THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702220046
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KARLA DAULER, SPECIAL TO THE DAILY BREAK
LENGTH: 53 lines
WORKING the dinner crowd at Cheddars, a Newport News restaurant, John Hecktkopf shuffles a deck of cards. A diner stops to pick a card, and Hechtkopf returns it to the deck.
``The way I'm going to find your card is with Farky Hollis,'' Hecktkopf says. ``I have a little friend, and his name is Farky Hollis, a little invisible fly. Farky used to perform with the flea and fly circus until he broke his leg in three places - New York, Chicago and Cincinnati.''
Magically, a fly walks from the center of the deck to the edge of a card, then walks back into the deck.
``Isn't that amazing? Let's have a big round of applause for Farky,'' Hecktkopf says, suddenly clapping the deck together.
``Oops,'' he exclaims, separating the cards - revealing bits of a fly-sized costume squashed between two cards.
Hechtkopf is part of a trend. He and other magicians are being hired to improve restaurants' ledgers with legerdemain.
Their performances help entertain diners awaiting tables or their orders.
``Magicians provide a family-oriented form of entertainment,'' says Chris Crouse, manager of Fuddruckers Restaurant in Newport News.
``They give table-side service as they stroll from table to table. It seems to bring in a broader crowd family-wise and we get a good turnout. . . .
``Our customers keep coming back. It's increased business 10 to 15 percent.''
A Newport News Pizza Hut has discovered that more pizzas are disappearing since it brought in a magician on Friday nights.
``It's doubled our business because it's entertainment for kids - and parents don't have to keep the kids occupied while they are waiting on the food,'' says manager Denise McCray.
Mickey Chohany, co-owner of Second Street Restaurant and Tavern in Williamsburg and Hampton and The Polo Club in Williamsburg, has also found the that magic has brought in more business.
``It helped launch and maintain a steady Sunday brunch,'' says Chohany. ``It's an incentive to come here . . . because we were offering something that's unusual from other brunch places.''
Charles Breen, assistant manager of Fisherman's Wharf in Hampton and Norfolk, hired a magician because ``it helps generate traffic . . . and good will among my clientele.''
In Hechtkopf's case, at Cheddars, generating good will means producing a happy ending from his squashed-fly trick.
``Well maybe Farky didn't die in vain,'' the magician says. He turns a card over. It's the one the diner had selected.
On cue, Farky reappears from the deck and takes a bow. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
John Hecktkopf performs a card trick at Cheddars in Newport News.