Magic has returned to Downtown Santa Monica with the recent opening of the Illusion Magic Lounge in the location that used to be Magicopolis, following the retirement of the founders who had run the venue since 1997.
The new owners, fathers and son duo Randy Sinnott Sr. and Randy Sinnott Jr. took over in August 2019 and used the pandemic as an opportunity to remodel the space, revamp the food and drink menus and set up a new rotating cast of magicians to perform.
"During that time we completely redid the front of the house, polished up the theater and really made the place much more contemporary," Sinnott Sr. said.
He said they did a soft opening of the new lounge and bar two months ago with a strolling magician and three weeks ago started holding shows in the 150-seat theater. Current performers include Jody and Kathleen Baran and Chris Mitchell. He said the line-up will change every few weeks and will feature many magicians from the famed Magical Castle in Hollywood where he said he and his son both previously served as president.
Sinnott Sr. said the creation of the Illusion Magic Lounge has truly been a family endeavor with his daughter Erica Moyer helping with marketing and his son’s wife Lizzie Sinnott taking charge of the interior design.
"I’m really thrilled by the way the lounge in the front and the bar area turned out, which I take no credit for," he said. "My son and his wife are the two who designed this."
He said restaurateur and business partner Dan Trapp played a key role in developing the new menu which is made up of magic-themed creations such as the ‘misdirection martini."
Sinnott Sr. became interested in magic at age 13 when he picked up a biography of Harry Houdini in his middle school library. He was hooked and kept learning as much as he could about the topic. Although he himself doesn’t perform, he enjoys sharing the wonder of magic with others, which is what he wants to do with the Illusion Magic Lounge.
He said he hopes to expand the lounge’s hours in the future and also have it serve as a venue for other types of performances including comedy and burlesque as well as a space people can rent out for birthday parties and other special events.
The Illusion Magic Lounge is currently open Thursday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. For more information and to buy show tickets visit https://illusionmagiclounge.com/visit.
