Now you see him A view of the Waldorf Astoria’s transformation as seen through the eyes of its resident magician by ISABEL SCHWAB On a recent Saturday night at the Waldorf Astoria, a crowd of dressed-up New Yorkers and tourists watch in amazement as a man attempts increasingly daring tricks. From a single teapot, magician […]
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Lonely Planet magazine lists Steve Cohen’s Chamber Magic as one of the “Top 10 New Ways to Fall in Love with New York.” (Spring 2016 issue)
Here is the list (which includes several places I want to visit myself!):
1. Secret gardens – greenthumbnyc.com
2. Alexander Hamilton home in Harlem – nps.gov/hagr
3. Japanese cherry blossoms in Brooklyn – bbb.org
4. Le Train Bleu restaurant in Bloomingdales – bloomingdales.com
5. Arcade Bakery (I love this place!) – arcadebakery.com
6. Steve Cohen’s Chamber Magic at the Waldorf Astoria New York – chambermagic.com
7. Carnegie Hall 125th anniversary gala – carnegiehall.org
8. Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm – brooklyngrangefarm.com
9. Museum of the American Gangster – museumoftheamericangangster.org
10. Jimmy’s No. 43 restaurant – jimmysno43.com
The summer is a great time to explore all that New York has to offer. I’ve lived in Manhattan for 21 years, and relish finding new, hidden spots. I was glad to stumble upon this list in Lonely Planet magazine (and was secretly happy to be included in it!)
Read the full post »Review and interview by DrSue.com
Do you believe in magic? You might after seeing Steve Cohen’s Chamber Magic Show at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. His fame has grown since he started in 2001, but not the size of each audience, which he limits to fifty, to create an intimate, interactive experience. As befits the Waldorf, Steve performs in an elegant, custom-tailored suit – an homage to a bygone, more elegant era.
Most of us dress in cocktail attire, because we’re all part of the show – and what a show! There’s sleight-of-hand (including a card that seems to turn a somersault in the air before landing in the middle of a shuffled deck), mental telepathy (Cohen guessed one audience member was thinking about his pet chinchilla), and a delightful “Think a Drink” teapot that could pour any drink his audience imagined! Steve’s setting, sartorial choices, and select audiences (stars of stage and screen, royalty, and Fortune 500 companies) have dubbed him “The Millionaires’ Magician,” but Steve prefers to think of himself as “the thinking man’s magician.” After his performance, we had a chance to chat, and I asked him why…
Read the full post »Departures Magazine
May/June 2013, p. 160
by Jim Windolf
Anyone with a handheld device is a magician of sorts. So how to explain the resurgence of old-fashioned magic in popular culture? Why are people falling for a brand of entertainment that seemed at its height a hundred years ago, when Harry Houdini was all the rage? Haven’t we moved beyond that?
Apparently not. In a private suite at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria, Steve Cohen, known as the “Millionaires’ Magician,” presents a stately 90-minute illusionfest, Chamber Magic, five times a week. Last year he became the first magician in nearly four decades to appear at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and his refined act has impressed guests at the homes of Barry Diller, Martha Stewart and Warren Buffett, among others. And maybe that’s the role of magic these days – to provide a dash of wonderment for those who have seen it all.
Read the full post »THE GLOBE AND MAIL
June 18, 2013 by Michael Posner
Monday evening: George Brown House, an Ontario heritage building situated just south of the University of Toronto, is named, of course, after the distinguished Father of Confederation and founder of The Globe, the newspaper that became the newspaper you are reading. Normally off-limits to the great unwashed, Brown’s stately home was the venue chosen by Luminato’s go-to magic man, David Ben, to showcase the extraordinary legerdemain of American magician Steve Cohen.
The setting proved an apt backdrop for Cohen’s act, which owes a considerable debt to Johann Hofzinser, the 19th-century Austrian known as the father of card magic. At New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Cohen’s unofficial home, he typically entertains audiences of no more than 50. For the Toronto cohort, only slightly larger, the diminutive Cohen – nattily attired in morning coat, waistcoat and striped trousers – deftly stick-handled his way through a series of jaw-dropping tricks, each seemingly more difficult than the last. […]
Read the full post »Posted on December 4, 2012 by Megan Hess
A cluster of of well-to-do couples huddle in the lobby of the Waldorf Towers in New York City, buzzing with anticipation. At the stroke of 8:45 p.m. on Saturday evening, a tall man in a tailored suit ushers everyone into a gold-plated elevator – the same one that the President of the United States rides when he stays in New York. Primping and fidgeting, the group lines up at a suite at the end of a hallway on the 35th floor. 58 people file in for tonight’s magic show in Steve Cohen’s living room, run solely by word-of-mouth.
Cohen’s “Chamber Magic” shows inspire an intimate, old-timey parlor feel. Attendees, many of whom have purchased tickets months in advance, are expected to dress well. He doesn’t bother with hats, rabbits, or sleight-of-hand tricks; instead, he uses one gleaming tea kettle to produce five different drinks at the audience’s request.
At age 10, Cohen worked the elementary school circuit, appearing at kids’ birthday parties and Cub Scout meetings. Now, he brings in about 300 viewers each weekend – including high-profile guests like Martha Stewart, Barry Diller, and David Rockefeller – and a seven-figure annual income. “I put people in an environment where anything can happen,” Cohen says, pausing to sip Kombucha tea (the ginger helps his throat). “People start thinking, Maybe there’s another force in the world, and this guy has control over it.”
Read the full post »Some viewers will no doubt be annoyed at having been misled by the title of “Lost Magic Decoded,” a frothy special Thursday night on History, carrying as it does the implication that the secrets behind some legendary illusions will be revealed.
But Steve Cohen, the program’s genial host, is an adherent to the magicians’ code; don’t expect to learn how to make a rope rise skyward out of a basket here. But do expect to hear some tasty stories about magic tricks of yore, and to see some pretty baffling modern-day magic by Mr. Cohen as well.
Mr. Cohen, who is known as the Millionaires’ Magician for his magic show at the Waldorf-Astoria, sets out to run down four illusions from the distant past. The idea isn’t to reveal how they were done but to see if they actually can be done or were really just embellished legends. Along the way Mr. Cohen finds some of history’s odder true stories and throws in a few bits from his parlor show. […]
Read the full post »By Raphael Pallais of The Plaza August 29, 2012
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 […]
Read the full post »(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
Read the full post »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. […]
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