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This past weekend, I took a nice trip to New York City for a jazz concert hosted by none other than Wynton Marsalis and to see a musical called The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Well, walking on the unfamiliar and seemingly threatening streets isn't as bad as people make it out to be, besides the fact of people trying to sell purses, watches, wallets, etc. So the first day was full of a little shopping at a HUGE mall that I got lost in. A lot. Then we made our way to The Lincoln Center for the concert which was absolutely phenomenal. The theater was packed and we ended up sitting on the highest balcony behind the stage. So we were looking down on their backs...Which was a little bit of a let-down, but I really enjoyed it.

The second day was another of shopping at a smaller mall this time where, just outside, street performers, jugglers, armed guards, and several vendors stood. All of the vendors had bootlegged movies, fake or stolen purses, Rolex watches, etc. The mall was nice and full of souvenirs, which I quickly scooped up. We stopped by Ground Zero after that to see where the towers once stood. Something eerie about that place...But they're building something there now, a monument I think. More vendors were there... After checking out Ground Zero and snapping a few pictures, we made our way to Times Square to see the big screen, all of the billboards, and hey! more vendors! We got a little tired of all of the hustle and bustle and decided to get to Gershwin Theater a little early. We got there and found a few more vendors (surprise, surprise). We entered into a beautiful box office. We handed them our tickets and they told us, "Oh, enjoy the spelling bee! And make sure you try your luck in it!" We were a little dumbfounded, but continued on to an escalator. As we reached the bottom, we entered a perfect replica of an elementary school, complete with posters advertising reading, sports teams, pictures of children, children's paintings, and that certain school smell. We signed up for the spelling bee (Which was an interesting experience. You are interviewed, and you receive a report card, which goes on to another round of interviews). Unfortunately, I wasn't picked, but I had fun trying and we got candy! As we got into the theater, it was basically a large gym. Complete with wood floors, bleachers, basketball hoops, more sports posters, and those certain doors every school has. The show was awesome and was hilarious. I loved it and bought a few souvenirs from there and met a few members of the cast, including Mo Rocca, who was a really nice guy (pictures on my Myspace!). By the time, I got back home, I was completely drained. I was exhausted, but all in all, it was a great trip...And although we didn't have time to get to a magic shop, it's something that will happen very soon!

Hi, I'm going to New York in the Summer (Can't wait) is there any magic places you can recommend: good shops, common places where people perform e.t.c

It would definetly be of help. I am going to have such a magic shopping spree when I get there!

Tannen's was the one I wanted to go see. I guess it's huge, they have demonstrators, and shows every hour on the hour. Seems pretty cool, hm?

Perfect, I think I've planned my trip already!

I don't want to burst any bubbles, and I do love my hometown - but I have to be honest.

Tannen's reputation FAR EXCEEDS Tannen's reality. There's plenty of stuff going on, and they have a great deal of merchandise. However, it's not really that big - it's an incredibly boring looking place (I always found it to be quite dull and dank).

They are also WAY OVERPRICED. Yes, I said it. I don't care who comes and beats me up. Tannen's jacks their prices up to an almost criminal level ($12.50 for a DF'er pack should give you an idea of this)

They are very friendly and helpful, and it's fun to hang out there, but it's not really pleasing to the eye. It's also a bit tough to find, if you don't know where to look. No signage anywhere - so make sure you know the exact address (45 West 34th Street, Suite 608)

If you happen to be in the city - I highly recommend checking out the Fantasma Magic shop. They don't have much in the way of merchandise, but it's a cool looking shop with some cool memorabilia. The biggest draw though, is that Simon Lovell hangs out there almost all the time. Very approachable, very cool to talk with and he'll talk and perform for/with you as long as you'd like. Fantasma is at 421 7th avenue - diagonally across from Penn station, right above Sbarro's.

$12.50 for a DF'er pack should give you an idea of this

...Wow.

Guess it's a good thing I didn't go then.

Fantasma was another shop I was looking into, but never really paid much attention to due to the hype about Tannen's. Guess I'll have to check that one out instead!

I would still recommend Tannen's - in spite of the run-down nature of it, it's a cool shop and they have tons of products (which they will happily demo for you, anytime).

This brings me to a question of my own. If I was planning a trip to London - what would be some of the shops you would recommend I visit?

From what others have posted, there are only two Magic shops in London, International Magic and Davenports. There's a recent thread which gave a map and directions to one of them.