The Room of Requirement

I have been blessed in the last five years to have performed in the mecca of magic for us magicians – The Magic Castle in Hollywood – not once, not twice but three times! In 2019, 2022 and 2024.

Each time I visited I challenged myself to perform a different show, in a different room , as one does.

Or maybe that’s just me!

Whilst visiting in March 2024 I was asked by a fellow performer; “What is the difference between each room?” And it got me thinking is there a difference? The short answer is yes. There is a huge difference in all of the rooms at The Magic Castle in terms of;

-Performance style

-Suitable material

-Audience

-Tech

-The room itself

After thinking greatly about this and explaining how I felt about each room to my friend, I thought that perhaps this might make an interesting blog which I now invite you in to get comfy, grab a cuppa and enjoy.

For those that do not know when guest enter The Magic Castle they much whisper some magical words to enter…

As I take you on a journey behind the bookcase, it is more fitting to ask you all before reading on if you would kindly greet Artemis the Owl and whisper the words

“Open Sesame!”

For those who did, welcome!

The Close Up Gallery Early – 28 shows, 4 shows a day, 7 day week in 2019. Performance duration time 18 minute max

It’s the smallest room in this house,

But for me it’s just the right size.

Where magic happens in their hands,

And there is wonder in their eyes!

For me this room holds a special place in my heart.

This was the very first room I was invited to perform in.

The Close Up Gallery is the smallest room in the Magic Castle with an audience of roughly 20 people per show. I would describe it as very intimate. Due to its unique size, you can perform quite poetic magical routines but also you can achieve explosive effects with your magic in terms of reactions simply because the audience is so close.

The need to micro manage is needed due to the close proximity to your audience, you can see and hear everything they say and in turn they can see and hear everything you do. Your sleights must be flawless. Improvising skills are useful, particularly if you are booked for the later close up shows, where some audience members tend to be a bit more ‘happy’ than usual after having a few too many magic moment cocktails (my castle beverage of choice).

Close Up Room Tech Specs

Technically speaking no microphone is needed in this room. Sound travels pretty well. You have the option to connect your i-pad to play music as your guests enter or indeed use it during your show also. This needs to be cued by yourself as there is no extra technician to do this for you in this room.

I suggest purchasing “a flic button” which will remotely control your music from an iPad.

You can purchase them here. Some advice… purchase a white one, not a black one. Otherwise you might, like me, end up looking a bit of an idiot on your hands and knees in the closeup room searching endlessly when it accidentally falls onto the floor!

Or indeed purchase the best cuing device this industry has to offer SOLO® by Sam Fitton.

I have just purchased this beauty of a device and I am doing my very first show this weekend. Watch this space for a blog on SOLO® in the future.

Finally is a choice of lighting states that can be chosen from the tech booth behind the curtain.

If you need anything for your weeks performance it is best you email prior to arriving to ask permission or check if the staff there can help you with sourcing any props or making technical things happen for you on your visit.

Finally behind the curtain of The Close Up Gallery is the tiniest dressing room where all three performers who are booked across a week share to keep their costumes, props and also to get ready for the show.

When working and sharing this space it’s nice to be mindful of each other and not take over the entire space and most importantly clean up after yourself.

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If you wish to watch my performance in The Close up Gallery in 2019 click here.

And if you wish to read and download my first lecture notes written about creating my first close up show for The Magic Castle click here.

I am pretty pleased to say the amazing Marc DeSouza gave it this cracking review below.

Stop, before you go any further, you need to watch the video of Nikola Arkane’s performance of her act at The Magic Castle. What a beautifully constructed act…well thought out and well performed by a talented and charming magician who is obviously in the moment when she performs. This set of lecture notes teaches, in detail, pretty much that entire act. You will learn the moves and sequences, but more importantly the thinking that went into creating and performing that material. This set of notes is beautifully produced and well written. You will be able to do the tricks, but can you perform them? Well, that is going to take more than just a set of notes to enable anyone to do that. You will need to invest yourself into thinking about this material and how you can adapt this to your own performance style. You could do no better than to go back and watch that video a few times more to see how Nikola has made that material her’s…now it is your turn. Bravo Nikola!

Be our Guest

Just like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, each room in The Magic Castle and performer in it, gets their very own Lumière aka a host. As performers you will come to rely on them throughout this week as they will be the ones introducing you to your guests and audience.

Brilliantly flamboyant and magical, each and every one of them I have met uses their unique charm to get the audience ready for your performance.

This for me is one of the best things about the castle and one thing I miss dearly when I am not there – the people. From our hosts to servers (we love you Carlos!!!) to the bar staff, door staff, front desk staff, office, security, waiters and kitchen staff, everyone there working is a family and as soon as you enter that place for your week performance they make you feel at home.

Thes people are the heart of the castle and they are the real magic. I am very grateful to you all!

The Parlour of Prestidigitation Early – 18 shows, 3 shows a day 7 days a week in 2022. Run time 18 minutes max

We’re moving up in the world to a new enchanted space

Up the stairs and through the door where prestidigitation takes place!

This is the room I really began to find myself as Nikola Arkane. The Parlour of Prestidigitation is a step up from The Close Up Gallery in that this medium sized space caters for 60 seats in a teared seating format. This is probably the closest we would get to a real parlour or salon room setting of the victorian era of old.

Like its namesake, Parlour or stand up magic is the type of performance that is best suited here.

As this is more of a formal theatre setting the audience relaxes more into this environment allowing performers to be more playful and casual.

The Parlour Tech Specs

Similar to the close up room, this room is also not maned by a technician however if needed you can address any technical requirements you have prior to your first performance.

As the audience are sitting in a stepped seating plan looking down on the stage you may (or may not) require a microphone for this space this is entirely up to individual performers. But it is best to sound check this before hand and if needed a microphone it will be provided. Again you will be able to plug in your music to the sound system in the room and there are variable programmed in lighting states ready to use. Also take into consideration that the audience in this room are sitting further away so if you need to go out and fetch something from the audience this may take a longer time than it did in The Close Up Gallery.

The dressing room is directly behind the curtain and you will be sharing this with one other performer. So again, take care to be respectful of the space.

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A new addition to this room is a television screen which can be lowered in and removed from the stage area if this is required by a performer during their week there.

If you wish to watch my performance in The Parlour of Prestidigitation click here.

The Palace of Mystery 29 shows, 7 days a week (brunch shows included) 3 performers sharing the stage in 2024. Run Time 40 minutes

I found myself in the largest room

and thankfully I’m not alone.

It’s much more fun to play with two

than do the show on my own.

During my last time performing in this wonderful place I got to bring some friends to play with. As life is so much better with them.

Gaston (Robert Dahlström) Tom Stone and I rehearsed and created a show to bring to The Magic Castle for The Palace of Mystery in March 2024. Technically this show was simply – bonkers!

When planning the show in Sweden we couldn’t have imagined just how much work we would have to do backstage during this show to pull it off, simply because, we decided to do this show differently.

Through us all taking Tom’s workshops for magicians in Conjuring – find out more here, we decided to transition each of our tricks into one another meaning that it wouldn’t take the usual format of magic shows, i.e. Act 1, Act 2 and Act 3 with a compere in between. Think typical magical Gala show.

We wanted to be more ambitious since we had two days to rehearse with each another before getting to LA.

We worked out a simple through line throughout the entire show from one trick to the next to the next which helped each individual piece flow smoothly into the next one – perhaps I need to do a blog on this by itself?

In smoothing out the transitions between our effects, it may have felt like a professionally directed piece of theatre to the audience, but backstage, we were literally running around like loons! By the end of the week it became much more fun and less stressful. But that first day – MY GOD!

So back to the room summary…

The Palace Tech Specs

Technically this room is the best. Or rather most like a proper theatre to perform in. The Palace is a stage magicians delight. Perhaps not a jugglers one as the stage has a pretty low ceiling.

Performing in this room means you get a qualified technician, the amazingly talented (and patient) David Svengalis at your fingertips. It is his job to make your show come to life with sound and lights. This requires arranging a technical time prior to your first evening show on the Monday where all performers are there to build and tech all the cues. What’s great about David is he is creative so after he has seen your show several times he’ll add little tweaks and have suggestions to make your performances look even better than they did on the first day.

Seating wise 130 people can squeeze into this beautiful theatre and generally every show sells out (at least ours did for our run). This room is a ticketed one. This means that guests get immediate tickets to this show through purchasing a table to eat dinner at the castle. So if you have any personal guests you must let your host of the room know before hand to reserve seats.

The seating and audience are positioned below the stage level meaning you need to check angles for any hidden props on stage to make sure they cannot be spotted from the audiences perspective. There is a staircase down to the audience and the rows part in the middle to allow performers and audience access to and from the stage.

Back stage there is a ramp for lager props to be wheeled onto and off stage.

Dressing room wise, again, this space is the most equipped out of all three rooms. Each performer gets their own dressing room. There is a shared bathroom and communal lounge area to for all the acts to use and eat together during their stay.

And the winner is?

Out of all three spaces I’ve performed in my favourite space in The Magic Castle is…

The Palace of Mystery

This is because of the technical aspect. Having a dedicated technician to make our material look professional with theatre lights and sound, for me makes this space the best performance space in the castle. There’s more space for each performer and I love having the larger audience.

Above all, getting to share the space with two other performers for me sealed the deal. I love performing with others and this space provides opportunities to play.

Other Magical places worth noting in the Castle

I may have performed in three of the rooms but there are even more spaces in The Magic Castle which are worth a mention.

The Peller Theatre is a smaller theatre downstairs that seats 45 comfortably. This space has become notoriously known as a rather experimental theatre for two performers to work on a collaborative theatrical experience.

The Peller serves a purpose also.

The shows in The Peller are timed at the same time are the shows in the Palace of Mystery so that if the Palace is sold out then guests can be ushered down to the Peller and be entertained accordingly.

I don’t know much about this space backstage for performers as I have not yet performed here but I have been to see several wonderful shows in this space including a collaboration between Shoot Ogawa and Simon Coronell which had a unique concept of portraying the plot ‘on stage’ and the happenings ‘off stage’ between their two characters.

They achieved this with subtle lighting, scripting and action.

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Bottom line, The Magic Castle is possibly the most magical place on earth and I am so privileged I have been given the opportunity to perform there and I hope it will not be long till I am back there again!