52-Card Pick Up: How COVID Made Magic Disappear

There was nothing magical about the years 2020-2021 for Anthony the Magic—the team comprising California magician Anthony Hernandez and his lead assistant and partner, Dawn Morgan—as they struggled to adjust to everything from the COVID-19 pandemic to the arrest of their financial adviser for allegedly concocting a ten-million-dollar Ponzi scheme to working grueling six-days-a-week shifts at Amazon storage facilities as their magic shows were being canceled one by one to finding a way to somehow adapt their highly acclaimed and popular magic show to the virtual world. Despite the challenges, the charismatic Morgan tells the story of their journey through the pandemic years with such verve and infectious optimism and fortitude that it is impossible to walk away from this book feeling anything other than renewed hope and tremendous respect for the ingenuity and determination of this irresistible couple. Do you believe in magic? Read this book and you will—even in the age of COVID.

Born and raised in Southern California by a single, self-supporting mother, Dawn Morgan has mastered the art of being self-sufficient and creating something out of nothing. Always in the right place at the right time, at the age of 12 Dawn landed her first job cleaning beauty shops after school, where she earned enough money to take ice skating lessons and compete locally. Dawn graduated from California Baptist University, Riverside in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science and later earned her Teaching Credential while performing with the NHL's new minted hockey franchise, "The Mighty Ducks."