A Alacadabra Facts: This phrase combines the two popular magic words abracadabra and alakazam. Common Magician's Applications: Triggering. For example: "Looking to have something special at your next party? Just say the magic word 'Alacadabra' and our magicians will be there."129 Variations and Incantations: • Ala cadabra kazam This phrase combines the magic words ala, kazam, alakazam, cadabra, and abracadabra. "I do not know of a magic wand and an 'ala cadabra kazam' formula to snap one out of it." -- SunSpiritGallery.com (2002) Alakazam (see also ala and kazam) A word I did not understand It sounded like magic Like Alakazzam -- Frigid Darkness, "Alakazzam," Allpoetry.com (200 ) Amazing how a few words could change a person's mood in an instant. Alakazam! And not just words, but how a person said them. -- Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, Possibles (1995) Mystique: Alakazam's power lies in its mystery. The word is the very definition of secret. It's something beyond understanding, something we can never get to the bottom of,1 0 something so wondrous it should only be whispered, if uttered at all. Alakazam expresses something unobservable, hence its appropriateness for sleight-of-hand. It describes a contradiction -- a paradox -- hence its appropriateness for illusions demonstrating the impossible. It's an ephemeral word, gone almost before it can be fully spoken: the initial ala is a distant echo by the time the zam takes a powder. It's also an ethereal word, inherently otherworldly. Alakazam retains an aura of mystery -- and therefore magic -- even as most other words have become mundane with usage. Serge Kahili King, scholar of Polynesian philosophy, explains: 129 Bounce-4fun.com (2005) 1 0 Sam Mackintosh, "Mystery and Reverence in Family Ritual" (2001)