This photo is from Wednesday, February 24, when The Magic Cabaret resumed its incredible run at the Greenhouse Theater Center in Chicago. It was great fun to have so many magic fans together in one place! And the great news is that from now on, Wednesday nights are magic nights! Every Wednesday at 7:30pm, eager seekers of mystery will gather in the intimate setting of the Greenhouse studio theater to be amazed by P.T. Murphy and David Parr and their mind-boggling sleight of hand!

Get tickets now at Tix.com!

Tickets for Haunting History are on sale now!

The Evanston History Center and magician David Parr invite you to take an eerie interactive tour of the historic Charles Gates Dawes House, completed in 1895, and experience the sophisticated side of the supernatural!

Call the Evanston History Center for tickets and information: (847) 475-3410

Haunting History at The Charles Gates Dawes House: 225 Greenwood Street, Evanston, Illinois. Admission $20. No one under age seventeen admitted. Tickets are limited, so call right away to reserve yours!

Thursday, October 22, 7 pm
Friday, October 23, 8 pm
Saturday, October 24, 7 pm, 8 pm, 9 pm
Thursday, October 29, 7 pm, 8 pm
Friday, October 30, 7 pm, 8 pm, 9 pm, 10 pm
Halloween: Saturday, October 31, 7 pm, 8 pm, 9 pm

Haunting History brings the Spirits Of Halloween to the Dawes House!

What do you get when you combine a gorgeous turn-of-the-century mansion with the impish imagination of magician David Parr? You get Haunting History, a unique interactive Halloween experience, equal parts history and mystery!

Explore the corridors of the Charles Gates Dawes House, completed in 1895, and enter a shadowland where fact and folklore intermingle in surprising ways. Each room offers an encounter with the strange and supernatural: objects move of their own accord; cryptic messages are conveyed by invisible hands; hidden thoughts are revealed. What bewitching mystery waits around the next corner? There’s only one way to find out: follow David Parr.

You’ll find that Mr. Parr is uniquely qualified to host an evening in celebration of the mysterious. In addition to his skills as an actor and magician, he brings to the role a dash of gallows humor, a penchant for the macabre, and an uncanny eye for the odd aspects of the past. Urban legends, poltergeists, and psychic powers are his Halloween treats, and he’ll share them with you!

“Halloween is my favorite holiday,” says Parr. “But it seems like most Halloween activities are aimed at children or teenagers. There are plenty of grownups who enjoy dressing up in costumes and listening to ghost stories as much as I do. Why let the kids have all the fun? It’s our turn.”

Which is Mr. Parr’s way of saying that no one under age seventeen will be admitted to Haunting History. It’s Halloween for grownups!

Haunting History takes place at the Evanston History Center at The Charles Gates Dawes House: 225 Greenwood Street, Evanston, Illinois. Admission: $20 (EHC Members Night, October 27, Admission for EHC Members: $15) Tickets are limited, so call right away to reserve yours! For tickets and information, please call the Evanston History Center: (847) 475-3410. No one under age seventeen admitted.

Thursday, October 22, 7 pm
Friday, October 23, 8 pm
Saturday, October 24, 7 pm, 8 pm, 9 pm
Thursday, October 29, 7 pm, 8 pm
Friday, October 30, 7 pm, 8 pm, 9 pm, 10 pm
Halloween: Saturday, October 31, 7 pm, 8 pm, 9 pm

Or you might see PT Murphy snacking on sewing needles, now fortified with eight essential vitamins and irony:

Experience the magic every Wednesday at 7:30pm at the Greenhouse Theater Center, in the heart of the windy city’s lovely Lincoln Park neighborhood! Tickets are on sale now at tix.com!

A followup to Showstoppers Showcase: The twin rabbits in this photo are having a family reunion. The bunny on the right is the one I received in my original Mattel magic set at age seven. It’s the only piece remaining from that set. The bunny on the left is from the Mattel magic set I purchased at the Magic Collectors’ Association conference earlier this year. I’m sure these two Leporidae have much to discuss!

Another magical rediscovery: The photo below shows the first magic props that I purchased for myself, when I was eight years old. The Cups & Balls is one of the oldest effects in magic, and this colorful set of Cups & Balls was manufactured by the S.S. Adams Company, makers of magic and novelties for 100 years. I bought it in a souvenir shop at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, circa 1970 – 71. I spent so many hours practicing this effect in front of a mirror, it is still etched in my memory.

As it turned out, the item was for sale. “Can I look at it?” I asked. “Sure, I’ll open it up” said the man with the magic set. After removing the cardboard sleeve, he opened the vinyl-covered case. Another moment of astonishment: the set was complete and in pristine condition, exactly as I remembered it from decades ago. It looked if it had been magically transported from then to now.

My first magic set, the twin of the one I was looking at, is long gone. The box fell apart from use; the props inside wore out, broke, were lost or discarded. I have only one piece from that original set: a small vinyl rabbit that was meant to be produced out of a plastic top hat. I don’t know why I kept the little white rabbit, but now it serves as a fine reminder of how something small and seemingly insignificant can change a person’s life. The objects in that box led to two published books, a show currently running in a theater, and a position as an editor at a magazine. Magic introduced me to most of my friends, people who have had a profound influence on my life.

It’s fascinating and a bit eerie to consider this question: What would have happened if I had not received that magic set at age seven? Would I have found my way to magic by a different route? Or would I be in a very different place today, surrounded by different people? Would I be a different person?

I bought the magic set at that conference. Given the questions mentioned above, the chances of my standing in that spot in that room with that magic set seemed so unlikely that I had to think I was meant to find it. If that’s magical thinking, so be it. Thinking magically has gotten me this far, hasn’t it?

* * *

We offer the following exhibit as a glimpse into the strange psyche of the entity known as David Parr. Enter at your own risk.

Behold, the Mattel’s Magic Showstoppers Showcase, circa 1969:

Très Peter Max, no? The case folds out to form a table for performance, providing a work surface and keeping props out of view of the audience until needed:

Prepare yourself, for you are about to gaze upon the mysteries within:

A closer look, perhaps? If you dare:

Instruction booklet, magic wand, and my old friend the white rabbit. The two black parts in the upper left assemble to form the plastic top hat from which the rabbit makes his surprising appearance. The blue object in the lower left is for performing a classic magic effect in which two paper clips link in midair. The shiny black object in the lower right is a box in which a torn playing card may be restored, among other mysterious goings on. And the triangular object in the upper right is my favorite, a maze with a tiny metal ball inside. For mere mortals, guiding the ball to the center of the maze requires a full minute of effort, but the mage can complete the task in a few seconds — and with the maze held behind his back!

And here’s a closeup of my old pal:

My dear Dawnie tells me that the rabbit is a modification of the Mattel’s Storybook Kiddles White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland (Alice in Wonderliddle, as Mattel called it). The sculpt around the neck and the paintjob were changed on the magic rabbit, but he is in the same pose as the Storybook rabbit, hand raised to display his pocket watch or to greet a seven-year-old magician (or to ward off attackers). A clue to his ancestry is in the instruction booklet for the magic set. Illustrations for the effect titled “The Hare in the Hat” depict the rabbit wearing a little waistcoat with a high collar, exactly like Alice’s White Rabbit.

Thus we conclude our tour. We hope it was illuminating. This way to the egress.

Here’s a photo taken from the stage during the performance. It shows just part of the audience, with PT Murphy posing in the center aisle:

Are you in this photo? If not, you should be! Tickets are on sale now at tix.com!

(Also, did we mention the standing ovation?)

Tickets for The Magic Cabaret are on sale now! Go to tix.com for your key to an unforgettable evening of magic, mystery and mischief! For more information, go to www.magic-cabaret.com

Greetings! PT Murphy and David Parr bring news to chase away the winter blues:

The Magic Cabaret will relaunch on Wednesday, March 18 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, with an all-new show!

Every week, on Wednesday evenings at 7:30, magic fans will gather in the 60-seat studio theater at the Greenhouse, where they’ll celebrate all the magic the Windy City has to offer — and you’re invited to the celebration!

Mysteries! Laughs! Surprises! Special guests! Don’t miss it! Here’s the relevant info:

The Magic Cabaret
Wednesdays at 7:30
The Greenhouse Theater Center
2257 North Lincoln Avenue
Box office and information: (773) 404-7336
Tickets $20. No one under age 13 admitted.

To subscribe to the Magic Cabaret e-mail list, send a message to info@magic-cabaret.com. We’ll be making more announcements soon!

See? Chicago winters can be fun!