Michael Falco for The New York TimeA magician working restaurants in New York for free? Yep, that would be Josh Beckerman and he's profiled in an article from the New York Times :
Over the past year or so, he has become a nightly presence at restaurants across the city. Go out often enough and the foodie magician will materialize at the edge of your table like a lone mariachi clenching a deck of Duane Reade playing cards.
“I’m out every night,” he said. “All I do is eat and entertain. All I spend money on is food. I can’t stay home. I get too antsy.”
Mr. Beckerman, who lives in Midtown Manhattan, makes money as a professional magician at corporate parties, charity events, weddings and bar mitzvahs, but his conversational currents tend more toward the realm of Anthony Bourdain than David Blaine. Naturally, this being the 21st century, he presides over a blog, called NYC Foodie, which chronicles his adventures in eating. He has a thing for burgers. “The lamb burger at the Breslin is one of the best burgers in New York,” he said. “I get turned on just by looking at a menu.