We all know New York can be a magical place. But did you know that there’s real magic happening here? You only have to know where to find it.
Back in the 1800s, parlor magic was all the rage. European aristocrats would invite conjurers to entertain their guests with sleight-of-hand. Today, the tradition continues, and you don’t have to be a Vanderbilt to be invited. You do have to dress up, though.
Steve Cohen is “the Millionaire’s Magician” — he’s performed for Warren Buffet and the queen of Morocco, even at […]
I will be touring in September, and hope you can help spread the word. Tickets are now available for Chamber Magic performances in Atlanta. That’s right, Atlanta! The show will be identical to my long-running Waldorf-Astoria show in New York.
I’m excited to announce the following tour dates:
ATLANTA:
Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta
75 Fourteenth Street NE
September 21 and 22
(Four performances – 7pm and 9:30pm each night)
More details […]
As a boy growing up in the 1980s, I eagerly anticipated each year’s David Copperfield special on television. I even convinced my parents to take me to his live theater show as a graduation gift. Copperfield has been an icon in the magic world for as long as I can remember, and I’ve watched every one of his television shows multiple times.
What an honor, then, to have David Copperfield visit my show at the Waldorf-Astoria this past weekend. It was thrilling to see him in the audience – this time watching me!
I was elated.
After the show, we went downstairs to the Bull & Bear restaurant and spent an hour talking about […]
(This story by Mark Sicher has never been published, but has remained in my files since Mark died at age 23.)
The first time I saw him perform was downtown at Mostly Magic. I was 14 and by this time I had read about most of his famous tricks: The Coins Through the Table, The Silk Handkerchiefs, The Paper Balls in the Box, etc.. Now was my chance to see them live. But first, the other acts: some guy with sponge balls, another with rings, and a third with… the rings. Then came intermission.
Sitting by myself at a table in back I looked around, trying to spot Slydini. Very often at Mostly Magic, performers would be in the audience before they went on, checking out the other acts. It didn’t take long to spot him. I recognized him immediately. Small, old, his hair combed back with grease, he was at one of the tables down front with a couple of other older men. He was talking quietly, smiling, laughing. I watched as he placed a cigarette into his mouth, struck a match, lit the cigarette and made the match disappear in the smoke. The men laughed. I didn’t. I didn’t remember reading about that one.
Finally, he stood up and began walking away. Now was my chance. I jumped up from my seat and
For over one hundred twenty years, Carnegie Hall has been a world-famous venue for music, but not magic. It was an honor, then — a once-in-a-lifetime achievement — to be able to perform my full evening magic show there on January 12, 2012. The show ran two hours, and received a standing ovation from the sold-out auditorium.
I’d like to thank all of you who came to the show. I’ll always remember the electric anticipation you projected as I walked on-stage. Looking out at you, I felt anticipation too — like we were creating a historic moment together.
Throughout my career I’ve always believed that magic has the potential to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other performing arts, such as ballet, opera and orchestral music. Magic can be more, much more, than a simple diversion. The artistry required to construct and stage a theatrical magic show is on par with the training, thought and creativity required to present other traditional art forms.
My personal goal in staging a magic show at Carnegie Hall was to prove that the art of magic is capable of accepting its due respect, if only we give it the chance. It was immensely satisfying to see that the public supported this belief; the entire theater was sold-out months in advance.
Because I am used to performing for small audiences of 50 people at the Waldorf-Astoria, the nearly 300-seat Weill Recital Hall presented some challenges. I did my best to cross the footlights and reach out to the entire audience, even up to the balcony.
In this blog, I’ve composed a full report of the evening, from my perspective as performer and producer […]
Steve Cohen is the first magician in 38 years to perform at the venerable venue.
By Miriam Kreinin Souccar
For 11 years, magician Steve Cohen has been entertaining VIPs such as Warren Buffett, Renée Zellweger and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia at private parties and exclusive shows at the Waldorf Astoria.
Now, the self-titled “Millionaires’ Magician” is taking his tricks to a bigger stage. On Jan. 12, Mr. Cohen will debut Theater of Wonder at Carnegie Hall’s 270-seat Weill Recital Hall. It is one of the few times that a magician has appeared on any of the venerable venue’s stages.
The show will include Mr. Cohen’s longtime crowd-pleasers, like the one where he pours audience members’ favorite beverages—from hot chocolate to frozen margaritas—out of a single teapot. Mr. Cohen will try some new feats, too, like cutting up a spectator’s necktie and then restoring it.
Mr. Cohen developed the new show because of requests from his fans. “After they see my show at the Waldorf, they say, ‘What else have you got?’ ” Mr. Cohen said. “There’s a following of people who want more.”
The one-night performance sold out within three days with no advertising. […]
It took about a split-second after meeting Michael Uslan to know that I’d encountered one of the coolest people on the planet. We met at the Buzz Aldrin event I wrote about recently, and he overwhelmed me with his effervescent enthusiasm toward one of my secret loves: Batman.
Uslan is the creator and executive producer of the Batman movies (all of them since 1989’s Batman with Jack Nicholson, up to and including the most recent Batman Begins and The Dark Knight). He also has a compelling new book out, titled The Boy Who Loved Batman.
Ever since 1975, I’ve been a serious Batman fan. I collected many comics through high school and college (“Mom, did you throw them away? They’re worth a bundle now!”) but the only titles I purchased consistently were Batman and Detective Comics.
Throughout elementary school I dressed up like Batman and walked through town. In costume!! I built my own utility belt out of oaktag and paper fasteners, and thought that every umbrella in our house might be one of the Penguin’s trick umbrellas.
On my 6th birthday my father said, “It’s time for your birthday party, Steven.” Wearing cape and cowl, I replied, “I’m not Steven, I’m Batman.”
Dad threatened, “Well if Steven is not here, then there won’t be any birthday party.” I swiftly ducked into my room, took off my costume, and transformed into my alter-ego, little Steve Cohen.
Last night, I enjoyed a presentation about Batman, given by Michael Uslan at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in Soho. […]
Magicians and secrets have a funny relationship. The normal people who comprise our audiences watch us perform miracles and cannot begin to imagine how a person might learn the requisite techniques and other arcane knowledge to accomplish the impossible. Magicians on the other hand know all about the vast oceans of literature (in print and on film) obsessively detailing and documenting the history and lineage of all these bizarre, clever and wonderful ideas. They know you can walk into a magic shop and buy whatever you like without having to fight a dragon or some other kind of mystic wizard’s trial. They worry that their audiences will run home after watching a performance and look for the explanations on YouTube. The “secrets” are out there, if you care enough and know where to look. And yet, magicians and laymen can look at the same “miracle” and both be mystified—if for different reasons.
For example, many close-up magicians know the story of Max Malini’s famous production of a brick or a block of ice from under a hat as recounted by Dai Vernon in Stars of Magic. Vernon was tasked with watching Malini over the course of an evening’s dinner performance to try to pin down the little man’s sleight-of-hand secrets—in particular the the block-of-ice-under-the-hat trick. Throughout the full evening’s meal, Malini never left the table. Malini then proceeded to perform the trick and “…when Malini lifted the hat, a block of ice the size of four fists lay in the center of the table […] Vernon swears to this day that ‘The little bugger had no time to load up.’” While the regular audience members wondered how the ice got under the hat, Vernon was dumbfounded as to how the ice got to the table at all. A bribe to the waiter proved unsuccessful, and they never found out from where Malini had procured the ice.
On the other hand, whenever Steve Cohen performs the trick as the opener of his exclusive Miracles At Midnight show, the source of the block of ice is somewhat less of a mystery. The show is his second as part of his residence at the über-opulent Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan. The kitchen at the Waldorf-Astoria is located on the second floor and takes up the area of a full city block. “They have a huge walk-in freezer, and they’ve let me have a whole shelf in there just for blocks of ice for this trick. I used to go down myself to fetch the ice, but it gets so cold in that freezer that our arrangement now is that I simply ring down to the kitchen and they run one upstairs for me at the beginning of each show.” Of course. Everything’s easy once you know the secret.
But while Steve’s audiences—like Malini’s—are astounded at the appearance of the ice under the hat, magicians marvel at something else. They don’t marvel at how the ice appeared under the hat or how the ice got to the table, but at how Steve Cohen himself has managed to “magically appear” in residence at the Waldorf-Astoria with not one, but two elegant, high-end magic shows—one of which costs $250 per person. For close-up magic! And coming this January, Steve will be premiering a stage show at a local Manhattan venue named Carnegie Hall. Compared to those “miracles”, blocks of ice and bricks under hats might as well be the old stretching thumb trick your uncle does […]
As readers of this blog know, I am somewhat infatuated by Max Malini, the extraordinary magician who entertained celebrities, tycoons and aristocrats. I’ve modeled my career on his, and have been tracking down Malini stories for years. Many of these stories are chronicled throughout this blog.
I recently acquired Malini’s advertising booklet at auction (circa 1926) and was delighted for two reasons simultaneously. First, it is an honor to own this historic memorabilia of a prominent magic figure. The booklet is in very good hands.
Second, the text of the booklet has confirmed that Max Malini stayed and performed regularly at the hotel where I’ve presented Chamber Magic for the last decade: the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.
In his advertising booklet, he includes laudatory letters from prominent figures, including President Harding. Here is one of the inside pages, containing personal notes from General Pershing and Vice President Charles Dawes […]
The magicians Steve Cohen, Joshua Jay, Eric Jones, and Todd Robbins talk about where their ideas come from, in a discussion and demonstration at the Library for the Performing Arts. (917-275-6975.)
Here is the press release for the November 17th event, organized by photographer and writer Herb Scher.
Press Release
For Immediate Release
Magic is an art that draws heavily from its heritage, and many effects with cards, coins, ropes, and levitating ladies have long been staples of the repertoire. Yet, like other art forms, it requires a well-spring of new ideas to avoid stagnation. In a field characterized by secrets and mystery where do new ideas come from and how are they realized? And what role does magic play in the realm of the broader expressive arts? Can it remain relevant in an era when movies, video games, and the internet offer heightened experiences that were not earlier available. A panel of four innovative and accomplished magicians, Steve Cohen, Joshua Jay, Eric Jones, and Todd Robbins will address these and many other questions in Beyond Amazing: Creativity and Innovation in the World of Magic, a panel discussion with demonstrations of relevant effects, presented November 17, 2011, at 6 p.m. at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. The program will be moderated by photographer and writer Herb Scher. The event will be held in the Library’s Bruno Walter Auditorium, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza. Admission is free.
Read the full press release for this upcoming panel discussion here […]
