Okay…so this is a review of The “World Famous” Magic Castle in Hollywood. If you live in Los Angeles you’ve probably heard about it. It’s basically a secret magical members only club where magicians can go and hone their craft, and aspiring magicians go to learn how to be the best in the world. Go ahead and look here if you REALLY want the full story on this place…I’m just giving you the highlights of MY experience with the place…and I sincerely apologize if I offend any one who really loves magic.
Yeah, I’ve seen David Copperfield perform and was hell bent on it when I went to Vegas, and I wanted to go to this place too…but I was looking for more of a Job from “Arrested Development” experience…and I’m really pleased to say that’s EXACTLY what I got!
Job's theme song was "The Final countdown" other magicians had theme songs too at the Castle!
When you go to the castle, it’s quite a process. You must know a member. Thankfully, my sister had a friend of a friend of a friend, who put us on some list so we were able to get in without a problem. We were supposed to have dinner there, but decided we weren’t hungry so we avoided the maitre’d-we didn’t want to spend a ton of cash on their pricey menu…so I ordered a club soda for $3.00 and toted that around. No one seemed to notice us, and that was fine with me.
Another big issue in going into the castle was their STRICT dress code. Men MUST wear suit jackets and ties, or other acceptable attire-ruffled shirts, bolo ties, bow ties etc…you know. “Magician” looking stuff. NO denim. No sneakers…you get the picture. For the ladies, “an elegant pantsuit is acceptable”, or a cocktail dress, dress, or for lunches or brunches there, they say: “Think smart business casual.” Don’t most corporations allow people to wear jeans now on casual Fridays? Anyways…two girls in front of us were pleading with the hostesses about their boyfriends joining them, and that they weren’t able to go home and change into proper business attire. No problem! At The Magic Castle, you can RENT a pair of paint, suit, tie, even SHOES! So good to know about the dress code options..I should’ve inquired about options for ladies not showing up in appropriate attire.
My sister wore an adorable retro-fabulous velvet suit with nice silk top and sparkly high heels, complete with panty hose, jewelry, etc… I wore a chiffon Banana Republic dress that had been crumpled up in a plastic bag in my closet for two years with a pair of pleather flats from Target, and NO pantyhose. I compensated by brushing my hair and wearing a dramatic shade of lipstick. We arrived at the Castle at 6:30. Walked up to a bookshelf that opened when we said “Open Sesame.”-and led us into the magical domain.
Sadly, no cell phones or cameras are allowed in the Castle. So I don’t have any photos to post. I can tell you this. The Magic Castle reminded me of a dilapidated version of the Playboy Mansion, The Friars Club of New York, and Upright Citizens Brigade in NYC-except with a nicer selection of alcohol-on 26th street-all rolled into one.
This is from Arrested Development...but it could as easily been taken at the Magic Castle!
Magicians were sprawled out everywhere doing card tricks for anyone willing to watch. People would line up 30 minutes in advance to see a performance by a magician in one of the three theaters they had available. Women were wearing full on cocktail dresses and GOWNS with elbow length gloves and hats…most of the men had long hair, were in their mid to late 30’s wearing tuxedos, spats, and one did have on a ruffled shirt with an “Affliction” type emblem on his sleeve. He did magic tricks with bubbles and a pole that floated around. Another man did a series of magic tricks involving jalapenos and other chili pepper inspired items, and played Buster Poindexter’s “Hot Hot Hot”-my sister and I questioned whether or not he should update his theme song to “Hot in Herrrrrre” by Nelly, but decided that “Hot Hot Hot” is more of a crowd pleaser and classic.
Oddly enough we were at the Castle for over 3 hours. That was plenty of magic for us. We even heard two magicians argue and debate about Harry Houdini’s death while watching another one attempt to do a magic trick with a dollar bill. I seriously considered turning a paper napkin into a rose, but didn’t want to draw any attention to myself.
When we left the castle it was PACKED. Filled with LA women in really tight slutty dresses-magic groupies I guess? Even more people kept rolling in….who knew the magic castle could be such a scene?
Would I go again? Hells yeah I would! I can’t say the experience was AMAZING…but it was highly entertaining, and like I said…If you like “Arrested Development”…you’ll LOVE The Magic Castle!
Once again...from Arrested Development, but you can see a similar looking guy at the castle!
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World Of Randi 