Hospital Volunteer Uses Magic To Uplift Patients: Video

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Magic tricks bring out the child-like wonder in everyone, but it can also be a welcome distraction for hospital patients. Patricia Marquis — whose stage name is Patricia Magicia — practices her craft for patients while she volunteers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Marquis is a French native and a member of the famous and exclusive Magic Castle in Los Angeles, according to the Cedars-Sinai press release.

"I bring sunshine to people who may not have visitors or who may be dealing with pain," said Marquis, who has been a Cedars-Sinai volunteer for more than two years. "I try to make each patient feel like they are the only person I came to perform for, that I happened to magically appear just for them."

Marquis had a successful career bringing high-end European lingerie retailers to the U.S. market, but she was eager to find something that would allow her to give back to her community, the press release said. When she was 32, a family friend died of blood cancer — that's when she decided she wanted to become a hospital volunteer.

"Magic seemed like a good challenge because I knew nothing about it," she said. "But I knew it would bring joy and laughter to both children and adults."

Marquis studied and trained at the Magic Castle for years before performing and perfecting her skills on her own. She performs her show at the Magic Castle, an orphanage in Tijuana, at Cedars-Sinai and at local veterans' hospitals, the press release said.

"Patricia — like all of our wonderful volunteers — brings energy, enthusiasm, and happiness into the lives of patients who often need a distraction or visitor," Casey McGuire, director of Volunteer Services at Cedars-Sinai said. "She's so vibrant, and she truly improves the experience of our patients."

Each time she enters a patient's room, she starts by saying "Today is your lucky day, you have two choices. Your first choice is, I can do magic for you. Or, I can make you a magician and you make me disappear."

While she can't use her talent to cure patients, she's able to bring magic to the mundane.

"I loved it. I think she's tremendous, talented and incredible," said Amanda Drewery, a Cedars-Sinai patient who recently saw Marquis' magic. "And it cheered me up a lot."

According to the release, Cedars-Sinai volunteers, who range in age from 14 to over 100-years-old, volunteered for a total of 170,000 hours in 2018.

Video courtesy of Cedars-Sinai