Magicopolis has always been, at least in part, a commercial enterprise, and that’s not such a dirty word, especially if you’re the one making a living from it. That’s why I always plug our little show, Escape Reality, so brazenly. Obviously I have self interest here, so you shouldn’t believe a word I have to say.

Instead, read what’s been said elsewhere, Magicopolis and Escape Reality have been Yelped, Yahooed, Tripadvised, Citisearched, and so on… Between all the great quotes I’ve placed a good joke. That’s right, you read that correctly, to keep your attention I’ve put a very funny joke between all the quotes. Ready? Here we go.

“Indeed, if someone could perform real magic, it would look a lot like that in "Escape Reality" with its deft and entertaining mix of large scale illusions, stand-up effects, comedy and music that appeals to everyone…”

about.com

“Magicopolis, this is truly one of those magical gems that reminds me of why I love living in Southern California. Where else could you find so much talent?”

tripadviser.com

“Magicopolis is the place to experience mystery, grand-scale illusions and awe-inspiring magic.”

Yahoo!Travel.com

“Magicopolis serves up astounding magic in a classy venue that's one block from Santa Monica's popular Third Street Promenade.”

daytrum.com

“Hocus-pocus astounds and bewilders guests of all ages at this spellbinding Santa Monica theater.”

Citysearch.com

A groom is with his new bride on their wedding night, and he’s very nervous. And they’re next to each other under the sheets, not doing anything, and she says, “Darling, why are you so afraid?” And he says, “My mother always told me women have teeth down there, and I’m scared.” And she says, “Oh that’s silly. Why don’t you slide under the sheet and have a look?” He does, and when he comes back up, she says with a smile, “Now, did you see any teeth?” And he says, “No, and frankly, with a set of gums like that, I’m not surprised.”

“Magicopolis has taken the stuffing out of stuffy magicians, the show was better than the one I saw in Vegas and nobody wore a tuxedo.”

yelp.com

“… I’m a man hating lesbian but I love Steve Spill.”

!@#$!5^*.com

"The Magicopolis mix of comedy and illusion creates lasting memories."

L.A. Times

"...Unique...engaging...an awesome performance..."

Rave Magazine

"...masterful...commands the audience's attention..."

CNN Showbiz Today

Thanks Steve, as always, for being so accessable during intermission and after the show. Like I told you Saturday, it’s inspiring to us mere mortals that you and your show are independent and you don’t have to answer to anyone, like I do at my depressing job. For those who haven’t been, I just saw this show for the third time, and every visit I notice more and more details. Besides a lot of clever well performed magic, the presentations all seem to have something original to say. Of the smaller solo magic I particularly like the Swap Meet Shadow Coins, the Dying of Embarrassment card effect, Lemon Trick, and by Bozena (Steve’s gorgeous wife) the What to do When Things go Wrong Gypsy Thread and her Grandma Werewolf Umbrella. My favorite illusions are the B Movie Trunk, The Séance Dekolta, and the Table of Death. Like Tony Brent commented several posts back, when I grow up I want to be Steve Spill, except I am already grown up. Until my next visit, Mahalo!

All this talk of Steve's excellent show ,AND, showcase, and I get antsy to make the trip to LA again for sure to stop by for my fourth experience of his wonderfully well conceived show. I've got to say, anybody that lives in California and has ventured to Vegas yet bypassed Santa Monica, or worse, treked down to visit the Magic Castle, without venturing out to Santa Monica, some 15 miles, or so, has got their magic hat pulled way too down over their eyes.

Fun for all.I'll be there soon, you bet.

Dr. Solar

I am not sure what I can add to the chorus...

other than the fact that Steve has been a fixture in Santa Monica for more than ten years now.

In the magic business this is huge.. to have such a show running for this period of time makes him a legend.

Steve has been a huge influence on me . I consider him to be one of the best magicians on the planet. His show represents a lifetime in magic.. If you are anywhere near Santa Monica...make plans to GO!

Doc Eason

I met Steve Spill a few weeks after I had gotten into magic at a convention in Orlando and he was a huge influence on my future career choice... I have not had a chance to see the show, but I know that he will rock the house...

I will make it a point to get to Magicapolis on my next visit to CA...

Danny,

You won't regret it....

Great show...

Ken

I am pleased to share with you a weird coincidence that happened here at Magicopolis. In terms of the topic of this Magicopolis thread… Escape Reality, our long running show that delivers the illusions, sleight-of-hand, and mind-reading that you must experience… this is a bit of a digression.

Personally, I love digressions, especially when the subject to which the person is digressing is at least as interesting as the subject from which the digresser has digressed. And I know I am not the only one that feels that way. Sooo, here, direct from Magicopolis, is my digression/weird coincidence…

My friend Bob just finished a book I loaned him, “Trouping with Dante” by Marion Trikosko, and phoned to let me know he enjoyed it. He asked if I could tell him a little about the words , Sim Sala Bim, the title of Dante’s show. Bob asked what the words mean, wanted to know their origin, and so on. I said that I thought they were made up by Dante but was not sure.

While telling him I would try and find out more, the mailman arrived with a package that I opened as we were talking. In it was a book, a most extraordinary book, “Magic Words” by Craig Conley.

“Bob,” I said into the phone, “Sim Sala Bim is the Swedish equivalent of abracadabra, and is known in other Scandinavian cultures as well…”

I then continued to give him information about the history of the words, how Whit Hadyn said they were nonsense syllables from a Danish nursery rhyme, and that Orson Welles used Sim Sala Bim as magic words in the 1967 film “Casino Royale.” I went on until Bob stopped me.

“Hey, Steve, where are you getting all this information?”
“From this dictionary of magic words,” I said calmly. “It just arrived in the mail.”

I couldn’t hold back any longer, and told him what had just happened. Bob thought I was kidding him. What a fantastic, unbelievable, mind-boggling coincidence we had just shared. What are the odds that I would get this obscure information in the mail at just the moment Bob asked for it? A quintillion to one would be my guess.

Now for a partial explanation: Four months earlier, I met a gentleman here at Magicopolis. His name was Craig Conley, he told me he loved our show and excitedly informed me that he was the author of a magic words dictionary. He promised that when his dictionary was published he would send me a copy. It took four months to arrive, but for Bob and me it was right on time. The book “Magic Words” by Craig Conley is available at http://www.redwheelweiser.com and I highly recommend it. Thank you Craig for the surprise and wonder.

I also recommend the surprise and wonder of our show Escape Reality. Go to Magicopolis. Escape Reality plays every Fri/Sat 8pm and Sat/Sun 2pm, http://www.magicopolis.com or the boxoffice, 310 451 2241, is open daily 11am to 6pm.
Magicopolis and Escape Reality are rare and beautiful things, let them happen to you.

There's another show at Magicopolis on Saturday nights that is becoming a must see.

The Bar Show!

Every Saturday Night at 10:00 pm behind the Magicopolis bar two comedians and one magician perform in the best alternative comedy night in town. Produced in association with Garage Comedy, this show gets crazy. We've had heavy hitters like Jon Armtstrong and Derek Hughes on the show. November 1st the FISM winner Arthur Trace will be performing on The Bar Show!

Hosted by the Magicopolis bar tender Erik Tait, this show brings comedy and magic so close you can kill it.

What's that you say? You live across the country and can't afford bus fare to trek out to Santa Monica from Montana or Iowa? Never fear. Every Saturday night at 10:00 pm Pacific time The Bar Show! is broadcast live on http://www.GarageComedy.com


A quick story from this week's show. We had booked Lizzy Cooperman, (Comedian featured on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson) Asterios Kokinos, (Comedian featured in National Lampoon and NPR's Marketplace) and The Bornstein Experiment (Husband and wife mentalism team from The Magic Castle.) It was a huge show with a huge crowd and we were having a great time.

In walks the co-producer of the show Val Myers. She approaches me and says, "Erik do you mind if Rick does a little time tonight?" Val is one of the most important comedy bookers in Los Angeles, and I am a smart enough host to know that when Val says give this guy some time, you give this guy some time. I come to the end of the show and as I am glimpsing at the intro for Rick I realize who it is I am introducing. He's been on HBO's Lucky Louis, he just got back from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Ladies and gentleman I introduced Rick Shapiro.

Rick Shaprio is a legend in the comedy world. He had literally walked off a plane from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, heard good things about The Bar Show! and dropped in for a guest set. Comics all over the city hopped onto the website to watch the webcast. Rick did twenty minutes behind the bar and killed. I'm talking deep belly laughs with people falling off the bar stools.

That's the kind of thing we make happen every week. We hope to see you soon at The Bar Show!

Hey Steve,
Are you ever going to release any of your routines? If so, what will they be?
I would love to get your NEEDLES routine!!!!!

Thanks MetalBender for reminding me about the bar show. I must be obsessed with Magicopolis since I just made my fourth visit, but I did something I haven’t done in the past. After turning my guests onto the theater show, the five of us hung out for the Saturday night bar show. It was a combination of Erik’s great bar magic (and a sexy boy/girl mindreading act whose names I can’t remember) and a stand-up comedy show with great comedians performing between the magicians behind the bar. They weren’t the untested comics you see at some open-mic night either, they were hilarious, the girl comic had us laffing our guts out. Definitely a cool thing, we’ll be back. Steve did you change something in the Table of Death or was it just extra scary this time?

I'm going to add to the praise of Steve Spill and Magicopolis.

Just yesterday, I had an opportunity to enjoy "Escape Reality" and see the recent changes at Steve's venue. I wrote it up in a review:

http://magic.about.com/od/magicvenues/a/magicopolis.htm

Briefly, the two-hour show has it all: big illusions, close-up, sleight-of-hand, mind-reading and comedy. Steve and Bozena are immensely entertaining and their take on a Slydini classic is the best that I've witnessed. Magicians, believe me, you want to see this.

Long before I was a magician, I was an entertainment reporter and I covered the opening of Magicopolis some ten years ago. At the time, I enjoyed Magicopolis as pure entertainment and still do. But I appreciate it even more as a magician.

Steve has done a fantastic job of making his vision of a great magic theater a reality.

-Wayne

My introduction to Steve Spill's, unique, comedy magic was from his hilarious Mind Reading Goose routine on a tv special from the late 80's called "Magic at the Magic Castle". I was hooked.

When in LA, do yourself a favor and go to see Escape Reality with Steve Spill at Magicopolis. It's just off the promenade in Santa Monica, and a whole day can be had there in the area.

Now that I live in LA myself, I enjoy Magicopolis and recommend it to freinds visiting from the east coast in the same breath as the magic castle. Only Magicopolis is open to everyone, no membership needed... and no dress code. It's a beach town afterall!

Nick Carifo

Last Friday night, during our final bow, a little old man ran toward the stage waving his hands and shouting angrily at the audience to stop applauding. I was ready to jump off the stage and subdue the maniac, when I realized that the little old man was veteran comic Shelley Berman, but he looks like any little old man.

The audience had no idea who he was until they heard him speak, then more than a few recognized him from his role as Larry David’s dad on the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm. He asked the audience if they thought Escape Reality was one of the best shows they’ve seen. When they applauded, he told them that it was their responsibility to keep the show running by stopping people in the street and spreading the word. What a guy!

See Escape Reality every Fri/Sat 8pm and Sat/Sun 2pm, http://www.magicopolis.com or the boxoffice, 310 451 2241, is open daily 11am to 6pm. Go to Magicopolis, and obey Shelley, stop people in the street and spread the word about Escape Reality.

Shelley Berman plays Adam Sandler’s father in You Don’t Mess with the Zohan now available on DVD & Blu-ray.

I saw "Escape Realty" with a couple of friends last night, and it's wonderful. From first-rate close-up to great stand-up routines to some terrific twists on some classic illusions (the levitation of the "patient" in the psychiatrist's office in the first act, done close to the foot of the stage, was particularly impressive), it's unlike any full-evening show I've seen. There were far too many highlights for me to touch upon without making this post overly long, but suffice it to say that the show's unique blend of sketch comedy, storytelling and mind-boggling magic had the house laughing and cheering almost from the start.

Both Steve and Bozena are exceptionaly warm and personable performers, and that was particularly in evidence during last night's show. A large part of the audience was made up of kids and young adults who are part of the Special Olympics team, and the way Steve and Bozena rolled with the punches and handled their enthusiasm (always with kindness) while keeping the show moving for the rest of us was a text-book lesson in professionalism and class. As an aside, the reactions--and lack thereof--of a sweet and very tall young man to Steve's version of the paper balls over the head (a great and inventive routine, BTW) were priceless.

The venue is warm and intimate, and both the theater and the show have a disarmingly retro counterculture vibe. Way cool!

If you've not seen this show I strongly encourage you to get youself to the Magicopolis theater in Santa Monica and do so. And if you've already seen "Escape Reality" (as was true for many in last night's audience), you might want to see it again before Steve morphs it into the next Magicopolis extravaganza. As an added bonus, Erik Tait (he'll be at the Magic Castle in December) performed some sharp close-up magic behind the bar before and after the show, so it makes for a very full--and fun--evening.

I was at the same show as you Donal, and it was great. I like illusions but the close up stuff was my favorite part, especially Steve's bill in lemon. It was pretty cool to see the originator do his own version. Well maybe my second favorite part was the bill in lemon, I guess my favorite part was Steve in drag, it's not often in these days of magic you see a long haired musketeer 'stached fellow slide down a 50 foot rail in a thrift store wedding dress. And if you see Erik in the bar see if he will show you his version of cards across.

We had a great time at Magicoplis for our son's birthday an he and his group are still talking about it.

But for me the real treat was seeing Steve do his personal brand of magic. I hadn't seen him for several years and had forgotten how good he is. Some of the magic will fry the magicians, thanks to his expeience and ideas about how to do magic to not only entertain, but to fool people.

At the bar, Erik Tait keeps 'em laughing (he's also an actor/comic) with his excellent close up magic. He's not only a funny guy, but he's got real chops.

Can't wait to get back.

Thank you Pete, it was a pleasure to perform for you and your family. It was a rare treat for me to perform for your group.

So last week we had a very special guest on The Bar Show! Arthur Trace dropped in to do a set. You read that right, Arthur Trace. FISM winner. That tells you what kind of a show you are mising. When a world champ wants to come do the show (he'll be back soon, we are working out the deetails) you know it's a great show.

We also had Matt Champagne on the show. Matt is a good friend of mine and a hillarious comedian who opens for some of the biggest names in the business. In the course of his set Matt informed everyone about how he was mugged on election night. He wasn't so much mugged as he was punched in the face then ran out into the street crying like a small child. It was a very funny story, but here's where it gets fun. I was with Matt on election night. We were partying at the Ramada on Vermont. I didn't remember that Mr. Champagne had been assaulted. Hadn't heard about it. Apparently the vagrant assaulted Matt no more than five minutes after we had parted company. The moral of this story is that if you're with me you are safe. Do you want to be safe this saturday night? Then come to The Bar Show! I'll keep you all warm and cuddly.

We have a great show lined up for Saturday. It's ladies night. Tia Ayres (Comic) and Rebbecca Addleman (Comic and host of The Hour of Power) are our comedians. Our magician is Jon Armstrong.

I know many of you are saying to yourselves, "Hey... Jon's a man... but it's ladies night." You're wrong. I have it on good authority that Jon is in fact qualified to perform on ladies night at The Bar Show!

If you're not in the Santa Monica area be sure to tune in to GarageComedy.com/Live as we webcast every show as it happens. If you're not there, something is seriously wrong with your brain chemistry.

Steve,
Are there any special schedules, etc in light of the Holidays at Magicopolis??

I reread this thread, and I noticed some famous people have been at Magicopolis. Has there been any celebrities in lately?

Recent Magicopolis vistors include Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris, Dean Caine, John C. Reily, Andy Richter... I expect to have some photos of me and those guys posted on our website in the next couple weeks.

UFO we keep our normal schedule over the holidays, however, we do have a bunch of corporate events and holiday parties between now and the end of the year, if you plan to be in town on a normally "dark" night PM me and I'll see if I can slide you into one of those to see the show.

PAW my Needles routine, as well as my Mind Reading Goose routine, are now available from Bob Kohler Magic bobkohler@cox.net

If you want to be like Jack, Neil, John, Dean, and Andy... Go to Magicopolis showtimes Fri/Sat 8pm Sat/Sun 2pm http://www.magicopolis.com or the boxoffice 310 451 2241 is open daily 11am to 6pm.