Fantasma Magic Shop

Fantasma magic shop is tucked on the second floor of a deli in a low traffic area of Herald Square. I'd say less than one percent of the people walking by would notice it, though, when I walked into the second floor shop, it was full of teenagers, parents, and geeky adults.

I was overwhelmed by the selection of magic tricks, gags, puppets, and signed Houdini and David Blane paraphernalia. I started to peruse the gags section. It was a nine-year-old's dream. Fake snakes, growing anatomy (get your mind out of the gutter!), flying coins, belch powder, red hot toothpicks, fart bombs, whoopee cushions, and fake bullet holes lined the walls of the store. I chose some fish candy and fart bombs and made my way to the center of the store.

The main attraction of Fantasma seemed to be an older gentleman standing behind a glass counter. A crowd of folks young and old were huddled around this man that was swiftly sliding balls and cups around on a red velvet surface, talking all the while. I stepped up hesitantly to attempt to observe from afar. No luck.

"Hello, little lady. What brings you to Fantasma today?", he gave me his best Cheshire cat grin. Why are magicians so good at tricking people with their hands and so bad at tricking us with their faces. Are they all so shifty?

Oh, brother. I guess I should fess up. "I write a blog where I do new things, so today, I'm visiting my first magic shop. Do you mind if I take a short video of your performance?"

His grin dropped like the anvil on Road Runner's head. "No. You can't. I'm SAG.", he remembered his audience, "I was on Letterman, did you know that?". Grin reinstated. "I'm the infamous David Roth. Would you like me to do a trick for you, young lady?"

I acquiesced and David Roth (with, I must admit, brilliant slight of hand) performed a card trick for my benefit. I smiled, thanked him, and stepped back to let a chubby little boy of about eleven step up to the hot spot. "I need a new trick, David".

"What's your budget?"

"Sixty."

"Okay. We can work with that. Here's a good one." David pulled out a cup and a yellow ball.

I should hope that trick was under sixty. What else could I expect from a magician, though, right? I decided to give myself a quiet tour of the rest of the facilities. I started to walk toward a wall of puppets and marionettes. No luck. Yet another slimy and slightly more hygenically challenged man approached me.

"Where you from?", he asked as he offered his hand. I shook it and responded with a less-than-friendly, "Here". Note to self. Buy Purell ASAP. I proceeded to get the guided tour from Rick Remmick (or something like that) who happened to be a magician as well as a stand up comedian and balloon animal expert (go figure). He led me around the room and pointed out the highlights of the store. There were shelves of magic books, glow in the dark everything, and a party room complete with levitating board for the birthday boy or girl. I followed along, took notes, and hoped he would go away so I could make a beeline for the nearest bar of soap. Finally, he left me to assist a family of, I'm pretty sure, professional gamers with their magic needs. I sighed and took one last survey of the store. The shop was a fun place that housed tons of funny gags and tricks and I could see that I would have loved to visit Fantasma as a nine-year-old girl. Maybe I could enjoy it as an adult, too. I looked at the package I had in my hand and thought of the fun I would have at work with my fish candy. Then I flipped it over and noticed that there was no price tag. Yeah. Shifty. I replaced the fish candy and headed downstairs to the street.