You've Been Here

Last weekend, my wife and I were invited by a magician-friend to have dinner at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California. The Castle is a private club for professional and amateur illusionists who need an escape when their I-will-now-make-my-teenagers-act-normal trick fails to work.

The “World Famous Hollywood Magic Castle” is located just behind the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, housed in the former Victorian-style home of Rollin Lane, the man who 100 years ago owned much of the land in what is now Hollywood. But you probably already knew that, since from what I can tell, everyone in America has already visited the club. When I had a chance to dine at Club 33, the private VIP club inside of Disneyland, everyone I talked to said things like, “What’s Club 33?” or “I’ve been dying to go there; how did you get an invite?” or “So’s your mother.” But not with the Magic Castle. When I would casually mention our entry as guests into the Hollywood magical scene, a typical response would be, “Oh, you’ll like it; I enjoyed it when I visited last year.”

So it seems I’m the latecomer to the party. But it was still a nice evening, especially with over 600 prestidigitators and their guests crammed into the restructured house. The evening started at 6:00pm with dinner in the Houdini Room, a large alcove decorated with actual items from Houdini’s collection, including his wand, a straitjacket, several handcuffs, a man-sized milk can, and his famous Metamorphosis Box, from which he was seen escaping nightly. We enjoyed our repast around the seance table with our host Michael and his wife, four other couples of our mutual acquaintance, and possibly Mr. Houdini himself, assuming that he made good on his promise to escape death. I doubt he was there, since his food seemed to go untouched. That was unfortunate, since the food, while heavy on the red meat and clearly not five stars, was more than adequate in quality and taste, and at prices that paralleled those of an ordinary Friday night out.

Dinner was followed by one magic show after another. Many of the shows took place at one of the nearly one dozen bars on-site. (The “W. C. Fields” bar was taken from the Hello Dolly movie set.) You didn’t need a magic wand to see the drinks disappear; that night’s guests had no problem emptying shots at the slightest echo of an “abracadabra.” A few people had more than their fill, but for most it was just part of the 90-proof dinner club experience.

The big show that evening was in the 170-seat Palace of Mystery room, and featured comedian/magician Tom Burgoon, the funny and dexterous Skilldini (Tim Wright), and Reynold Alexander, a visiting magician from Puerto Rico. We also saw Shoot Ogawa perform some close-up magic, and Kostya Kimlat pass rubber bands, playing cards, and even drunk hecklers right through each other.

As a Hollywood hangout, the Castle is normally teaming with current stars and washed-up has-beens, although we did see anyone famous, and no one pointed us out either. We did pass a Japanese couple in the hallway, and a few seconds later we saw those same faces on a wall of magician photos. But the hobnobbing was pretty much limited to the stage.

The evening ended with a 12:30am dessert in the Dante Room. I think they sprinkled my chocolate cake with magic dust, because when I made it home at 2:00am, I fell right asleep. Amazing!

If you ever get a third or fourth chance to enjoy dinner and a show at the Magic Castle, I highly recommend going. While the friendly staff tries to embarrass you right up front by having you say “Open Sesame” to enter the club, it’s still a great place to enjoy an evening meal and some alakazam.