A Night at the Magic Castle

A passing interest of mine, when I was quite young, was magic.  Not the kind of Wiccan mythology incantations you might read in a Harry Potter novel, but the run-of-the-mill saw your assistant in half sort of business.  There's still a couple of books sitting in my old bedroom with numerous tricks all over, but there's no way I'm able to perform any of them in any sense.  Even so, I've always been fascinated with magicians and their dedication to the performance and practice of magic.  One such highlight was seeing David Copperfield for the first time, the numerous on-air specials of his, Lance Burton, and even the mysteriousness of Harry Blackstone.  Popular magicians they were, but very intriguing as well is their connection to the history of magic.

No doubt then, why I was duly impressed with the Magic Castle . 

A Hollywood landmark for several decades, the Magic Castle is a converted Victorian House serving as a private club and home to the Academy of Magical Arts .  Lucky as we were to have a couple of connections, we were able to have a pre-birthday dinner for Grace and see a few of the featured magicians perform sleight of hand, prestidigitation, and even mental feats of mystery.  The club itself does a good job of keying in the atmosphere as the space is quite warm and very indicative of mid-century elegance.  One can find the dining area typical of the traditional American steakhouse, but the 5 bars situated throughout the Castle appear friendly and inviting.  For a Monday evening, the venue was spare, but it's been known to be quite crowded during peak days and hours.

Performances were definitely the highlight.  We started out in the Close-Up Gallery and were treated to a fine introduction to the sleight-of-hand magic of John Carney.  His dexterous work with a deck of cards had to be seen to be believed, but his opening 10-thimble trick was a classic.  Our second act was Art Benjamin, the Mathmagician.  A full-time professor of mathematics, Mr. Benjamin moonlights as a mental marvel.  His most impressive calculations were shadowed by the fact that he could square a five-digit number using only his training and knowledge of mathematical principals.  Even if it wasn't magic in the obvious sense, it was amazing.

After a brief retreat to an excellent dinner (rack of lamb and prime rib), our little group moved along to the main stage for the featured performers, Shoot Ogawa and Fielding West.  Shoot, a revered Japanese magician, performed a group of quick illusions including some color-changing batons and a coup de grace of disappearing and reappearing fans and warmed up the crowd very well for the Las Vegas lounge-act of Fielding West.  Mr. West, no doubt a magic and comedy veteran, put on a well-practiced series of tricks.  He fooled me with his maniacal destruction of Bob the Bird and even managed to put a spin on an old classic.  I'm afraid, however, that some of the crowd really wasn't entertained, which I think is a shame. 

Rounding out the night was another dose of the Close-Up Gallery and the relatively new tricks of Adam Grace, including a rather unique cell phone trick.  As it was quite late already, we made our way to visit the invisible pianist, Irma and requested a few old favorites.  The room itself, with its Mucha-painted ceiling and dark velvet couches reminded me that a lot of magic really is in the sell.  The atmosphere and performance, the devotion to the practice of illusions, and the passion of each magician can be seen in the posters and caricatures lining the walls.  There is a rich legacy at the Magic Castle, which no doubt spans the decades and it's depressing to think that it one day could become a relic.  While magicians like David Blaine and Criss Angel seek to make "street magic" relevant at a very cynical cultural crossroads, I'm encouraged by those that continue to sell the tradition.

******

PS - This also brings to mind a very prominent magician and advocate, Ricky Jay, but that is a post for another time.  This one's already gotten too long...