As usual, I am driving. And as usual, it’s a mad route through crazily small hilltop roads (avoiding traffic on the freeway – half an hour to move 200 ft? No thank you) to get home to get changed to go to the Magic Castle (as you need a suit and tie).
So I make it up to the top of the mountain and the needle for petrol is essentially on empty. Then I make the (stupid?) executive decision to coast down the descent in neutral. I just about make it home, get changed and am out the door (only a little late) and then I realise (after petrol and am now on another freeway), that I had forgotten the paper invite!!
So I call to check if I need the paper.
Of course I do.
Bugger.
So after a few quick lane changes, I race home, get the paper and leg it to the place. Which is literally a castle on a hill!!!
And this year, 2013, is the 50th Anniversary of the Magic Castle, a place that ‘can’t wait to share their magic with you’ (nice).
The Magic Castle is a private members club for magicians and people in the ‘magical arts’ as well as supporters of and student s of magic. So it is pretty much shrouded in mystery about what goes on there (and stays in there).
So I jumped at the chance when via Brits in LA, I was able to go as the guest of David Minkin (http://www.davidminkin.com/) and see not only his work as a close-up magician, but also the chance to have a snoop around the Magic Castle.
And when I say Castle, I really do mean it in the English sense of the word, that ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’ as this place is designed within an enormous house. It does have some vaguely castle-looking bits, like turrets, but as I found out, it’s more like a giant house, featuring hidden staircases and secret doors and passageways and everywhere you go, there’s MAGIC happening!!
And they have a very strict no-camera policy. So I have no pictures, but from the moment the hidden doorway opens, you are transported into an other world.
The place is decorated as a plush house, I guess, in that there are deep carpets of a dark red colour laid throughout the building. There is a lot of dark wood, deep chairs, bars everywhere (brilliant) and all sorts of curios and exciting little toys, things, exhibits and, essentially, stuff that all have to do with magic. There are things like original tricks to creepy-looking ventriloquist dolls from way back when that seem to be hand painted and some that are in a state of disrepair but that you get the impression are original dolls. There are photos and pictures of magicians everywhere – all members or esteemed magicians and some of whom are surprising. We found ourselves looking at a picture and then saying ‘I didn’t know THEY were a magician!’ over and over again. It was truly fun.
And onto the magic! The place is a treasure trove of acts and I highly recommend getting there early so that you can wander around and see almost all of the acts and we kept discovering more and more places that amazing things were happening. Also, as there are students of magic within the Magic Castle too, you can see people who are training to become professional magicians and yes, their little skits may not be as polished, but their technique and artistry are something to behold. And it’s always nice to support talent. It was one of the highlights to see a guy, Stan, doing card tricks just for Kristina, Amanda and I. We got to see his work close up, to just talk to him and also to be amazed by his magic and surprised by his skill.
They also have shows by professional magicians and this is also a great thing to get there early for, so that you can get into the queues to see them as it is a free-for-all to see them. We had booked for dinner at the Castle, which is recommended on busy nights like Friday and Saturday and comes with a guaranteed ticket to one of the shows.
What was most fun, was to grab a drink from the numerous bars and walk around and explore and just se people doing work in front of you, around pretty much every corner. It really showed the difference in artistry between the students that we saw and the professionals, in terms of audience ‘patter’, showmanship and also mis-direction. It was the thing that made you look at something whilst another thing happened. But it was also the thing that made you want to get up and yell ‘how did you do that?! I was watching everything you did and that is just CRAZY!!’
But the main event (and the last thing we saw) was David’s close up show. He only plays to 22 people at a time, in a tiny room, where you are no more than a few feet from David. And his show is miraculous and amazing and blew our minds. I mean, one of the things the Magic Castle does well is to supply enough bars for you to get yourself pretty smashed, but as I was driving, I was sober enough to see that David is a wonderful magician and it was pretty fitting to have ended our fab night with the man who was the reason for our visit. I have see why he was the 2007 International Brotherhood of Magicians Close Up Magic Champion.
The other side says…in bed (given to me by a hypnotist no less)
More Use Than A Chocolate Teapot 