talkmagic.co.uk

Hi i just returned from Davenport's it was a good experience nice little shop, i got more than i intended buying unltimate secrets of card magic by dai vernon, and a trick called diminishing returns, when the person serving demonstrated it i couldnt not walk away not knowing how it is done.

I just thought i would let you know kind of random but ohwell

Yeh Davenports is a nice little shop, if not a little creepy and dark and out of the way. And a little expensive. And Charing Cross Arcade smells of wee. But other than that, its great!!

There's a lovely little tidbit in Hugard's Magic Monthly about Davenport's by "Mystic Craig":

"In London, Saturday mornings, there's always quite a conclave at Davenport's magic shop - Horace King, Jack Alvis, Joe Sutherland, Tommy Cooper, Al Koran, Eddie Songest, Bobbie Bernard, Doc Davis."

Can you imagine being in the same room as that lot! All those sharp blue serge suits, buttonholes and "pick a card". Marvelous stuff...

I was actually a bit dissapointed the first time i visited Davenports. Not dissapointed with the service or the Davenport family, but the location. I had built up an image in my mind of a cosy old victorian shop in a grand London street with huge curved glass windows, (a bit naive perhaps) but when i actually got there, i thought...........well............is that it! It can't be! Tucked away in a wee wee smelling, dark, grimey corner of the underground with the odd homeless person sleeping outside (no offence). You could easily walk straight past it. The experience inside is different though, nice people, always willing to help and you don't feel that pressured into buying anything. I think i left with a catologue, of which, i have bought many a magical ellusion from. Anybody else surprised when they first payed a visit there?

Dan

I have never been but I have a very idealised idea of what it would be like.

Flippin' Harry Potter

It wasn't always down there of course!

Although a converted Northerner now, I was brought up in London and recall visiting the old Davenports many times with my father (another magician and a MIMC). It was, if my memory serves me right, in a far more traditional and rather quaint old shop. As a small boy I was, of course, filled with wonder... and the street most definitely didn't smell of wee!

EEEHHH... them were the days.....

Keith

I have not been in there for a while, still smells ?:shock:

stephenmagic wrote:I have not been in there for a while, still smells ?:shock:

hehe...i was desperate, and seemed to have hidden that bottle quite well

I remember the 1st time I went. What a grotty location for a shop! Never seems anyone else in the shop when I go there nowadays. I guess they must struggling from internet stores, and I have found there prices a bit high.

However, get on the tube and visit International near Farringdon, nice looking shop, top staff, great advice, freindly chat and good prices. And they always seem to have what I want in stock. They often make you a cup of tea aswell! And you can get a great pint of guiness in the pub opposite!

P.s. I dont work for them, just a happy repeat customer.

I quite like the location. I think it makes it feel more like a secret. Its all tucked away and hidden. It also gets rid of tourists and rowdy laymen, as they would immediately be knocked back by the smell and go back to taking pictures at trafalgar square. Hooray for dank smelly magic shops!

when the person serving demonstrated it i couldnt walk away not knowing how it is done.

Ah! Music to the ears of any magic dealer...

Keith Hart