The Magic Castle is a private club and the home of the Academy of Magical Arts. Entrance is restricted to members and guests. I was able to get an invite from a former Doper who I had done a favor for. There is a strict dress code - men must wear a jacket, and women a dress. An evening consists of dinner (expensive, but high quality), and then a ticket to a headline act. After that show, the rest of the performances are first-come, first-served. We saw Dan Sperry as one of the headliners, and he put on an incredible show. We were are able to squeeze into a tiny room to see Toto, who’s signature line is “Amazing!” and he really was - even after showing how he does some of his slight-of-hand in slow-motion, you still couldn’t follow it! All told, we saw 10 magicians, and stayed until 1AM.
An unforgettable experience.
Did you have Irma play you a song on the parlor piano?
The magic castle is super fun. Anyone who has the chance should totally go.
Good you got to go. It always sounded like a great thing to do!
I know someone, a design engineer who also happens to be a member. He offered to take me. Trouble is we’ve lost touch over the last couple years, and I just can’t see coming back after all this time just to say, oh BTW, can you still get me in? Seems wrong. Short of becoming a professional magician, I guess that I am SOL about getting in any more.
But I loved The Magician. A crime fighting magician that lives at the Magic Castle!
So the first bit of magic is how the kitchen makes money disappear from your wallet? 
Actually, those prices aren’t horribly high for a swanky place in California. You could pay a lot more and get a lot less in Hollywood.
I haven’t been to the Magic Castle, but I watched season one of Judd Apatow’s series Love, and that told me everything I need to know 
Wait, so that episode of Arrested Development was based on a real place?
I went for my ex-wife’s 30th birthday and had a really good time. The only other time I’d been was as a young kid when my mom’s work had a corporate party there.
Very cool place. Very worth the trip (and not-inconsequential expense) if you can get in.
I went to the White Castle once…
Was it…magical?
…it was moving…
We completely missed “her.” I thought we saw the whole place, but apparently not.
My wife especially liked the curtained booth we had dinner in - she thought it was tr̀es chic.
Went a couple of times in the early 80’s…has it changed in any significant way since then?
That sounds amazing - I’d love to look into it next time my wife and I are in southern California. But I hope there’s an option that goes without paying for an expensive dinner that we, as Kosher-observant Jews, wouldn’t be able to eat.
Its Los Angeles, Kosher is very much an option.
“We offer gluten free options and can provide kosher, if requested 72-hours in advance.”
I will be going later this summer - will be our first time.
Not really. The food has gotten better. Haven’t been in 7 years, but the food used to be pretty poor. The last time I went they seemed to have made some upgrades to the kitchen staff.
Sounds like fun–I’d love to go sometime, since I love magic. I was a bit put off by the “women must wear dresses” thing you mentioned (a dealbreaker for me) but I see from their website that a business pant suit is permitted.
Algher, thanks.
I went to the Magic Castle in 1998, with a close friend in the entertainment business who had the membership. The food was wonderful, the magic magical (except for one clod who spoke out and spoiled a magician’s magic), and the souvenir shop was excellent, too.
Would love to go back
We went to Disneyland this year then Hollywood, where we stayed at The Magic Castle Hotel. Never got to go to the actual performance in the castle itself mind you. But for the kids the highlight of the entire trip was the “Popsicle Hotline” in the pool there. Pretty funny considering the expense of Disneyland!