Friday, October 12, 2012

Magic Bar Review: Magic Bar Stockholm

The main hall, with the small stage in the background
In Stockholm, there is no magic bar culture like in Japan where I live. In December 2009, Sweden's first (Northern Europe's first) magic bar was opened, however. It is called "Magic Bar Stockholm", but it is perhaps more like a restaurant than a bar.


ストックホルムでは、日本みたいなマジックバーの文化がないんだ。2009年の12月にスウェーデンの初めて(北欧の初めて)のマジックバーがオープンしたけど。マジックバーストックホルムという店だがバーというよりレストランだ。

Salmon and stewed potatoes
They serve very nice food, and have lots of tables. There are several rooms, and in the summer there are also lots of tables outside. During weekends, there is a stage magic show on a small stage in the largest room, though I have never managed to get there on a weekend when there was still stage magic going on (the stage magic takes summer vacation in July, which is when I usually visit Sweden). There is also table magic, with a magician coming to your table and doing a 10 to 15 minute magic show. A lot of magicians perform at Magic Bar Stockholm, and there is usually a new magician every week.

本格的なフードメニューがあって、テーブルが多い。部屋が4つくらいあって、夏に外にもテーブルが置いてある。週末にステージマジックショーもあるそうだが僕はまだ観たことがない。僕がだいたい7月にスウェーデンに行くが7月にステージマジックショーは休みだ。他にテーブルを回ってマジックを見せてくれるマジシャンもいる。テーブルで10~15分くらいのマジックを見せて貰える。沢山のマジシャンがマジックバーストックホルム出ているんだ。だいたい毎週違うマジシャンが出る。

Garlic butter, wine sauce, and steak.

The interior of Magic Bar Stockholm is very beautiful. Each room has a different color scheme, and they have many strange decorations on the walls. Even the toilet is fun to visit. The food is good, and the prices are not high if you compare to normal restaurants in Sweden (though Sweden is expensive compared to Japan when it comes to food).

インテリアがきれいだ。各部屋が違う色で、色々な不思議な飾り物が置いてある。トイレもきれいで面白い。食べ物が美味しい。スウェーデンの物価にして、安いし(日本のレストランと比べたら、スウェーデンのレストランが高いけど)。

A chocolate cake dessert.

The magicians I have seen there were all very nice. The waiting staff are also nice when you get hold of them, but sometimes it is very hard to find anyone to take your order, or to tell you if you can sit at some table etc. In Japan, if no one acknowledges your presence within a few seconds of you entering a restaurant or bar, they are probably closed, so it was a bit unnerving for me when I got in there and no one seemed to notice me for several minutes. I no longer know what to do in Sweden, haha. Is it OK to just sit down at some empty looking table? And how do you get a menu if no one notices you? So the service is a bit slow (showing up with the food after you ordered can be slow too), but that is my only complaint so far I think.

今まで観たマジシャンが皆良かった。ウェータースタッフも優しいがなかなかいない時も多い。どのテーブルに座れたいいとか、注文したい時とか、誰もいないから不安になる時が何回かあった。日本の素晴らしい文化に慣れすぎて、スウェーデンでどうすればいいか分からない、笑。スウェーデン人の知り合いに聞いて、スウェーデンにしてもマジックバーストックホルムのスタッフの頑張る気というか、サービスのレベルというか、特別に遅いんだ。この文句以外はマジックバーストックホルムの悪いところがないと思うけど。

Tom Stone doing a rubber band trick for my father
I have been to magic bar Stockholm 4 times. The first time I visited with my parents, my brother and his girlfriend. We all ordered food, and got very nice food (there were some mix-ups with the orders, but everything turned out fine in the end). At that time, Tom Stone was doing table magic. I have seen him once before when he gave a lecture on magic and psychology at my old university in Stockholm (when I was still a student). Tom Stone is quite famous in Japan too, at least among magicians. Seeing him live again now that I have started doing magic myself was nice. He is one of the magicians I admire a lot. He did some rubber band magic, some coin magic, and some card magic for us. Very nice.

今4回もマジックバーストックホルムに行ったことがある。初めて行った時に両親と弟と弟の彼女と5人で行った。皆料理も注文して、色々な美味しいもの食べれた(スタッフの注文ミスもあって、ちょっと複雑なことがあったが結局問題なかった)。その時に日本のテレビも出たトム・ストーンさんがマジックを見せてくれた。前に僕が行ったスウェーデンの大学で一回トム・ストーンのマジックと心理の関係の発表も見たことがあって、今自分でマジックしてて又見れる機会で嬉しかった。尊敬しているマジシャンの1人で。輪ゴム・コイン・カードのマジックを見せてくれた。面白かった。

The magician John-Henry introduced me to a bunch of other magicians too!

Charlie Caper imitating a Japanese comedian
One year later, I went to the magic bar alone. A young magician called John-Henry was doing table magic, and he fairly quickly guessed that I was a magician too. You can usually tell, because people who know magic are surprised at the "wrong" timing, haha. He did some funny magic with ropes/strings full of bad Swedish puns, a lot of magic based on misdirection and stealing things off the table (like his own cards, my glass) or his own shoes. He later introduced me to group of famous Swedish magicians who were also drinking in the magic bar the same evening too. These magicians were also very nice! I was especially impressed by Charlie Caper being able to do bad jokes in Japanese (he toured as a street performer for a few months in Japan and learned a lot of Japanese then) and by Anders Moden producing a beer bottle out of his mouth.

次の夏またスウェーデンに帰っていたからもう1回マジックバーストックホルムに行った。今回1人で行った。ジョン・ヘンリーというマジシャンがテーブルに来てマジックを見せてくれた。早いうちに「お兄さんもマジックやっていますよね?」と聞かれた。マジシャン同士なら、だいたい分かる、笑。マジシャンがおかしなタイミングで驚くんだ。ジョン・ヘンリーさんがスウェーデン語のオヤジギャグだらけの紐のマジック・ミスディレクションを使ってテーブルからトランプや僕のグラスをスチールするマジックや自分の靴を出すマジック、色々な面白いマジックを見せてくれた。後でスウェーデンの有名なマジシャンのグループを紹介してくれたし。暇な時に皆マジックバーで気軽で集まって他の暇なマジシャンと飲むみたい。その人たちも優しかった。チャーリー・ケーパーさんが日本語で喋りだして、日本の古いお笑いネタとかをやったことにビックリした、笑。2~3ヶ月関西で大道芸生活をしたことがあるそうだ。その時に色々な日本語を覚えた。復活するコーラを考えたアンダーザ・モデーンさんが口から瓶ビールを出した時にも驚いた。

Peter Grönlund doing some mentalism
I went back the next week and then Peter Grönlund, a mentalist, was showing magic. Since I saw all the famous magicians drinking at the magic bar again and ended up sitting at their table, I did not get to see Peter Grönlund do magic for me, but I did sneak a look when he did magic for the table next to ours. It was interesting to see a mentalist do walk around magic, and he did some fairly standard magic tricks like the "Triumph" card trick, but with a mentalist presentation. He also did more pure mentalism effects, like having a user grab a bunch of cards and then walk with small steps towards the magician (outdoors, where they were quite a bit apart) and count the number of steps separating them. Which turned out to be the same as the number of cards she had grabbed.

次の週も又行った。ピーター・ゴローンルンドというメンタリストが働いていた。また有名人マジシャンたちが飲みに来ていたから僕も彼らのテーブルに座って、マジックを見せて貰わなかったが隣のテーブルでマジックをやっていた時によこから観た。メンタリストがどんなマジックを見せるか、気になっていた。結構普通なカードマジック(トラインフとか)をメンタリズムの喋りでやっていた。本格的なメンタリズムネタのもやったけど。外でお客さんがトランプをがばっと取って、だいぶ離れたマジシャンまで歩いていく。18歩で着いたお客さんがまさかの18枚のトランプを持っていた。そういう感じ。

Mr Dannyman, gentleman magician.
Half a year later, I was in Stockholm in the winter (for a business trip) and figured I had a chance of finally seeing the stage magic show too. It was not to be, however, since the place was booked for a private party the only day with a stage show that I was in Stockholm. I went there on my last evening in Stockholm, though, and got to see Mr Dannyman do magic at the table. He did rope magic, the Chinese rings, card tricks, etc. Very much a gentleman.

その半年後、出張でスウェーデンに来ていた。夏ではないからやっとステージマジックショー観れると思ったが僕がいた日、店が貸切だった!僕のストックホルムの最後の最後の日に貸切ではなかったが平日だったからステージショーもなかった。ミスター・ダニマンというマジシャンがテーブルマジックを見せてくれたけど。ロープやチャイナリングやカードマジックを見せて貰った。紳士のマジシャンだった。

The main hall again.
Summary:
Location: Located in an area where there is not much else to do. With some effort you can walk from Djurgården, which has some other tourist attractions. Nice area, though.
Type of magic: Close up, but has stage magic on weekends too (except when I am in Sweden)
Quality of magic: Many different magicians perform, but everyone I have seen was very good.
Cost: Cheap (by Swedish standards). No cover charge, you pay standard prices for the food and drinks you order. I paid around 200 SEK (slightly more than 2000 yen) for a dinner and a dessert.
Interior: Very nice
Staff: nice, but the service is slow. The magicians were all very nice and funny.
Of special note: Serves food too (good food).
Overall impression: Very nice place, good food, good magic. Only complaint is that the service can be (very) slow.

まとめ:
場所:何もないところにあるが頑張れば、Djurgardenという色々な観光スポットがあるところから歩いて行ける。きれいな場所だが特に何も無い。
マジックの種類:クローズアップ。週末にステージマジックもある
マジックの質:沢山のマジシャンが働いているが今まで皆良かった。
値段:スウェーデンにしたら安い。チャージ無しで、頼んだ飲み物や食べ物の値段しか払わないし、普通のレストランの値段と変わらない。僕が2000円くらいで晩御飯とデザート食べた。
インテリア:きれい。各部屋のインテリアが違うし。
スタッフ:優しいがサービスが遅い。マジシャンが皆優しかったし、面白かった。
得点:本格的なフードメニュー。料理が普通に美味しい。
全体的な印象:良い店だ。御飯が美味しいし、マジックが面白いし、毎週新しいマジシャン見れるし。サービスがかなり遅い時があるのがマイナス点だがそれだけだと思う。


The counter again.
Home made "impossible objects".
There are lots of strange items placed in the different rooms. 
Someone brought a fairly suspicious card with them.
The entrance in the winter.
There is a bar counter, though I have never seen anyone there.
The interior decorations are pretty.

2 comments:

  1. Hello Jonas!
    Great review of the place.
    A small request, do you think you can make a link to www.magicbar.se from within your review?
    Once done, feel free to delete this comment. :)
    Best,
    Tom Stone

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the comment.

      I often put links to the web pages of the things I review, so I do not know why there was not already a link to www.magicbar.se there... Good suggestion! (I updated the text so that the first mention of Magic Bar Stockholm now is a link.)

      Delete