Tannen’s Magic Shop
Mike Leitao ~ 09/23/2024
Last week, I ripped on the shithole that is New York. I have no regrets about that choice, my opinion still stands that NYC is such a shit hole that regular shit holes look up to it. That being said, I felt it only fair to give NYC its flowers this week, as when something in NYC hits, it hits hard. During my time in New York, I finally got to go to a place I’ve been trying to go to for about a year and a half. Tannen’s Magic Shop is a small magic shop and a hidden gem in the bustling city, hiding on the 6th floor of a building with no signs that give any illusion to what mystery it holds. Add in the fact that it’s only open for a total of 41 hours during the week, which includes a 6 hour period on Saturdays while being closed on Sundays, and you can maybe see why it took me so long to finally get there. Now that I’ve been, I feel it’s only right to express why more people should make this a point for their next trip to NYC.
Let’s start with a simple fact, Magic is actually pretty fucking cool. If you look at magic tricks and think they’re lame you, probably got bullied in high school and haven’t experienced joy since the last time your mom said I love you, who’s also probably the only woman to utter those words to you. One of the reasons magic is so popular among kids is that it’s a simple way to bring awe and joy to people. Even as you get older, the only thing that changes is that you realize instead of real voodoo magic taking place, magicians use sleight of hand and other diversions to make the tricks work, but that does not make it any less awe-inspiring and impressive.
What makes Tannen’s so interesting and enjoyable is a wide variety of entertainment. Firstly, it is the oldest magic shop in New York City, having been in operation since 1925. That makes it a historical place, which instantly makes it cooler than most magic shops. You then add in the fact that this store holds an incredible amount of different magic items, like invisible paint, magic cards, dice, wands, and so much more in such a small space. It allows anyone regardless of both interest in magic and skill to have something for them in the store. It is also home to a wide variety of magic novelty items and historical pieces from some of the greatest magicians the world had ever seen. From a content perspective, it would be easy to spend hours in there just looking at all the different relics that have been collected.
However, what makes Tannen’s a must-visit destination is the amount of different magic tricks you can see there. All of the workers are skilled magicians and spend more time showing off different incredible magic tricks than they do selling items. Plus, the store is a magicians wet dream so other magicians are normally in there as well and will happily show off their tricks. When I went, I met a magician (shoutout Dr. S he’s a straight stud), who showed off tricks to me for at least an hour, all of them were more impressive than the last.
The amount of joy that shop brought me was indescribable, at the beginning of the day I assumed I would get to go in and look around for a bit, leave, and mark it off the list of places to see, but in truth, I left wishing I could go back and spend hours hearing the stories of these magicians, allowing them to continue to show and improve their craft. If you are ever in New York and you can make it work, I would strongly urge you to make a pit stop at Tannen’s Magic Shop for a truly wonderful time, but be warned, you may go in expecting for a quick 5-minute trip but leave 2 hours later with a magician starter set. And if you go, tell ‘em Riot Club sent you (this won’t mean anything to them and they might look at you like you are on drugs but everyone in New York is so it’s fine).
