Friday, September 17, 2004 8:29 PM
BY SANDY COHEN
It’s been one of Hollywood’s most exclu- sive nightclubs for more than 40 years.
Overlooking the city from its hillside perch on Franklin Avenue, the Magic Castle is a private haven for magicians and celebrities. Siegfried & Roy (minus the tigers) got their start there. So did David Copperfield. Orson Welles and Cary Grant used to be regulars at the Castle’s multiple bars. Today it’s Drew Barrymore and Jason Alexander. In fact, it usually takes magic to get in.
It’s a place where the walls talk, an invisible pianist takes requests and magicians amaze audiences nightly.
It’s also the site of the second annual L.A. Press Club Halloween Party.
On October 28, friends and members of the Press Club can gain entrance to the exclusive Magic Castle for dinner, drinks and, of course, magic. Visit the Parlour of Prestidigitation, the Palace of Mystery and the Close-Up Gallery, where magicians somehow fool the eye from just a few feet away. Or just sit at the bar and wait for one of the stools to lore. Pieces of the Santa Monica Opera House and the Hollywood High School gymnasium enjoy new life at the Castle.
Milt and Bill Larsen opened the place on Jan. 2, 1963 as a tribute to their dad, attorney-turned-magi- cian William W. Larsen. As the founder of the Academy of Magical Arts, Larsen dreamed of a nightclub where magicians could socialize and share tricks. He died before the Magic Castle opened, but son Milt Larsen knows all the Castle’s secrets. Tune into next month’s 8-Ball to learn if the Magic Castle is actually haunted, and mark your calendar for the Press Club’s party at the Magic Castle on Oct. 28. Reservations, which will be required to assure seating, can be made in September by going to the club’s website at www.lapressclub.org or contact- ing diana@lapressclub.org. Tickets are $75 per person and include the Magic Castle’s gourmet three-course steak or seafood dinner.
