Question Re: Japanese Performers at the Magic Castle March 4 through 11

[erdnasephile]

I am visiting LA the week of March 4 - 11 and will be at the Castle. It turns out that this week features all Japanese performers, which is very exciting to me.

I'm trying to decide whether I should hit the early or late shows and on what day I should go, but I am completely unfamiliar with the performers.

Has anyone seen any of these performers, and are there any you especially favor?

Thanks!

The line up that week is:
CLOSE-UP GALLERY
Early Performer
Shimpei Katsuragawa
Late Performer
Shinichi Maruyama

PARLOUR OF PRESTIDIGITATION
Early Performer
Masataka Jimbo
Late Performer
Show Mikami

PALACE OF MYSTERY
Ken Masaki
Hamack Yanagida
Magie Shiro
(Monday - Wednesday)
Shun Kanamori
(Thursday - Sunday)

[Richard Kaufman]

I'm sure that Max Maven will have some idea about these performers, but I haven't seen any of them (nor heard of most of them) in my many trips to Japan. That doesn't mean they aren't an excellent group of magicians, and I'm sure you'll be amply entertained. As far as what shows to hit, why not both early AND late?

[erdnasephile]

I'm sure that Max Maven will have some idea about these performers, but I haven't seen any of them (nor heard of most of them) in my many trips to Japan. That doesn't mean they aren't an excellent group of magicians, and I'm sure you'll be amply entertained. As far as what shows to hit, why not both early AND late?

I'm taking my father with me and he's getting along in years. It's very likely we'd only be able to hit one of the 10:00 pm shows as it's way past his bedtime (talk about role reversals :grin:).

[Richard Kaufman]

It's very hard to get into the Palace if you're not having dinner. That might affect your plans.

[Mark Collier]

If it fits your schedule, I would recommend that you go early on a Monday or Tuesday night. If you get there 30 minutes before the first close-up show, there's a good chance you could see a close-up, parlor and the Palace show and still be on your way home before 10pm.

If you go later in the week and especially if you go on the weekend, Richard is right, you can forget about the Palace unless you have dinner.

[erdnasephile]

Thanks for the good advice!

Unfortunately, it looks like Sunday may be the most convenient day to go, and I want to treat my Dad to dinner there to get the full Castle experience. We'll get there as early as possible.

Does the dinner crowd get priority seating in the Palace? Should we plan on getting to the close-up show before dinner, eat dinner, and then go to the Palace?

[Mark Collier]

Try to get there early enough to see a close-up show before dinner. At dinner, you will get tickets to see the 8:30 Palace show. Ticketed guests are let in before non-ticketed guests. After the Palace show, you might be able to exit the Palace and go directly into the Palour show.
Good luck!

[Donal Chayce]

The policy of getting tickets to one of the Palace Shows if you have dinner is being phased out. I don't know what the last day will be, so it's possible that it will still be in place the first week of March. You might want to make a point of inquiring about it when you make your reservation.

[West McDonough]

I have, upon numerous occasions, managed to have dinner and still see every show at the Castle. Here is my route:

Unfortunately there is no Close-Up show before the dinner seatingthe earliest show is 7:00, and dinner starts at 6:00 or 6:30. If I'm having dinner at the early seating, usually the only way to get an early Close-Up show in is to get to dinner RIGHT as they open, hope you get a fast server, and try to be finished with dinner in time to make the 7:45 Close-Up show (which is why you can only really do this on a non-busy night, since on a Friday or Saturday the lines will be too long for you to get in this show). This lets you out in time to make it to the 8:30 Palace (which, since you're ticketed, you know you'll still have a seat for). Right after the Palace, exit quickly from the audience left/stage right door, take an immediate right and get in line for the 9:30 Parlor (the last of the early Parlor shows). I then stick around for the first late Parlor show, at 10:30, then see the late Close-Up at my leisure.

Good luck!

[erdnasephile]

Ms. McDonough:

Thank you very much for your post--I'm going to give your strategy a shot this coming Sunday.

[mrgoat]

I have, upon numerous occasions, managed to have dinner and still see every show at the Castle. Here is my route:

Unfortunately there is no Close-Up show before the dinner seatingthe earliest show is 7:00, and dinner starts at 6:00 or 6:30. If I'm having dinner at the early seating, usually the only way to get an early Close-Up show in is to get to dinner RIGHT as they open, hope you get a fast server, and try to be finished with dinner in time to make the 7:45 Close-Up show (which is why you can only really do this on a non-busy night, since on a Friday or Saturday the lines will be too long for you to get in this show). This lets you out in time to make it to the 8:30 Palace (which, since you're ticketed, you know you'll still have a seat for). Right after the Palace, exit quickly from the audience left/stage right door, take an immediate right and get in line for the 9:30 Parlor (the last of the early Parlor shows). I then stick around for the first late Parlor show, at 10:30, then see the late Close-Up at my leisure.

Good luck!

Wowzers, I've never managed to do that. Like your thinking. Although eating at 6pm would make me feel like my grandpa!

[Richard Kaufman]

Damian, you give me a chuckle. We (me, the missus, and the little Genii) eat dinner at exactly 5:30 every night. And my wife and I were doing this long before our child came along. I like eating early.

[West McDonough]

Although my route is for someone eating at 6:00, it's actually much easier for the 8:00 seating you just catch both early small-room performers before dinner (I usually go for the 7:00 Close Up and the next Parlor I forget what time it actually is), have dinner, see the 10:00 Palace show I'm ticketed for, then catch the late Parlor and finish with the late Close-Up. But the person who had originally posted was specifically trying to make an early night of it and was planning to do the early seating at dinner.

The 10:00 dinner seating, of course, makes it difficult to see both late shows in the same way the 6:00 is hard on the early shows. I'm sure there's a way there, too, but I admit I never figured it out since they only tend to have that seating on weekends, and I try to never eat there on weekends.

[mrgoat]

Damian, you give me a chuckle. We (me, the missus, and the little Genii) eat dinner at exactly 5:30 every night. And my wife and I were doing this long before our child came along. I like eating early.

What time do you have lunch, or get up?

I have breakfast about 8am, lunch at 1pm, and dinner about 8pm.

The though of eating at 5.30pm makes me feel like I should be in bed by 8.30pm, popping my false teeth out into the glass by my bed!

Glad I gave you a giggle though, that is my role in life.

[Richard Kaufman]

Up at 10 am, at my computer by 10:10 am.
Lunch at noon.
Dinner at 5:30.
Work until 10 pm.
Sleep at 1 am.

No breakfast.

[erdnasephile]

I'm with RK--I try not to eat after 6:00 p.m. to avoid the extra pounds that comes with grandpaness. :)

[luigimar]

RK is no Grandpa (yet). :-)

[Richard Kaufman]

No, not a grandpa.

[Pete Biro]

you could have brunch on Sunday too

[erdnasephile]

So, I made it to Magic of Japan week tonight: Here are some impressions. (WARNING: spoilers ahead--in the sense that the acts we saw are described)

First the Castle itself: I am absolutely amazed at how great the place looks and how beautifully the fire/water damage was restored. It looks terrific, and that's a real tribute the efforts of so many talented and dedicated individuals.

Second, I was impressed by how many board members I saw there tonight. NPH, Erika Larsen, Rich Cowley, Randy Sinnott and others were out and about and visible. As a member, it's great to know they are not just figureheads, but are actually there on the ground seeing how things are running and more importantly, enjoying the place with the guests and the membership. I was also pleasantly surprised how busy the place was for a Sunday night. A large seance party checked in just before us, and there were lots of young adults, which made for lively, enthusiastic audiences.

Dinner was a very pleasant surprise. I had read/heard previously that you're better off sticking with the red meat, but perversely, I decided to go all fish. The Ahi tuna tartare appetizer was presented in a lovely fashion. The garlic and sesame-infused tartate was served with crispy wonton chips and a ying/yang mix of a wasabi/chili sauce. Delicious! After the salad course, I proceeded to enjoy the steamed red snapper with zucchini/yellow squash shingles, finished with beurre blanc sauce over a bed of couscous. The fish was cooked perfectly--firm and moist--and it mated with the sauce quite nicely. My guest began with the lobster bisque and devoured the generous portion of rack of lamb. Yum! The waitstaff was very attentive without being intrusive--dishes vanished in a flash and food was served hot and promptly. The maitre de even came by to check on us personally. For the quality of food and the level of service, I felt the prices were an excellent value. Great job!

Right after dinner, we headed for the close up room--on the way passing by the new Dai Vernon seating area (where I think I saw Howard Hamburg sessioning).

After a brief wait, Shimpei Katsuragawa was introduced as a magician "whose instrument is a deck of cards". He is absolutely terrific! Mr. Katsuragawa has a very enthusiastic performing personality and quickly won over the audience with a series of 4 ace discoveries (I especially liked his "keyboard" location--nailed me bad). He had a very startling take on the 4 card monte that had the back row boys audibly gasping. He closed with a very strong card multi-phase matching effect that blew everyone away. If you are into cards--see him!

Out the door, up the stairs and straight to the Palace. If there was one hitch in the night, it was here. The traffic flow was pretty tough, as even though we had tickets for the 8:30 p.m. show, the waiting area was really tight. What made matters worse were some already tipsy ladies were pushing me into the nice couple in front of me as they attempted to jam their way past everyone else in the line. So much so, that while avoiding getting wine spilled on me, I got shoved one way while my guest got carried away with the flow of the horde. I wanted to tell them: "Folks, there's plenty of magic left for everyone!", but I ending up trying to swim upstream and managed to pass my guest their ticket as we passed on opposite ends of the rope line.

After we found our seats, I looked around and was jazzed to see none other than Shimada himself coming up the aisle. Wow! One of my heroes in magic in the flesh--seeing him completely made my night.

The lights dimmed, and we were welcomed by Palace MC, Shun Kanamori, whose comedy magic had the place in stitches in between the acts. He showed an awful lot of faith in the tensile strength of rubber, and presented a very funny four queens cutting demonstration with a great blow off. He closed with a rather unique presentation of a "Dream Vision" type effect (and had a great ad lib in the middle), but unfortuanately, penmanship may have tipped the method to the wise.

Ken Masaki actually did two acts. The first was a modern manipulation act with fans, flowers, mini-snowstorm, and billiard balls. It's always interesting to hear what impresses the laity during these acts, and I have never seen so much audience response to vanishing a billiard ball with a shell. From the noise they were making, it was clear they were just blown away as the Mr. Masaki just loaded the shell rather openly. I have to admit--with the glitter balls, it looked pretty darn magical. On the other hand, I've never found the flipstick principle to suit my tastes, and unfortunately, on this night, there were a few flashes with the fans which I think dampened the audience response a bit. His surprise finish wowed the crowd, though (and me as well).

Next came the guy with "magic and smiles", Hamack Yanagida. Nice contrast to the first act--he instantly gets a reaction with his long blond hair and LED glasses. He came complete with 2 Japanese female assistants, one of whom was a hilarious translator, which formed a running gag throughout the act. He begans with a transformation of a large bottle of Coke, followed by a "Hang 'em High" type routine (with a commando finish). A really funny (and fooling) vanishing water routine closed the set.

Ken Masaki returned with what I think was the strongest of his two sets when he performed some graceful traditional Japanese magic. The parasol manipulation was very strong, but what caught my attention was an extended sequence with a two level drawer box. It's hard to describe exactly, but I was unfamiliar with this type of routine and found it fascinating. It was clear that this was Mr. Masaki's comfort zone, and I found it very enjoyable!

Out the left door and quickly to the Parlour for our last show of the night. We were treated to Genii award winner, Masataka Jimbo. This quiet performer began with an unusual rope routine with a killer ended that fooled me. A somewhat slow chop cup sequence followed (with a triple standup load). However, he really hit his stride when he began his extended coin sequence. Beginning with the requisite muscle pass demonstration, followed by some extremely rapid (and impressive) coin rolls, he launched into series of coin effects, woven together with a mischievous magic marker. Productions, vanishes, transpositions, call backs, misers dream--you name it, this sequence had it. It's a tribute to Jimbo that it all worked in context. He closed with a routine he said was dear to him, and that proved to be card manipulation. Now it's one thing to do clean split fan manipulation on a large stage, but it takes a lot of confidence to do it 3 feet from the front row. This routine drew the strongest audience reaction of the night, and deservedly so. Strong work, Jimbo!

One thing I thought was neat was that both Mr. Katsuragawa and Mr. Jimbo made it a point to shake hands with the audience members as they left, which gave the audience a chance to interact with them personally. They really came accross as earnest, authentic performers and as nice guys. Hard to beat that for a finale!

All in all, this was a splendid evening and my guest had a blast. I was encouraged that things seemed were running so smoothly and that people seemed to be having a great time. It gives me optimism and hope for the future of this grand ole place. Kudos to the BOD, the staff, and the performers for a job well done!

PS: Before I forget, I especially wanted to express my appreciation to West McDonough--her detailed suggestions on how to have dinner and see all the shows worked like a charm. Coincidentally, I actually ended up sitting right behind her and Jonathan during the Palace show, but didn't want to interrupt to say thanks, so I thought I'd do it now. Thanks, West! (and congrats :) )

[Richard Kaufman]

Thanks for the excellent report!
There are times when I wish I lived on the west coast.

[West McDonough]

Aw, you should have gone ahead and introduced yourself I like putting faces with names! :)

[erdnasephile]

I'm glad you liked the report, Richard--I really had a great time--I think every magician should make the pilgrimage at least once.

West--should I ever run into you and Jonathan again I shall. :)

Thanks again!