Now You See Them, Now You Don’t:
Places of Magic in the Village and on the Bowery

The history of magic and magicians in New York City is a rich one. Long before television and film they took their audiences under dim gaslight into places of wonder. Some were the highest paid performers of the day, and others the lowest perhaps, found on a Dime Museum stage. We will touch upon Professor Anderson, the Wizard of the North, Hermann the Great, Harry Houdini, Thurston, Malini and others. Places like Otto Maurer’s Magical Bazaar, the Bowery Theater, The Globe Dime Museum, Sieden’s Bar, Mostly Magic and Monday Night Magic will be discussed.

Tom Klem, artist/historian and Richard Cohn, magician/historian will take you on this journey from the Golden Age of Magic in the 1860s Bowery theater district to the present day in the heart of the Village. We will present images of the places and individuals from this world of magic and illuminate its rich history. There will be one magic effect performed in this program.