Submitted photo Magic moments: David London (left) and Francis Menotti make more out of magic in Bethesda this weekend.

"I liked to perform tricks where people gave me money," he laughs, thinking back to the days when he would do an illusion or two at family functions. "Because once it was in my hand, they'd usually let me keep it!"

Times have changed -- a little bit, anyway. When London does his tricks this Friday and Saturday evening at The Writer's Center in Bethesda, the audience will have purchased tickets -- and he won't be pulling quarters out of anybody's ears.

Welcome to Cerebral Sorcery, which is what London and his fellow magician Francis Menotti have dubbed their evening of entertainment. It's a combination of magical performance and experimental theater.

"We consider it a play more than a magic show," London says. "The magic trick becomes the period at the end of the sentence."

He speaks with a flourish, this film student at Columbia College in Chicago who began publishing a magazine for magicians called Behind the Smoke and Mirrors when he was just 15. The magazine contained no magic tricks -- it was focused on theory and performance, and aimed at magicians who, like London, were thinking differently about their craft.

"When I started, I made a list of the top 10 magical thinkers," he says proudly. "I got everyone to write for me in the end."

The now-defunct magazine occupied a very small niche in the magic world, London says.

"There's still not a magazine out there that's devoted to honing talent instead of acquiring more tricks."

His own talent-honing process included a stint as director of operations for The Phoenix Gathering, a magician's convention in Baltimore at which he met Philadelphia native Menotti.

"All the craziness comes before the convention," he explains. "I was able to meet people and enjoy myself once it started."

He and Menotti connected, he says, and two months later they decided to put their ideas together "to showcase magic, and get people to think."

More than magic

Getting people to think occupies a lofty perch on London's things-to-do list. He was 10 when he discovered magic, just happened to wander into a magic store, either Barry's in Wheaton or Al's in D.C.; he's unsure which was first. The early years, he admits, are a bit of a blur, although he does recall performing at a birthday party when he was 12.

"Looking back, the skills were pretty unimpressive," he says, "but I kept the kids entertained for 30 or 40 minutes."

Even then, though, that wasn't enough. He says he did five or six parties a year and the occasional bar mitzvah, and he used the magic tricks to enhance his social position at school, a way to fit in. But nowadays London sees a bigger picture.

"I have ideas," he explains. "And any artist wants to get their ideas out there."

That he's an artist at all is almost magical, for London is a child of suburbia who grew up in a happy, caring, prosperous home. Mom is a co-executive director of the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless; dad is a financial consultant for a real estate firm; an older sister attends law school at the University of Maryland.

"We've got our two dogs," he says, laughing a little. "No picket fence though..."

His parents are supportive of everything he does, but his mother prefers not to know the mechanics of his tricks.

"She's one of these people who likes to be amazed," he explains.

And he's perfectly willing to oblige, but he likes to go beyond the amazement factor, using magic to expand people's minds and raise their consciousness. That's what Cerebral Sorcery is all about. Using the intimate space at The Writer's Center, London and Menotti will present 12 vignettes: four each on their own and four more together.

"Everybody takes away something different," he explains. "Various stuff about jobs, about religion. One of the themes of the show is truth: what is real and what is not.

"It's a lot to take in an hour."

A lot for a performer to give out in an hour, too. London says previous shows made the kind of impact on the audience that many performers might not appreciate.

"It's a show where there's not a lot of applause," he observes. "It's more contemplative.

"A while later, someone may say 'That was cool -- I was thinking about that.' They just had to digest the information first."

Cerebral Sorcery is at The Writer's Center, 8508 Walsh St., Bethesda, at 8 p.m.Friday and Saturday. The show is recommended for ages 15 and older; parental discretion is advised. Tickets are $20. Call 301-279-7454 or visit www.cerebralsorcery.com.