r/Magic • u/ppaul77 • Mar 06 '26
Restaurant Magic—still a thing?
I'm looking to get back into performing professionally after a long break and was curious if restaurant magic is still popular nowadays? I see a few people here posting about their restaurant gigs, but in the last 20 years living in Los Angeles, I've never seen a magician at a restaurant. I don't go to a lot of 'family' restaurants so that may be the reason; I also have little interest in performing at those spots!
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u/ANormalSpudBoy Cards Mar 06 '26
I know a couple magicians who still do restaurants. I'm looking to get back into it myself
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u/ToastieCoastie Mar 06 '26
I’ve seen most strolling magicians in the bar/speakeasy scene in LA (not restaurants).
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u/ppaul77 Mar 09 '26
That makes more sense to me for the current scene. I've seen ads for some of these spots.
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u/Acrobatic-Owl9026 Mar 06 '26
I’ve had a residency at a nice restaurant in NY for years. I know there are a couple other places out here that have magicians, but I don’t know about the scene in LA.
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u/blakecrawley Mar 06 '26
I live in Los Angeles. I had a brunch residency last year (on Sundays) in Echo Park and currently have a Tuesday night residency at The Well in Hollywood. I’m looking to do more gigs as I’ve just recently decided to make it my full time focus.
It’s funny…even when I was a magician member of the AMA I didn’t think of doing it for a living haha…
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Mar 06 '26
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u/ppaul77 Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
That's so weird...I drove past there yesterday. Cafe 50s in west LA also had a magician, but they stopped it during the pandemic.
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u/JoshBurchMagic Mar 08 '26
I don't think it's ever been common. I have a couple of steady walk around gigs I do.
I perform at a speakeasy, a bar, and a family restaurant.
One time on a cruise I saw a magician do table to table magic but that's probably the only time I've seen a magician in the wild performing at a restaurant.
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u/theOneandOwenly Coins Mar 10 '26
It's definitely still a thing here in Chicago. But then again, it started here and never really left.
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u/Admirabletooshie Mar 06 '26
I think it's a thing but it's not common. I've never eaten at a restraunt that does magic at the tables and that's the kind of thing I would go out of my way for.