Amazing Stories (1985) s01e08 Episode Script

Mr. Magic

Oh, uh, Murray.
The new kid on the spot, he, uh- he, uh, knows the cue, right? Yeah, yeah, he's fine, Lou.
That's good.
You know, I think I'll do the floating ball trick.
That always gets 'em.
That's good.
Sounds good.
Good.
The fabulous Nick Lewin! Wonderful magic.
Wonderful.
And now, a man who has appeared here at the Magic Castle since we opened in the year 1932.
Please, a warm welcome for the master of prestidigitation, Mr.
Lou Bundles! Thank you.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
And thank you, Murray.
You know, they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
It's not what you do.
It's the way that you do it.
May I have a volunteer from the audience, please? You, miss? Come on.
Oh, come on.
Come on.
You can come.
Let's have a round of applause to get her up here, please.
Thank you.
That's it.
Watch your step.
Now this is an ordinary deck of playing cards.
Am I right? Yes, it is.
All right.
Thank you.
I want you to pick a card.
Don't show it to me, just to the audience.
Any card you want.
All right? All right, now just place that card right back in the deck anywhere you please.
All righty.
Now, I'm going to shuffle the cards right in front of you.
Just like that.
Your card has jumped to the top of the deck right now.
Pick the card and show the audience.
There you are.
That your card? No, it's not.
- What do you mean it's not your card? - I'm sorry.
It's not.
You sure? I'm sure.
All right, place the card back into the deck.
All right, that's fine.
Now I'm going to shuffle them again, all right? Oh.
Excuse me.
That's all right.
No, no.
Here we are.
Now your card has just jumped to the top of the deck.
Show the audience.
There you go.
Show the audience.
Wrong again, old-timer! Isn't that your card? No, it's not.
It has to- It has to be your card.
What was your card? My card was the ten of hearts.
Ten of hearts? It couldn't be.
He's looking through them.
He's looking through the cards.
Damn it! Hiya, Murray! I think it went pretty good tonight.
I mean, all things considered.
I guess you noticed I had a little trouble out there.
That kid on the lights.
Look, Murray, I wanna talk to you about something.
Uh- What is it? - I gotta pull you, Lou.
- What? I can't let this continue.
Hey, Murray, look.
I mean, I had an off night.
I mean, okay.
So, a guy's entitled to one off night.
It's not just tonight.
Honest to God, I'm sorry about it, Lou.
Hey, Murray, you, uh, talking about firing me? Ah, it could never happen.
Look, they'll always be a place for you here as long as I'm running the business.
What, as a charity? What are you gonna do, put me in a washroom? You gonna make a doorman out of me, huh? No, you're wrong, Murray.
My time hasn't come yet.
No, sir.
Not by a long shot.
And I'll know when my time comes.
I'll let you know.
It hasn't come yet.
I think maybe it has, Lou.
You think? You think? I wonder what your father would have said if he heard what you just said to me right now? He'd have turned over in his grave! No, Murray, no.
When my time comes, I'll let you know.
And it's not now, not yet.
Okay, if that's what you say.
Usual, Lou? Huh? - You okay? - Fine.
Uh, Joe, I'll just have a cold glass of water.
That's all.
Sure.
Okay.
Lou, honey, how'd the show go tonight? Not so hot.
Lousy crowd, huh? Oh, the crowd was great.
It was me who was lousy.
Ah.
Lou, everyone has an off night sometimes.
Off night? Murray's thinking of putting me out to pasture.
Me.
I got commendations from President Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman.
I got love letters from big-time Hollywood movie stars.
Me! I'm Lou Bundles, damn it! But if I am gonna go out, I'll tell you one thing.
I wanna go out in style.
Just give me that.
Murray won't even have to hold the door open.
Okay.
Take it easy.
Hey, Lou, you got a minute? Yeah? I got someone here I want you to meet.
Lou Bundles, this is my brother-in-law, Harry Stryker.
- He's a real big fan of yours.
- Oh? This is a great honor for me, Mr.
- Mr.
Bundles.
Um- 1946, my wife, Flora and I, we took a vacation in Hollywood, uh, Florida, at the Bellevue Arms Hotel just to see you.
Won't you sit down? Oh, yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Jack here tells me that you're still working.
Well, kind of.
I just can't believe it.
Here I am sitting having a conversation with the great Lou Bundles.
Me.
Me.
Harry Stryker from Teaneck, NewJersey.
I can't believe it.
Calm down, Harry.
Calm down.
Lou? Yeah? Maybe you'd do a little trick for us, please? Please? Give 'em a shot, Lou.
Go on.
All right.
May I have your scarf? Oh, yes, sure.
There we are.
The lady's scarf, right? Okay.
Now we have here a knife and a fork.
Am I right? Yes.
Now we take the knife and the fork and we put them underneath the scarf, right? Yes, sir.
Now we had the scarf and the fork right here.
And we have no more fork.
That's amazing! I wish my wife Flora were alive to see this here.
Joe, I think somebody is stealing your silverware.
Oh? Oh, yes, right here.
There you are.
No, no, I swear.
I didn't take 'em.
Not only that, Joe, but the man is stealing your food.
The man is a bagel burglar.
He did it again.
It's amazing.
How did you do that? Great.
Hey, I, uh- I heard you got two weeks in Vegas.
Yep.
That should be great.
I'll get that ball for you.
Yeah.
Here you go.
Huh? Oh.
Feels a little heavy.
It's standard, Lou.
You sure? I got to put on a great performance tonight.
Right, Lou.
You mentioned that.
Just so you know.
Is there something else? Lou? Huh? Oh, yeah.
Uh- Cards.
I need cards.
Here you go.
No, no, not those new plastic cheap ones.
No, no.
Those got me in trouble last time.
That's all we got.
What do you mean, that's all you got? What about those? They look all right to me.
I'm sorry, Lou.
Nobody asks for this old stuff anymore.
Old stuff? Yeah.
How much I owe you for all this? No.
Murray says it's on the house.
Lou Bundles pays his own way.
What do you say I give you two bits and we call it quits? Okay.
All right? Good.
Knock 'em dead, Lou.
Thanks.
The amazing Miss Jane West! Great.
So talented, and, oh, so young.
Now, back by popular demand, the master of magic himself, Lou Bundles.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
And thank you, Murray.
I knew Murray when his father ran this place.
It's nice to see that Murray's keeping up the old ways and the old wages.
Well, it's getting a little stuffy in here tonight, eh? You know, I would like to take some magic- For crying out loud.
Tonight is the night- Get that ball, please.
Get that ball, please.
Can you get that? This ball, the one that went over here.
No, no.
Get up.
Do you mind if I get this ball? Where did it go? It went down here, didn't it? Through here.
Someone's gotta have the ball.
Where's the ball? It's over here.
What? Where? It's over here.
Oh, sorry.
Sorry.
Be very careful.
That's it.
I'll just have the bird.
Come on, sweetheart.
That's it.
Come on, baby.
Come on.
There we are.
Okay.
All right.
All right, folks.
Calm down.
We're all gonna see a lot of magic here.
Okay.
All right, all right.
Let's calm down.
Let's get collected.
We have a few card tricks now.
I need a volunteer.
I was wrong.
Here you go, Lou.
Thank you, Joe.
I'll say it again.
Lou, I was dead wrong.
You were incredible.
You blew my socks off.
Hey, what am I talking? You blew everybody's socks off.
Let me tell you something, Lou.
True.
You are absolutely at the top of your game.
What am I talking? You are absolutely at the tippy top of your game.
The brisket's very lean.
Hey, you got a deck of cards? Murray, I'm having lunch.
Let's talk business.
Business? Right.
Six shows a week.
Name your price.
Two on Friday.
Murray, I'm no spring chicken anymore.
Fine.
One on Friday.
Hey, how is your health? You taking care of yourself? You getting enough sleep? - Look how I'm eating.
- You need a little cash? No, I'm okeydoke in that department.
But you could do me a favor.
Uh, I have a few friends.
Could I have a couple of passes? Done.
Done! Look, I gotta fly now.
Enjoy.
The trick.
Some remote-control device, huh? That's it? Murray.
It's magic.
Hmm? - Magic.
- Mm-hmm.
Hey, Joe.
Could I have a cold glass of Seltzer, please? Thank you.
Still the one, still the only, after 50 years, still the amazing, Mr.
Lou Bundles! Thank you.
Thank you.
Do you, King of Hearts, take this queen of hearts as your lawfully-wedded wife? And do you, Queen of Hearts, take this king of hearts as your lawfully-wedded husband? And with the power invested in me as your personal magician, I now pronounce you man and wife.
You may now kiss the bride.
Yeah! Bravo! Bravo! How are you? Beautiful show.
Joe.
Joe.
I want you to give all these people anything they want.
Put it on my tab.
You're the boss, Lou.
What, boss? He's the greatest magician on the face of the earth.
Hey, Lou.
Yeah? How 'bout a little magic? Yeah.
Please.
Come on.
You want magic? You got magic.
Oh, great.
Now watch these cards.
Dirty and- Ha! Okay.
And- Ha! Come on.
Hey.
Get the card- Come on now, guys.
We gotta work.
- I don't get it.
- It's all right.
It doesn't matter.
Maybe you're just a little tired, Mr.
Bundles.
No, there's something wrong with the cards.
They're old cards, Lou.
Give me those cards! Oh, no! Oh, no! There now.
All you guys needed was a little rest.
A little glue, a little tape, and you're just like new.
You know, when you get a little older, you need a little more attention.
A little more attention, that's all.
You know what you guys need? A good wax job.
Yeah.
And if I want it done right, I'm gonna have to do it myself.
And I will.
Yeah.
There you are.
There.
Ah, you look perfect.
You look more beautiful than all the stars in the sky.
You guys just hanging up there in the air.
Oh, by the way, I told Murray- I said, " Murray, I'm only gonna use you once a performance and that's it.
" We're no carny sideshow.
We're a magic act.
Oh, I got a little surprise for you.
Yeah.
Ta-da! It's a traveling case.
Genuine leather.
$37.
50.
For you guys so you can travel in style and comfort.
Huh? Yeah.
All for you.
I've been thinking about the performance tonight.
You know, I got an idea.
You know the song, "Autumn Leaves"? You know.
Well, I'm gonna play it on the piano, and I'm gonna leave you guys on the table, see? Now, as soon as the music starts, you're gonna form up into a nice beautiful maple tree, right? It's autumn leaves.
So somewhere in the song you'll start to fall off one by one and one by one.
And then as you all fall down onto the floor, then instead of being swept up like you're gonna be put into the incinerator, as soon as I bend down, you'll spring back up and you'll become a big cherry blossom.
That'll get 'em.
Oh, boy.
Huh? What do you say? You wanna try it? Okay? Let's run it once, all right? And one, two, three.
Come on.
Come on.
You can do it.
Come on.
You can do it.
You just did it.
Come on.
Fly.
Come on.
Fly.
Come on.
Fly! Come on.
You're-You're flying cards! You're not a ton of bricks, damn it! Fly! Fly! You tricked me.
Sure, you tricked me! It was one great show, and that was it, right? One great show, and that was it! And you had it fixed.
You knew it all the time.
You knew it all the time! You thought you'd taken over the act, right? I'm Lou Bundles.
I've been a star for 50 years, and I'm gonna go on being a star, with or without you! You wanna quit? Quit.
But I don't quit! You wanna see magic? I'll show you magic.
I'll show you magic! See the egg? Now- See the egg? Now- Here.
You see the knife? Now you don't.
And now, Mr.
Magic himself, Lou Bundles! Thank you.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
You know, when I was about four years old, I saw a magician pull a rabbit out of a hat.
From that moment on, I said to myself, "Lou, that's the life for you.
" For the past 70 years, magic has been my life.
And I've enjoyed every moment of it.
You see, to me, magic is the greatest show on earth.
And when a magician can no longer create, it's time for him, as they say in the business, to pack up and leave quietly.
And I think that time has come for Lou Bundles.
There'll be no tricks tonight.
You see, we'd like to leave while we're still on top, all 53 of us.
So I'd like to wish you all a fond good night, good-bye, and God bless.
Thank you.
Bravo! Bravo!
Previous EpisodeNext Episode