Great Magic Shops

“When you enter some magic shops you have trouble leaving.”

Magic Shops

Unlike magicians, magic shops never had trouble showing me how to do magic. The problem was most of them showed me the same trick. They made my money vanish and left me with a bag full of . . . worthless junk.

As I grew in magic I learned there were two kinds of magic shops. The sole goal of most magic shops is to sell each customer as much overpriced slum magic tricks as possible.

The person behind the counter will say whatever it takes to get the sale. There is no personal service. If you seek help learning the trick after the sale, the magic dealers says,

’Go back and read the directions. If I can learn it from them so can you.’

There is a second and rare kind of magic shop. You can read a great short story about one of these magic shops.

When you find this kind of magic shop you will spend hours and hours watching the magic dealer perform and asking him questions. The sole goal is to foster a love and appreciation of magic. He will sell you magic, but work with you to learn it.

Over time, you begin to develop a relationship with him. He will be honest with you about whether a magic trick is suited for you. This magic dealer loves magic as much as you do. You can see it when he performs magic in the shop. He may have demonstrated the Scotch and Soda trick ten thousand times, but each time is like the magic dealer's first time.

I have dealt with several great magic dealers in my many years in magic. Three of them stand out.

Greg Bordner owns Abbott’s Magic Co. in Colon, Michigan. I don’t think anything has changed in his shop in over sixty years. It is like stepping into the past. It is wonderful!

Greg loves magic and it shows when you watch him demonstrate magic to people just getting started in magic. I have driven up to Abbott’s many times and Greg has always greeted me in a very warm and friendly way. I spent hours talking about magic and the magic business. He is a really neat guy with a wonderful shop.

The second great magic dealer is Paul Diamond. He is a great character. He has East Coast accent and attitude. He has retired from selling magic which is a shame. I wish everyone could see Paul perform.

He could find the entertainment value out of any trick. I once watch him deal with a customer who had bought something from him, but came back to complain. His complaint was that there was no way someone could get away with doing the trick.

Paul took the magic trick from the customer and immediately performed it. The customer was so impressed with the magic trick that he bought two more of the exact same trick from Paul! Now that is showmanship. I have bought many things from Paul over the years. I was never disappointed.

Ed Williams, who runs FunTyme Magic Shop, is another example of a great magic dealer. He runs a magic shop in Southern Indiana. As you get to know Ed, you learn quickly that he loves magic. One of his biggest pet peeves is to see someone come into the shop and buy a bunch of magic and turn around become a ‘professional magician’ in less than a month. If you love the art of magic, then you grow to appreciate Ed Williams.

Ed always try to do right by the customer. This story comes from a discussion on the Magic Café. Ed put a description for an instant download for a magic trick. He used the description for the physical product for it. The incorrect description said the instant download came with a Bicycle deck. Someone from Italy pointed this out to Ed on the Magic Café forum. Ed changed the description and sent the guy a card deck at Ed’s expense.

Finding the right magic shop is a hard and rewarding job. It is even more difficult with all of the Internet magic shops that are here today and gone tomorrow. I try to find a magic shop that has a brick and mortar shop as well as a website.

Funtyme Magic is a good example of a great magic shop that is making the changes needed to be competitive. If you are looking for a great magic shop to buy your magic, try Funtyme Magic.

Magically yours,