The Magic Circular, July 2022

By Bob Gill

Max Malini was fêted by kings, heads of state, VIPs, A-listers and the filthy-rich alike, but did not get a special day named after him. The keeper of his flame has been a fixture of the New York magic scene for more than 20 years. In 2017 Steve Cohen gave the five-thousandth performance of his award-winning weekly show Chamber Magic. To commemorate the occasion, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio officially declared October 6, 2017 ‘Chamber Magic Day’ in the city. No other magician has been accorded such a tribute.

Steve Cohen’s unique weekly live show, Chamber Magic, ran in the sumptuous surroundings of the Duke of Windsor Suite at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, the epitome of distinguished hospitality, perfectly suiting the ethos of the Chamber Magic show. When the Waldorf-Astoria was purchased by the Anbang Insurance Group for $1.95 billion in 2014 (making it the most expensive hotel ever sold) Steve’s show moved to another opulent hotel, the Lotte New York Palace. It runs four shows a week, with tickets starting at $125 and is sold-out weeks in advance to adults only, with a capacity of 64 per show. Steve has notched up more than 6,000 performances of his unique show.

Steve Cohen’s story has been exhaustively documented in the press – magic and popular alike – and has built him an enviable and unparalleled legacy, ironically matched only by one Max Malini. Here are some highlights:

Steve Cohen was born in 1971, in New York.

At the age of six he learned his very first magic trick from his great-uncle, an amateur magician.

In his teens he performed table-hopping at Elliott’s Restaurant in New York.

At 17 he took first prize in Junior Close- Up Magic at the IBM convention in Nashville.

In 1991, he studied at Waseda University in Tokyo. While at school, Steve worked a part-time job at Ton Onosaka’s famous Magic Land shop.

Steve lives in an Upper West Side apartment with his wife, Yumi, and their children Alex and June.

Returning to Tokyo for four years, he table-hopped weekly at Park Hyatt Tokyo and Ginza Lion.

In 1995 he returned to New York City, where he performed for small private gatherings while also working as a Japanese translator/interpreter to help pay the bills. He’d show up every Wednesday night, as a patron, at the main bar in the Peninsula Hotel on Fifth Avenue, and perform casual magic for customers at the bar, whilst schmoozing and networking with wealthy guests, gaining him gigs at private parties.

In 1999 he worked as television consultant to David Blaine for two years.

For 25 years he wrote the instructions for Tenyo’s releases, since he was fluent in Japanese and earned a living part-time as a translator in Tokyo.

In 2000 he put on his first show, Mystery Salon, at a friend’s upscale apartment in Greenwich Village. This morphed into Chamber Magic, a title that harkened back to the Victorian era.

In 2001, he performed a series of twenty Chamber Magic shows at the prestigious National Arts Club, in Gramercy Park. By that summer, he had bagged the residency at The Waldorf Towers.

In 2017 the Waldorf Astoria closed its doors, and the show moved to Lotte New York Palace where it now resides, two shows a night, two nights a week.

In addition, he has presented a modified version of the show many hundreds of times at private events for celebrities, tycoons, aristocrats, including royalty.

By Gabe Abelson

There can be no better way to gain a sense of Steve’s performance than the heartfelt account Gabe Abelson gave in Genii, September 2008, Vol 71, Number 9, which offers a detailed biography of The Millionaires’ Magician (reproduced with kind permission from member Richard Kaufman) of experiencing Steve Cohen’s trademark routine:

My wife and I entered the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s suite. There were about 60 chairs set up, three rows on either side of the aisle, 10 chairs per row. The magician’s table was set front and centre between rows, no more than three feet from the closest chair.

Before the show audience members were each handed index cards on which to write their favourite alcoholic beverage.

The show began. Out walked Mr Cohen in a $3,000 tuxedo with tails, gold pocket-watch chain gleaming. The Millionaires’ Magician who looked like a million. Despite his diminutive frame, he immediately (and silently) commanded attention. In a mellifluous voice, filling the silent suite at the Waldorf, Steve introduced himself to the crowd.

[Cohen then performed his full show, at the end of which…] He directed our attention to a beautiful tea service on a large platter holding a gleaming silver kettle, surrounded by about ten shot glasses in a perfect semicircle. The service had been in full view since the start of the show. This would be the moment where the index cards we filled out before the show would be called back into play.

He asked for a volunteer to step forward to handle the index cards which had been passed down the rows and collected by an audience member. Steve asked me to remove any five of them, distribute four cards to random members of the audience and keep one for myself. “Please just shout out what you see.” One cardholder spoke out, “Manhattan!” “What’s in a Manhattan? Bourbon, sweet vermouth, bitters? Sir, anyone could have gone first, but it was you.” Cohen slowly poured a brown-burgundy liquid from the kettle, completely filling a shot glass before the kettle seemingly ran dry. Cohen handed it out and said, “First, smell it.” Disbelievingly, the audience member responded, “It smells like bourbon.” Momentarily feigning relief, Steve said, “That’s a good sign.” Laughter. The man was then asked to taste it. Sure enough, it’s a Manhattan. Think a- Drink [is] a routine that not only fries the mind, but in addition, engages and stuns three senses— sight, smell, and taste.

“Let’s try someone else!” says Cohen enthusiastically, inviting another guest to shout out the name of a drink. “Orange juice,” she reads. “Okay, which do you prefer: with or without pulp?” asks Steve. “With!” the woman responds, chuckling.

“Freshly squeezed?” “Yes.” Steve proceeds to pour thick, pulpy orange juice from the kettle. Again, just enough in it to fill the shot glass. Following the OJ, came a man who read “Grasshopper.” Naturally, the green drink was poured.

What followed was yet another moment that is indelibly etched in my brain. The fourth person holding a card yelled out, “1987 Cabernet.” Steve asked, “That’s kind of specific. Is red wine good enough?” More laughter. The cardholder then shocked everyone by revealing that he was, in fact, a sommelier! “Well,” the man said teasingly, “1987 Cabernet would be nice.” (laughter) “In fact, ’87 was a wonderful vintage— but if it’s red wine, it’s still a great trick!” Cohen said he would see what he could do. Tipping the kettle, what was clearly red wine spilled into the shot glass. The drink was then carried over to the sommelier. The crowd sat in silent anticipation as the man sniffed, then tasted the wine. “Jesus!” he exclaimed. “1987 Cabernet! How the hell…?”

Steve asked me to read my card, which I did. Iced mochachino. At this point, of course, I’m thinking, “How’s he going to get out of this one, even with the ‘trick’ kettle he won’t relinquish?” Taking me completely off-guard, Steve offered me the kettle and said, “Why don’t you pour this one?” Gladly, I took it from him, and realized at this point that I was actually somewhat frightened. I gingerly poured myself a shot … which just filled the glass, and as I poured it, I could see that I wouldn’t even have to taste the drink to recognize it … but I downed it anyway. Iced mochachino. Delicious: and at this point, almost hallucinatory.

Steve Cohen and Mark Levy, the co-creators of Chamber Magic had constructed the strongest, most perfectly paced, most enjoyable and memorable evening of magic I have ever experienced.