talkmagic.co.uk

Hello all !
I'm french and next month I will spend 4 days in London.
Do you know some good magic shops in London (in the center of the town if possible).

Thank you for your future help.

Excuse my poor english speaking.

davenports charring cross station , internationals clerkenwell,.and the magic cave, covent garden.

daleshrimpton wrote:davenports charring cross station , internationals clerkenwell,.and the magic cave, covent garden.

Head to Davenports and International Magic, ignore the Magic Cave. Awful place.

forgot to sugest Marvins in Hamleys.

There.. Thats the 4 magic dealers in central london covered.
Davies, and international, are obviously the better options if you want a proper magic shop, Magic cave is a stall in covent garden, and because of this , you do get quite a number of laymen shouting show us a trick. It's more or less the same in Hamleys. But it is still worth visiting.

Just to pre-empt Davenports....

When you ask "have you got......?"

you will get a smug look followed by "No we haven't"


That's what I used to get every visit and so go to international magic instead where they have this weird thing called a friendly welcome and helpful demeanour

+1 for International Magic. If Marco and Jerry are both working on the same day, you won't leave for at least an hour and feel like you've been given your own private comedy magic show!

I also agree with greedoniz, I've only ever been in Davenports once and didn't feel welcome at all. Maybe a bit unfair to judge on a single visit but I certainly wasn't going to venture in there again to be treated the same way!


Sean

Jerry no longer ever works there.

I have a long history with International Magic. It goes back decades. I look at my life and often think the following words concerning International Magic:
"It's all their fault"

greedoniz wrote:Just to pre-empt Davenports....

When you ask "have you got......?"

you will get a smug look followed by "No we haven't"


That's what I used to get every visit and so go to international magic instead where they have this weird thing called a friendly welcome and helpful demeanour

Not anymore, that idiot that used to work there has been replaced by a very friendly, charming and helpful man.
However I do still feel like davenports is a shop for beginners (gimmicks and toys galore) while I.M is for those who know what they're looking for (Books and hard to find props).

I don't mean to change the subject, but does anyone know of an ONLINE magic shop that specalizes in Mentalism? I've never seen an all mentalism shop.

A google search gave me nothing, only the magic cafe hits and penguin; any ideas?


Tom
xx

Lebanon Circle, Black Hart.... use the search function and the ads at the bottom of each page of TM and check them out. Most Magic Shops will also carry a line of effects which can be used in Mentalism, it's all down to how you perform them.

there are lots, but they are very specialized.

suppliers like Alakazam, and magicbox are the places that are developing the new stuff, so please dont ignore them.

Thank you for your answers.
I do a lot of cards effect.
I don't want a shop like Hamleys with some popular easy trick for beginers ( Iwas in London 3 years ago and visit this shop for a gift for my young girl).

I'm not doing mentalism and I'm working a bit on coin but I think I will certainly buy some things for card magic (DVDs, or Books or effects).

International is probably the best in London. Davenports are useless
A complete bunch of clowns.. and thats being polite. Someone with a degree in marketing would help

And its got a lot worse recently. Dont ask for a DVD at Davenports or the guy will have a heart attack.

What London needs a a set up like Alakazam. In fact get on a train and make the effort and see these guys.

London seems to have gone down the drain with magic shops. I remember the old days when there were a ton of magic shops and studios. International and Davenports were there of course but so were Harry Stanley and Ken Brooke. That old misery Oscar Oswald, Repro 71, Jack Hughes plus the Hamleys and Gamages concessions. And of course Chavel's magic shop. And Chavel was an even worse misery than Oscar Oswald. And mentalism supplies were well covered by Tony Corinda. And of course there was rude old Alan Alan as well. There may have been others I have left out.

I have always said that anyone that sells fun is as miserable as sin. Think of all the magic shops all over the world and ten to one the proprietor is a right misery. People that sell fun don't actually have any themselves.

As for Davenports they used to have two tip top demonstrators in Patrick Page and Jake somebody or other. When they went naturally the experience wasn't the same any more.