she float-ed. i went old school on saturday. like old school magicians. there's not "street magic," no floating over the grand canyon, no sitting in a box for however many days. there were just birds, top hats, cards, coins, balls, rings, strings and all of them classic magic things. for stacey's birthday i was lucky enough to get the chance to enter the infamous magic castle. at first i thought it sounded incredibly cheezy and hokey. c'mon, disneyland is down the street, how cool can a magic castle be? but then i read up about it and thought that this might be the coolest thing ever.



the magic castle is an actual castle nestled atop the hills of hollywood. inside are real live magicians that train and learn their craft. it's like a hogwarts but with older students. they have a dinner show and performances year round but the only way you can get in is by knowing a magician. now i'm not important enough to actually know anyone, much less a magician, but stacey is. so, we got to go.



at first the castle was a tad underwhelming. it wasn't really nestled into the hills. it was just one street above the kodak theatre. i was expecting extravagant views of the city, instead we overlooked some medium rise apartment buildings. the castle wasn't a castle as much as it was a low ceiling mini-mansion. think the jekyll and hyde restaurant in new york. sort of like that. this place was old school, with pictures of magicians and their famous posters. the only person i recognized was houdini.



but the magic lay not in the decor or the building but within the magicians themselves. and let's just say that these magicians were pretty spectacular. we saw a total of maybe six shows and most of them were downright astounding. birds popping out of thin air, balls appearing every which where. mind reading card tricks. classic magic stuff that you think you know but really haven't seen. and never have you seen it all performed so well. and with so much humor. magicians are funny folk. who knew?



by the end of the night i was deeply impressed with the place. there weren't any hidden trap doors to find (or we just didn't find them), or scary hallways to explore and many of the magicians seemed downright plain but to be that up close and personal watching cards change before your very eyes is sort of unbelievable. we will have to go sometime. i didn't meet any magicians, as was my intended goal, but perhaps i can borrow stacey's.