Bringing back the close-up magic that Chicago gave the world in the 1920s
The Chicago Magic Lounge in Uptown aims to be a clubhouse for the sleight-of-hand artists keeping the craft alive.
by
Kevin Warwick
on
June 23, 2016 at 4:00AM
Until I found a comb-bound catalog of "Tricks gathered from the four corners of the World" in a second-hand store in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 2014, I didn't have much clue about the history of Chicago magic—much less know that the city had pioneered its own style. Printed in 1940 by the National Magic Company (once located downtown in the Palmer House), the tattered volume features whimsical, colorful illustrations of vintage tricks on its cover (a rabbit out of a box, Chinese linking rings, et cetera).