Magician finishes 52 hours of magic
By Times Staff Writer
Published December 11, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - Cesar Domico's face was red by hour 51. His eyes were doing the slow blink and his English was failing.
The fingers that normally glide over the waxed surfaces of Bicycle playing cards were stiffer and sluggish. But when 6 p.m. Friday hit and the Colombian-born magician completed his final magic trick - turning a 5 of spades into an 8 of diamonds by rubbing it on his worn jeans' knee - the crowd of 50 to 100 onlookers at the Trinity Wal-Mart erupted into cheers, blew on kazoos and threw confetti. Domico, 31, completed 52 hours of nonstop magic in an attempt to beat the record of 30 hours, according to Guinness Book of Records officials. "It was just an idea, a small idea," he said in an emotional, raspy voice afterward. "A small dream." Domico, a Wal-Mart greeter who was a celebrity magician in his home country, raised more than $500 for All Children's Hospital during his three days of magic. He said he wanted "to demonstrate that dreams can happen."