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I'll be heading up to Manchester for a gig on Thursday 21st October, stopping over on the Friday and travelling back on the Saturday afternoon. One of the things that me and my other half want to do while we're up there is pop along to Illusions Magic Bar so I wondered if anybody that's been could offer any advice? My gig which is not too far away should finish at about 11pm on the Thursday and we have all of Friday free. Any suggestions for which night to go on, time to get there for etc would be greatly appreciated. I don't think that you can ever beat real peoples personal experiences so would love to hear from some friendly folk that have been.
Thanks in advance!

Hi Order.
i work at Illusions Manchester though i will be at the Bristol branch on the dates you'll be in Manc.

The magic starts at 7 every night and friday and saturday nights get very busy so if you want to enjoy the magic i'd recommend an arrival on friday night, around 8-9 ish.

You're probably in luck, friday is usually performed by Andy James, absolutely brilliant performer.

Have fun.

Hi order, if your still in the city centre on Saturday afternoon on the 23rd a group of us are meeting up in the Kro Bar in Piccadilly Gardens 12:30 or thereabouts.

You and your other half would be more then welcome. check out regional meetings Manchester for more info. Hope you can make it.

Have been to Illusions with my wife a couple of times and have enjoyed it each time as CutToTheAcs said it can get very busy.

Have been, and want to go to the Bristol Illusions too.
It's good fun, and good to see someone else performing, whether you like their style or not.
Try to get a good spot, and have fun.

If I had one critiscism it would be that the music is too loud to allow you to really enjoy the magic. I'm not beeing funny about loud music, that's fine in other bars, but in a magic bar, you want to see the magic right?
I would turn the music down, and take the speaker away from the main performing area, so the music is at one end only. Also having musicians and magicians performing at the same time really confuses the issue.

Jing wrote:Have been, and want to go to the Bristol Illusions too.
It's good fun, and good to see someone else performing, whether you like their style or not.
Try to get a good spot, and have fun.

If I had one critiscism it would be that the music is too loud to allow you to really enjoy the magic. I'm not beeing funny about loud music, that's fine in other bars, but in a magic bar, you want to see the magic right?
I would turn the music down, and take the speaker away from the main performing area, so the music is at one end only. Also having musicians and magicians performing at the same time really confuses the issue.

My experience exactly!

I went along with the wife a couple of months ago and we'd said I wouldn't let on I was a magician, we'd just have a couple of drinks, watch some magic and no one needed to know (as it may affect the performance; which, while would probably be OK for me, my wife just wanted to see some magic for lay folk, not magicians).
So I walk up to the door thinking to myself "not a magician, not a magician, just watch, just watch...."
One foot in the door and I get tackled by Sam screaming "LAWRENCE! .... you have to perform some juggling for us...."
yeah, that went well.

If you're going on Friday night be prepared to lean in and say "what?" a few times. They're catering for more than just magicians in that place, which is fair, it's a business; but it can distract from the magic a bit.
Remember most of the people there are just there to drink, not to see magic. Seriously.

Lawrence wrote:Remember most of the people there are just there to drink, not to see magic. Seriously.

Oh I don't like loud music in any pub - unless it's a club when you're there to drink, and once you've had enough drinks to stop caring, dance. But that's fine by me, there's plenty of pubs who don't play loud music

I'll add on my weight to those saying it's a very enjoyable place

Thank you all very much for taking the time to post replies to my original message. Being our first time in Manchester and having some spare time to fit different things in, the input here has really helped in planning our time while we're there. The opportunities to get to witness live magic are few and far between but the experience with my partner 2 years ago down at Cellardoor in London changed them from being a a quite cynical, dismissive viewer into a changed person. That came from experiencing live magic close up rather than just watching it or seeing it. I'm sure that we're going to have a blast on the Friday evening.
Thank you all again for your contributions and involvement. It's very much appreciated.

How did it go at the Illusions Bar in Manchester?

Peter

If a magic bar can't survive without music so loud it stops you hearing the performer speak the concept has failed.

The vast majority of places that play loud music have absolutely no need or good reason to do so. The worst offenders are pubs where people go for drinks and conversation.

I worked in the drinks industry for a good long while and really think most people don't listen to or particularly want to hear music when out drinking. They may "hear" it when it's loud enough to make people speak over it, but outside music or dance clubs it's pointless.

A "magic bar" shouldn't be catering to magicians at all. There aren't enough of us to drink enough to keep them in business. That's no reason to compromise the concept though. Is it a magic bar or a club with loud music?

CutToTheAce

You may recall (although I know you couldn't quite place me as the Manchester Meet we met at was a LIFETIME ago) that I popped in and literally said Hi when you were performing at Illusions Magic Bar (you mentioned you were trying a trick for the first time)....

What did you do to get the position at Illusions?

I've emailed Illusions via the online contact form re doing magic there, but on the off chance they say no, is there are tips you can give?

I'm not giving up my day job here obviously, but as you will suspect, I love performing magic (and that includes nights out as well), and I have had a small number of paid gigs (including a charity fundraiser hosted by Barclays), where I have learnt a lot about performing magic. I'd love to earn a bit of pocket money (as I know realistically that's what the pay would be) but would be happy to do so only to thrive off that magic buzz. It'd also be nice to hand out business cards whilst performing there. To be honest, as much as I enjoyed the Bristol Illusions, one of the magicians, I personally thought was average, but yet the crowd were absolutely loving it. Of course, this critical eyes may well come from the fact that I knew about the methodology of the marketed effects: I'd imagine we'd all be critical as we'd imagine our own presentation. Still, notwithstanding this, I'd really relish Illusions, and if there's any words as to getting a job specifically at Illusions Manchester, I'd be eternally grateful.