By Jessica Groover

Special to The Sentinel

This weekend, Josh Knotts climbed into a metal box no bigger than a mini-fridge and locked himself inside. For anyone else this might sound strange, but for the 25-year-old magician, it's just a typical workday.

Knotts performed his act "Magic with Josh," several times this weekend during his second run at this year's Prince George's County Fair.

Along with later escaping from the box, Knotts performed several other tricks that incited gasps and cheers from the audience.

Knotts first appeared on stage in a previously empty cage after it had appeared to be ignited and covered in a black sheet. After climbing out of the cage, Knotts began the show, calling for audience participation for most of his tricks.

For one of his first tricks, Knotts chose a woman from the audience wearing a wedding band, promising to polish and clean it for her with an invention he had. After putting her ring through a handheld box, there was a small flash of fire and Knotts poured broken gold pieces into her hand.

Before excusing the woman, Knotts asked her to check a bag at the corner of the stage, where she found several quarters inside. He instructed her to put one in a quarter machine with plastic bubbles containing rings and prizes. On her second try, she found her wedding ring in one of the bubbles.

Knotts has been performing magic since he was 6 years old. He said he started because his mother was "in love" with David Copperfield, and he began by training under local magicians in West Virginia, where he was raised.

Knotts has traveled and performed all over the U.S. and in other countries but prefers the fair venues.

"I do a lot of fairs," Knotts said. "This is one of the best."

Like several of the audience members, Knotts's favorite trick is his straitjacket escape, his final act in the show.

To finish his performance, Knotts asked several audience members to enter the stage and help secure the straps on two straitjackets that he wore. After they tightened the straps, Knotts asked two volunteers to hold down the ends of the top jacket.

While Madonna's song "Die Another Day" played, Knotts proceeded to wriggle and dance out of both straitjackets.

Jeffrey and Angela Potts from Bowie especially enjoyed this trick. Jeffrey Potts described the show as "very innovative."

"I thought the show was funny," Amber Fisher, of Charles County, said. "The straitjacket was my favorite part."

For Treasa Edwards of Prince George's County, the highlight of the show was when Knotts asked two young boys to wave strips of white toilet paper and follow his lead.

Knotts and the boys danced with the toilet paper before tearing it up and making a small ball out of each piece. Knotts then stuffed his toilet paper ball into his mouth, causing his volunteers to raise their eyebrows and shake their heads "no."

For the final step, the magician pulled the paper out of his mouth revealing several strips of multi-colored fabric.

For Knotts, his favorite part of performing is seeing how the audience reacts to his tricks.

"Making memories for 45 minutes is the best part," Knotts said. "You can meet a ton of people and they'll hopefully remember you forever."

After an entertaining show, Knotts concluded his performance with a memorable ending.

"If you liked the show, my name is Josh Knotts," Knotts said. "If you hated it, I'm David Blaine."

Photo by Jessica Groover