Magician's monkey stuns Starbucks employee in viral TikTok Video

A magician from Wendell has gone viral on TikTok with a video of over 7 million views. The video features the magician and his sidekick, a monkey named Merlin.

The clip showcases David Hersh, known as "Magic by David" and Merlin in the viral video at a Starbucks drive-through. An employee's reaction was captured as Merlin touched the hand of one of the employees, leaving her shocked and amazed.

"I think it's 50% Merlin and 50% the Starbucks employee," Hersh said. "Her reaction is genuine, it's real, and if you watch her facial expressions, her mouth drops open, she's trying to videotape it, she can't even get the camera working. So I think it's half her and half being such a cute little monkey."

In addition to having Merlin, a marmoset monkey from Brazil, in his home, Hersh also cares for roosters, a tortoise, a rescued rabbit from the Wake Animal Shelter, a parrot and a snake.

Outside on his property, Hersh keeps dogs, 25 chickens in a chicken coop, miniature horses, cows, emus and other farm animals.

Hersh calls himself an animal lover and says he spends three hours daily caring for these animals.

"In the morning, it's probably just 90 minutes of feeding them taking care of them. In the afternoon, dinner time, it's probably another hour, hour and a half," Hersh said. "It's 3 hours a day of caring for the animals."

He says the monkey picks at the dogs' fur and sits on the chickens.

"He loves the animals because, by nature, they groom, so he likes to pick," Hersh said. "I have a dog; he goes through his fur. I have chickens, so he goes through their feathers."

Monkeys are legal in North Carolina; however, owners must have a license from the USDA.

Merlin has lived in Wendell with Hersh for the past ten years.

“I love animals. I’m an animal lover," Hersh said. "I’m known as the ‘animal magician.'"