writing "Ever have the slightest question of why we do this? Hard to stop crying to type. Women are the future of magic!"
London Jones, who goes by the stage name London the Magnificent, told CBC's The Homestretch Wednesday that she's been fine-tuning her sleights of hand for the past three years.
"I was at a restaurant with my dad when I was little and there was a magician there doing magic," London said.
"When he was done, I looked at my dad and said, 'I want to learn how to do that.' My dad learned a trick and then he showed me, he taught me the trick."
London says she's always admired Penn & Teller, an American magician act currently headlining in Las Vegas.
"They are just so entertaining and they are really funny. I just love their tricks that they do."
When London learned the act was coming to Calgary on Friday, she put pencil to paper.
"I am a BIG fan of yours, I watch your 'Fool us' show it's fun to try and figure out how to do it," London wrote.
"Why is there not many girls doing magic? I hope to hear from you. I'm wearing a special dress."
London said she was surprised when she heard Jillette had tweeted her letter. That tweet has been liked, shared and commented on thousands of times.
London's dad, Jeff Jones, says Penn Jillette has been in touch with the family.
"We have had a couple of emails from him," Jeff said.
"He said he is going to be wearing a special suit just for London, so that is great. We have been talking to his people about some kind of meet-and-greet before the show, so we are just trying to get the final details of that nailed down," he said.
"We are super excited for our daddy-daughter date on Friday."
Jeff says his daughter continues to inspire him.
"She is very special. Everything in her life she attacks with courage and lots of energy. She is just amazing."
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With files from CBC's The Homestretch
