I receive at least one email per month from magicians around the world. Their notes usually begin like this:
Dear Mr. Cohen,
I am a magician in [name of town] trying to build my client base and marketing reach.
I would like to use your idea of doing parlor magic using a high end hotel as a base. Would you object if I used that approach here in [name of town]?
Any advice you can offer would be appreciated. Do I split ticket sales with the hotel? Or, does the hotel pay me a fee and take all ticket profits? Does the hotel supply drinks as a part of the show price? How long should the show be? How much should tickets be? etc. etc.
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Before I offer an extremely rare rant (not the type of prose you’ve come to expect from me), here is my form-letter response: […]
The following text is from Dick Cavett’s introduction at my recent award dinner. I can’t tell you how honored I was to be introduced by this legendary television host. Dick Cavett: I love magic, and when I saw Steve Cohen the first time, it was in front of this building. This fellow came up to […]
I received a Hollywood welcome when I arrived in Los Angeles last week. Actors Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, How I Met Your Mother) and Chris Williams (“Krazee-Eyez Killah” on Curb Your Enthusiasm) both came out to my show at the Beverly Wilshire hotel, and director Steven Spielberg even bought tickets for himself and his […]
The photo leading this post is one of my new favorites. It may look small, but you MUST click it to view an amazing panoramic view of the gorgeous St. James room in Boston’s Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel. It was taken minutes before the doors opened to the public. As you can see, the mahogany walls and soaring window drapery provided the perfect backdrop for a classical magic performance.
Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge brought his whole family to the show, and even […]
To celebrate Father’s Day, I invited my two children, Alex (age 10) and June (age 5) to perform at the Waldorf in Chamber Magic last night. It was their debut performance, and they did an amazing job! In this post, I’ve added a photo-essay and two videos of their world-premiere.
Sharing the stage with my children was, to me, the best Father’s Day present I could ever imagine.
Teller (of Penn & Teller) was kind enough to write an endorsement of my Waldorf-Astoria show. A few years back, he visited together with Dick Cavett. It was a great night. After the show, we talked extensively about Groucho Marx, Richiardi, and Slydini. Teller expertly performed a Slydini coin vanish, making my silver dollar disappear in the purest fashion.
Here is the full text of the quote that Teller […]
Yoda visited Chamber Magic at the Waldorf last night.
Andy Nyman, my old friend and a truly wonderful man, brought him along. Of course, Yoda came in the form of his inventor, Frank Oz. He’s also the man behind the Muppets: Cookie Monster, Grover, Fozzie Bear, Bert, and Miss Piggy. After the show, we had drinks together at the Bull & Bear. What a thrill. During our conversation, he grunted in Cookie Monster’s voice for me, but I didn’t ask him to speak like Yoda. It just didn’t feel like the right thing to do.
Guest author Mark Levy: “Why did I tell this story? I told it because, well, it’s a damn good story. It’s got an intriguing premise and action that unfolds on the streets of Brooklyn and New York. It’s also got a big city reporter who’s so affected by the experience that he lies awake in anticipation and nearly starts believing in miracles. What could be better?” […]
According to the National Theater in Washington DC, “The day when everyone dressed formally to go to the theatre has passed.” Despite being a historic theater – one that every U.S. president has attended since 1835 – the National has relaxed its dress code to allow patrons a freer choice. The theater’s website states, “To feel well-groomed, comfortable and good about yourself for a special occasion is really the guiding rule.”
I was upset to read this.
I believe that dressing up to go to the theater is a form of civility that should be resurrected. […]
