Lubelo Mthenjana, who's 11, performs a magic trick involving fire during the annual junior magic contest at the College of Magic in Cape Town, South Africa.Tommy Trenchard for NPR hide caption Dressed in a sharp black three-piece suit and a dapper yellow bow tie, Lubelo Mthenjana stands alone on a dark stage, taking in the last few seconds of quiet before the curtain opens.
He takes a deep breath as his name is announced.Then he opens his arms wide and flashes a bright smile."Hello everyone! My name is Lubelo Mthenjana, and I will be performing for you … some magic!"The audience of about 30 children and parents is spellbound.
They laugh out loud as he makes a string of paper clips vanish into a plastic cup and gasp with surprise as the clips reappear inside a matchbox.Then comes his best trick: He conjures sweets out of thin air and tosses them into the crowd.
The room erupts.As Lubelo takes his final bow to thunderous applause, his mom beams a proud smile at the 11-year-old apprentice magician.On this cloudy Saturday morning in September, Cape Town's College of Magic is buzzing with energy as dozens of students are competing in the annual junior magic contest.
Heading to their classrooms, children in top hats, crisp white shirts and ties dash up and down a staircase decorated with a riot of brightly colored posters.On every floor, display cabinets overflow with magic wands, sparkly hats, silk scarves, handcuffs, dice, Rubik's Cubes, toys, photographs and dozens of trophies earned by students in competitions all over the world.Outside the old red-brick Victorian mansion, framed by palm trees, two teenage boys zip around the car park on unicycles.
Balls, clubs and diabolos shoot up into the air as a handful of kids practice juggling on the porch.Tucked away in a peaceful suburb, this extraordinary school is a real-world Hogwarts: Africa's...