Hope this comes to life as I would love to have a Magic Castle here in Chicago! Fingers Crossed.

https://newyorkyimby.us14.list-manage.co......5cbc95d1

Doesn't seem like a "maybe" at this point - seems like it is most certainly opening!

Between the Chicago Magic Lounge and this new venue, Chicago will be quite the magic destination!

If you haven't yet, please do yourself a favor and go see a show at the Rhapsody Theater in the Rogers Park neighborhood if you're in the city! I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of it, found it randomly, and learned they're just in their 3rd year open. A few months after learning of it I got to see Dani DaOrtiz there - someone I wasn't sure I would ever get to see live. A great, intimate setting with a bar/restaurant separated from the actual performance space. They have a few more residencies scheduled this season including Joshua Jay, Andi Gladwin, and Dr. Ricardo Rosenkranz (who I believe is the owner, or at least co-owner).

There is also the Magic Parlour, where Dennis Watkins performs, which just moved into it's own new location in the theater district a few years ago, I believe. I haven't gotten to go yet, but I plan on making a trip soon.

I'm not quite sure what the reason is, but Chicago has seen quite a large revival (or expansion) of live magic over the past few years and The Hand & The Eye is hopefully more of a reassurance of this fact and less of a huge gamble! I do wonder what having such a massive (certainly pricey) option will do to the Magic Lounge, Parlour, and newer spots like the Rhapsody. Who will be able to book acts that sell tickets? It's a large city, but how many performers with "pull" can be consistently booked year-after-year at the Lounge, a theater, and a huge multi-room, multi-stage venue downtown? I hope it helps the art form and can work like the Magic Castle (where you may not know every performer beforehand, but you are guaranteed a highly-skilled, entertaining performance) and doesn't end up feeling like a multimillionaire planting their flag in field that hurts the smaller companies that have made an investment in bringing magic to the city over the last several years/decades.

I have attended several shows at Rhapsody. Just saw John Carney a few weeks ago and one of my all time favorites David Williamson last fall. I was a non resident magician member of the Magic Castle for quite a few years and would be overjoyed if something similar was available here in Chicago.

I see it's slated to open in March. Anyone have any additional updates?

Well, honestly, if there HAD to be another "Magic Castle," I can't think of a better place than Chicago for it to be.

I’ll go out on a limb and say that the Castle will pale in comparison to The Hand and the Eye, and in every category except history…

It’s open and Nick Locapo discusses it in the S7E27 episode of the Penguin Magic Podcast. There are also a number of Google reviews, which I feel is somewhat premature given the place has only been open a few weeks and they’re obviously working through the start-up process every new establishment faces. That said, I visited their website and found the food/beverage menu …

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/69a5c......Menu.pdf

I realize it must be hugely expensive to run any business establishment these days, especially one offering food and drinks, but these prices seem high, even for Chicago. Booking tickets for their “experience” also seems quite high at nearly $500 for a party of 2 at the 7:30 seating on a Wednesday night.

From 1976 to around 2008 I was a regular member of the Magic Castle. In the early years of my membership, I truly loved the place because it felt like an actual club for magicians as opposed to a business focused on profits. And therein lay the rub. What I didn’t know at that time, was that the castle was hurting financially and as much as I liked and admired “Pres for Life” Bill Larson, when it came to the castle he evidently wasn’t the most astute of businessmen. And so, I watched the castle go through its transition from what felt like a member focus to a guest focus. Prices for everything started shooting up, new rules were implemented for things like “priority access” to shows, dues skyrocketed, etc. I visited the castle recently and in my opinion it’s become just another one of LA’s overpriced Disney-esque attractions. And I get it. The Magic Castle wouldn’t exist today if it had remained the castle I joined 50 years ago. It had to become a profit-centered business in order to survive and that’s all there is to it.

Clearly the owners and operators of “The Hand & the Eye” understand this, too. So right out of the gate they’re establishing and running the place like they’re Disneyland in Chicago and you’ll practically need a second mortgage on your house to spend an evening there. Oh sure, like the castle they plan to offer some sort of “membership” to create the illusion of it being an exclusive club, but that’s really just another profit center and for members I’m sure the value added will be negligible, just as it is these days at the castle.

I wish them all great success, while at the same time I miss the feel of a place for magicians that was a lot like “Cheers,” where “… they're always glad you came. You wanna go where people know people are all the same. You wanna go where everybody knows your name.”

The Hand and the Eye, the huge new magic venue in Chicago, has been shrouded in mystery. It took over an iconic location (the McCormick mansion, most recently the long-time home of Lawry’s Prime Rib) and put it through a fifty-million-dollar renovation. The results leave it virtually unrecognizable and very beautiful.

They allow no photos inside; in fact, they place a sticker over your phone camera upon arrival. There is very little concrete information on their website or anywhere else. They want guests to be surprised, and so I won’t ruin it here either. However, I will give you a much better idea of what an evening there consists of so that you can decide if it’s for you or not.

Let’s get some stuff out of the way that everyone seems to ask about:

- Yes, it is expensive. Tickets at this time are $250 per person; $75 of each ticket is applied towards your dinner tab. All tickets include time in the restaurant. The food is good, not spectacular or groundbreaking in any way. It’s a solid sort of standard “country club food”. Steak, fish, chicken. It’s nice, but not why you are here.

- Yes, you need to dress up. Jackets are required; most men had on ties, a few were in full tuxedos. This may sound off-putting, but the net result is kind of fun. It makes the night feel a little more special.

- Yes, it is 21 and over. No kids, no birthday magic. This again elevates the vibe inside.

So what exactly is it then? In our case, the total experience took over 5 hours! I have no idea if this is the norm or not. We were told via advanced emails and texts to expect to spend about 3 hours there. Ours was much longer. We arrived at 5:30 for our 5:45 reservation as we were advised to do. We left close to 11 p.m.

Guests are split into smaller sub-groups and kept track of by hosts who inform you when and where to go. You then engage in a series of magic performances ranging from one-on-one close-up magic performed in a bar to parlor magic performed in increasingly large theaters. The smallest one is very small, maybe 30 people? The largest is still intimate but now all the subgroups have joined back up so it seats everyone at once.

We saw at least 7 different performers across 4 venues.

In the middle, you take a break for an hour or so to eat dinner. One may get the impression that you wander around a mansion discovering things, almost like a game or an escape room. It is not that. It’s going from one venue to the next but along the way you may discover some hidden details and secrets if you choose to look, and are curious and observant.

The quality of the performances was stellar. These are all very skilled magicians. Several I have seen perform on TV. The performers change and rotate and may only be here for a short period so each visit would likely be significantly different. Even on our one given night, some subgroups saw different performers than the others.

We found it to be fun, engaging, very well produced, and for us, it was worth the money. You should note that the $75 dining credit is just that, a dining credit. It may not be applied at the bars or shop or anywhere other than dinner. They also apply a 22% tip to everything you order. So once again, it’s expensive.

We will go back but it’s not something you would likely do often. However, it feels like every visit will bring new experiences.

Ideally, I’d like to see it maybe 15% less expensive but you can really see and feel where the money has gone. Everything is custom. Everything is well designed and constructed. I have been to similar venues around the world and this one surpasses them in most regards.

I do think this will be a hard sell to many people. Especially since you are I. Essence going in blind. But everyone around us appeared to be having fun. The performances are intimate and interactive and the end result is a unique and offbeat experience that deserves a chance, especially if you are into magic.

Sounds like you really need to be into magic. Not for the casual observer or enthusiast. The question is are there enough "really into magic" people for this and who are willing to spend the money for this to succeed? Seems like an uphill climb. Thanks for the review.

While I applaud all these places, I have a simple question. Why can no one simply come up with a nice magic cafe place where you could buy burgers hot.Dogs, chicken sandwiches, fries and have a great meal.As well as a great show and simply make a little money off a lot of people.And keep the place jam packed and not have to be so fancy about it? Keep it very simple.Believe mePeople will come and jam the place Solid, if you offer a reasonable price, good talent and everybody could relax and have fun.And watch magic and mentalism with the main focus on entertainment and not always the big bucks.

Good magic to all,

Eric

Your thoughts are interesting. I'm not sure there are enough people into magic (excluding magicians and the magic community here) to support such a venue. Having a typical fare isn't necessarily special or unique or would be considered a destination place. Having a bit of a premium takes it to such a level.

The other concern is the level of talent. An affordable family place would likely limit the amount and level of talent that could be featured. This is what often reduces things to only local kids and family types of magicians which ends up making it like a Chuck E. Cheese of magic. This likely wouldn't be profitable or a large enough draw to sustain such an endeavor.

Magic needs to be elevated and move on from just this level of stereotypical kids magician. This is what these premium type of venues are trying to do. Decent food, decently paid performers, and a higher admission is really the only way to attempt something like this. There are no big named magicians today that can put magic back int the mainstream spotlight and that could anchor or attract families to magic as there have been in past generations.

My only issue is that it being priced out of the range of the VAST major of those who used to enjoy the many magic venues in Chicago. It is the antithesis of what it started as.

Danny, I would say the only thing this endeavor has in common with the era you started in, is the city it’s located in. Beyond that, everything about the business model is New York and LA born.

To clarify what was said in my previous review:

I think I was the only one in the audience “in to Magic”. Obviously the guests who were there, it was a full house, were somewhat interested in magic but I got the impression that few viewed it as a hobby or performed. In other words these were people from outside the magic community, which is good news for the venue.

I say this based on several factors including speaking to several other guests, observing their reactions and the reactions the staff had to me when it became apparent that I was indeed in to Magic. They almost seemed surprised and then happy to discuss it.

Perhaps most telling was during the final performance the magician asked if we knew who Erik Weisz was. I was the only person to applaud or show any sign of recognition. I believe they are attracting a largely non-magician audience.

As far as being fancy or expensive, well it’s both. But that’s a choice the owner has made. It’s not good or bad in and of itself. It is more limiting but it also offers an experience very different than what it might be if it were a different concept at a different price.

For what it is, it’s very well done. If it’s of interest to any individual person or not is strictly personal.

Yep.

No doubt.

Not necessarily good or bad. Just factual.

Correction from above. This is extremely minor but I don’t want to post incorrect info.
The ticket price after taxes was $239 per person, $75 then applied towards dinner.

You know, the price is high no matter how you cut it. $239 before any extra drinks etc is a lot! But there is another way to look at it. $239 -$75 (dinner credit) is $164. In our case, after subtracting an hour for dinner and another 30 min just walking around we were left with about 3.5 hours of actual shows or bar magic. That’s about $46 per hour for the actual magic. Now that’s STILL expensive but it’s similar to what you would spend at the Magic Lounge, which is a shorter and less lavish (though also great) experience.

I feel triggered.

FUNNY!!!