Well-known magician, author, and all-around bright guy Joshua Jay wrote a lovely review of Chamber Magic^® on his blog today.

If you are interested in learning magic, or teaching tricks to a young magician in your life, you could do no better than Joshua’s book, Magic: The Complete Course, available in all major bookstores.

Here is his review of my show. Thanks, Josh!

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Steve Cohen: True Master

by Joshua Jay

December 6, 2009

I had the distinct pleasure of attending Steve Cohen’s Chamber Magic, at the Waldorf Astoria, New York City, and it was a therapeutic experience; I was transported back to age nine, when I saw my first magic show. I laughed, I was amazed, I was fooled several times, and I felt like a layman. I didn’t realize how much I missed this feeling, because I haven’t felt this euphoric about a magic show in a long time (I get this feeling a lot in the presence of Juan Tamariz).

Cohen’s Chamber Magic is in its tenth year, and is that rare example of formal close-up magic offered regularly to the public. Steve’s show is absolutely phenomenal—it’s everything a great magic show should be: entertaining, enlightening, autobiographical, surprising, and it boasts all the advantages of close-up over other genres of magic: all fifty participants felt like they experienced magic in very close proximity, and nearly everyone was involved at some point.

I also had the distinct pleasure of seeing growth in this show, because I saw it four years ago. It was a good show then, and some of the material is the same. But years later, (five shows a week, every week), Steve has achieved virtuosic proficiency with his material, and a level of comfort that only comes through thousands of shows. His script was polished, and his wit off the cuff was seamless. Clearly he has heard every line, and has a response or a tactic for everything.

Every piece in his show is a closer: Think-a-Drink (in which any thought-of drink is poured from a magic tea kettle), a thought-of card routine, an involved Q and A piece, an astounding, hands-off rising cards in which the pack is isolated on all sides by glass (this would fool even the most discerning magician), Malini’s ice production (with a brick) and done surrounded, the finest Himber Ring routine I have ever seen, and Tamariz’s Total Coincidence. That Cohen is a proficient technician and a fine performer is clear to anyone show sees the show. But only a magician can fully appreciate his knack for selecting strong, memorable magic. Good material selection is, perhaps, as important as any other skill in magic. Steve has exquisite taste.

New York City has no Magic Castle, and we East Coast magicians are insecure about this. But we have a recurring close-up magic show that has run more than a decade, in one of the most prestigious venues in the world. Worthy of seeing and worthy of study, Chamber Magic was simply delightful.