Trends for April 1, 2002

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, April 1, 2002 | 8:23 a.m.

Messing with your head

We here at Trends trust you've taken part in your fair share of tomfoolery today, seeing as how it's April Fools' Day and all.

If not, maybe Mac King can help. The Las Vegas magician/comedian, star of the "The Mac King Comedy Magic Show" at Harrah's, co-authored the recently published book "Tricks With Your Head: Hilarious Magic Tricks and Stunts to Disgust and Delight" (Three Rivers Press, $11).

With co-author Mark Levy, King has compiled a slew of goofy gags sure to stun and amaze unsuspecting audiences big and small.

Yes, folks, even you can learn to eat a flame, swallow a knife and gulp a goldfish.

Want people to think you've broken your nose? Check out pages 111-113 for the step-by-step instructions. "In the world of head magic, this is a standard, a classic," the authors explain.

All that's needed is a thumbnail of normal-to-long length and a convincing whine about stuffed sinuses. Cup your hands over your nose and under the cover of your palms, wedge the thumbnail under one of your top teeth.

"Twist your cupped hands slightly to the right" or the left, the directions explain, as though you are forcing your nose cartilage to either side. Meanwhile give your nail a good snap forward to create a painful breaking sound.

Let the holiday fun begin!

Peanut-buttery goodness

The celebrating need not stop once the clock strikes midnight tonight. Tuesday, in case you hadn't heard (and who had?), is National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day.

We'd like to tell you which big-budget government agency is sponsoring this yummy day, and what sort of festivities are planned. But we can't. Exhaustive cruising of the Information Superhighway didn't yield much about the, um, holiday's origin.

What we did find, however, was a bunch of trivia about the oft-used legume (and you thought the peanut was actually a nut ha!) and its butter, courtesy of the official website of the Atlanta-based National Peanut Board (nationalpeanutboard.com):