Fool's Gold

Fool Me Once, a new magic show by Michael Mills returning to Caffè Lena in January and February, fools SLAH's Natalie Moore way more than once.

Michael Mills performing Fool Me Once, the first magic show to grace Caffè Lena’s historic stage.

Last Thursday, I was one coin flip away from living many people’s nightmare. No, I wasn’t on the verge of being chased by some unknown monster, or falling into a dark abyss. I was at a magic show.

You may know Michael Mills as the founder and CEO of Mills Entertainment, or more likely as the owner of Caroline Street cocktail bar The Misfit. But this past November, the entrepreneur got back in touch with magic—which he calls his “first love”—and presented his first staged performance of Fool Me Once, “a playful tour of contemporary trickery,” at Caffè Lena. Word got around (my tablemate said he heard the show was “not to be missed”), and when Mills returned to the venue for a second performance last week, it sold out.

“I fell in love with magic when I was a kid,” Michael says. “The fun of amazing someone is infectious. Later, through college and into my twenties, I found that doing shows was a great way to make a living. Eventually, though, as my production company grew, I had to set performing aside. That was the right move at the time, but over the years I really began to miss it. At the risk of sounding hokey, it was like losing a part of myself. Last year I decided to make performing a priority again and it's been a blast.”

To be clear, there is nothing nightmarish about Fool Me Once itself; Mills has the stage presence of a friendly comedian, and through the two-hour show I probably spent about one hour laughing and about one hour being utterly amazed. The nightmare scenario was entirely of my own doing.