I Heard This Before…

[Dustin Stinett]

Move over Magic Castle

Or so starts the brief mention of a new magic bar opening a couple of blocks away from the Magic Castle:

http://la.eater.com/archives/2011/10/06 ... rtinis.php

I think its great that there is a new venue for working magicians opening in the area. But each time such a place has opened and has suggested that they are going to somehow replace the Magic Castle, well, the fact is that the Castle is still there while the other places are long gone. To my knowledge, the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa has never made such a claim, and they remain in business after many decades. Its lesson worth learning.

Good luck to the Hollywood Magic Bar! I hope you can find your niche, provide a lot of work for my friends, and prosper for the good of us all.

Dustin

[Chris Aguilar]

To my knowledge, the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa has never made such a claim, and they remain in business after many decades. Its lesson worth learning.

Do they actually feature magicians on a regular basis there?

I checked their site and could not find a single magic show booked on their calendar.

Perhaps they've got strolling magicians that don't get shown as formal shows?

[Dustin Stinett]

Magicians work there on the stage; how often I can't say (it's been a long time since I've been up there). But I have friends who often say things like, "I was at the Comedy and Magic Club and..." (etc.).

Another example of a place that never said "move over Magic Castle" is Steve Spill's Magicopolis, and he's still plugging away.

The point is that the new bar is a new (and different) venue and it shouldn't position itself (or allow the press to position it) as a direct threat to the Castle. It has never worked because the Castle is unique.

Dustin

[Brian Hebert]

I found this on their site. Looks like a great bunch.

http://www.hollywoodmagicbar.com/#!calendar

[Dustin Stinett]

Sisuepahn Phila (Brian Gillis and Sisuepahn) posted this to the Magic Castle Member's Facebook site:

There seems to be a misunderstanding about our event posting on a site eater.com about our Hollywood Magic Bar opening October 23rd. Just to let everyone know, they posted that article on their own and we had nothing to do with it. We are in no competition with the Magic Castle. The Magic Castle is a private venue, we are a public venue The selection of this location was to target tourists who wouldn't know about or be able to get into the Magic Castle. The Magic Castle is open 7 days a week, we are open just Sunday nights. There never has been and never will be anything to compare to the Magic Castle. If anything we are highlighting the magic industry in the area with our promotion. One of our main goals was to give magicians another venue in which to perform and promote themselves for other parties and events. We are allowing all Magic Castle members into our event for free. We are also promoting the Magic Castle for possible new membership. We're sorry if anyone was offended by that website posting but again we had nothing to do with it and that posting will not affect the Magic Castle or its membership in anyway.

I am a co-producer and I'm booking all the acts ...

P.S. We all owe our livelihood to the Magic Castle and I've always treasured it!

Thank you,

Sisuepahn

[Richard Kaufman]

Just another example of the media manipulating facts to create a fuss where none exists.

[IrishMagicNews]

Just saw that one of the performers websites linked to through the magic bar website in turn links to this page

http://redondobeachcastle.com/about/parties