This Dog Magician Is Severely Allergic To Dogs But He Won't Stop Visiting The Shelter
John Stessel has been performing professional magic for over 20 years, doing shows for celebrities and major corporate clients, but he says his favorite audiences have four legs and a tail. Stessel is the self-styled Shelter Dog Magician, a New York City-based performer who regularly visits St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in New Jersey to perform his signature disappearing treat trick for shelter dogs, capturing their utterly baffled reactions on video, and in doing so helping the dogs find forever homes. He takes between four and five antihistamines before every visit because, in a twist that somehow makes the whole thing more charming, he is severely allergic to dogs and breaks out in hives at the shelter, every single time. He shows up anyway. The magic kit he received on his eighth birthday started a lifelong love of the craft, and he has spent years looking for ways to use that love to do some good in the world.
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The trick itself is simple: a treat is shown to the dog, closed into a fist, and then revealed to have vanished, leaving the dog sniffing frantically and staring at Stessel with an expression of complete bewilderment that tends to melt the hearts of anyone who watches the footage. Stessel is careful to point out that it is not really the magic getting these dogs adopted but the dogs themselves, and that what he is doing is just giving each animal a chance to show off its personality in a way it could not without him. His most recent collaboration with St. Hubert's resulted in every dog featured in the videos getting adopted, a result Stessel described as the best kind of trick he knows. The project has been featured on Good Morning America and has continued to grow, with Stessel saying he has no plans to stop as long as there are shelter dogs who need a moment in the spotlight and a reason to look genuinely, hilariously confused on camera.
Source:https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/john-stessel-shelter-dog-magician
