Magic Bar Reviev: Red Carpet

During my trip to Fukuoka, I visited the magic bar "Red Carpet" twice. The owner, magician Hiro, is a friend of the owner of the magic bar I do magic at in Sapporo, and we met in Sapporo before. Red Carpet is located in the Nakasu entertainment district in Fukuoka. The bar itself is quite large, with a counter for magic shows and quite a few tables were larger groups of people can sit and eat (and watch more magic). There was even a place to play darts. The interior decorations had an Egyptian theme, with lots of posters and small figurines of Egyptian gods etc.

福岡に行っていた時にマジックバー「Red Carpet」に2回も行った。オーナーのヒロさんがうちのマジックバーのオーナーと仲良い。札幌に来ていた時に一回会った。Red Carpetが福岡の中洲にあるので、行きやすい。バーが結構広くて、マジックショー用のカウンターもテーブル席もある。ダーツの出来る。ヒロさんはエジプトのことが好きらしい。エジプトの飾り物がいっぱいあって、きれいだった。

When I first arrived, there was one more guest there and he also knew some magic. Even though there were only the two of us, magician Hiro put on a full magic show for us, and another magician also did some close up magic for me. The next day I went back and then the counter was full, so full that even after adding two more chairs there was no room for me. I watched the magic show from a table seat instead.

初めて行った時に他にお客さん1人がいて、彼もマジックが出来るみたい。お客さん2人しかいなくても、ヒロさんが本格的なマジックショーをやってくれた。もう1人のマジシャンもクローズアップを見せてくれたし。次の日はカウンターが満席だった。椅子2つ足しても、満席だった。僕がテーブル席からマジックショーもう１回観た。

The magic show contained lots of different types of magic. Hiro did magic accompanied by music, and the choice of music was made with the magic in mind (or maybe the other way around). There were lots of funny gag type magic tricks (like a brown handkerchief turning into poo, or a balloon turning into a penis), some mentalist type effects, card magic, fork bending, and some very strange cubes that changed places under impossible conditions. His closing effect was the cup and balls using cans of canned fruits. In the end, not only did a lot of actual fruits show up, the cans also turned into unopened cans, and a live white mouse also appeared out of one of the cans.

マジックショーは色々なマジックがあった。音楽に合わせてマジックをやっていた。ギャグネタが多くて（例えば、茶色のハンカチがうんこに変わる、風船がチンコになる）、笑えた。メンタリズム的なマジックもあったし、カード・フォーク曲げ・不思議なように入れ替わるキューブのマジック、色々あった。最後にカップ＆ボールのマジックがあった。缶詰めのミカンの缶を使って、最後に本物のミカンが沢山出たし、缶が新品の状態に戻っていたし、生きている白ネズミが出たし、面白かった。

Hiro also does a very nice cigarette magic routine, where in the end a card that had previously been torn to pieces also appears and is restored. I was also impressed by a card trick where one spectator selects a card, and another spectator that does not know which the selected card is sweeps his hand around the edge of a fan of cards and stops wherever he wants and in the end turns out to stop with his finger pointing right at the selected card. Hiro also showed me some tricks that he thought I would be interested in but that were not in the show, including a coin in a glass covered by another glass that still started (and stopped) spinning on command, a strange card case from which you could produce a deck of cards with a certain card at any number, and throwing a deck of cards wrapped in rubber bands up and having only one card stick to the ceiling (a famous trick that I had not seen live before).

タバコのマジックのルーティンも良かった。タバコのマジックをやりながら、突然前に破いたカードが現れて復活した。他に感動したマジックはカードを選んで貰って、選んだカードを知らないお客さんにカードのファンを見せる。お客さんがファンの周りに指を動かして、好きな時に止める。その時に、別のお客さんの選んだカードを指差していた。他にショーに入っていないマジックだが僕が好きそうなネタも色々見せてくれた。例えば、グラスにコインを入れて、上にグラスも１つ被せたのに、コインが回ったり止まったりした。不思議なカードケースからトランプ出したら、上から何枚目でも特別なカードが出るとか。トランプを輪ゴムでとめて、上に投げると1枚だけ天井にくっつくマジックも初めて生で観た。


Summary:
Location: In the entertainment district Nakasu, easy to get to by subway.
Type of magic: Close up.
Quality of magic: Good.
Cost: I paid 3,000 yen, including one drink.
Interior: Egyptian things here and there, nice.
Staff: Funny, very friendly.
Overall impression: A lot of strange magic. Also lots of gags. Funny.

まとめ：
場所：中洲、行きやすい
マジックの種類：クローズアップ
マジックの質：良かった
値段：僕は3,000円だった
インテリア：エジプトの飾り物が多くて、きれい
スタッフ：面白い。優しい。
全体的な印象：不思議なマジックが多かった。ギャグネタも多かった。面白かった。

Magic Bar Review: Nishioka

I went to Fukuoka for a project meeting in March 2013 and I found time to visit the magic bar Nishioka there. Nishioka is (probably) the oldest magic bar in Japan. It has been over 40 years since they opened, I was told.

2013年の3月に出張で福岡に行った。マジックバーに行ける時間もちょっととれて、「奇跡の店西岡」に行った。日本の一番長くやっているマジックバーだと思う。40年以上、と言われた気がする。

The bar is mainly one very long bar counter. It seats over 20 people I think. The interior looks like it has not been changed since when they opened 40 years or more ago, which gives it a very nice atmosphere.

バーの中は長～いカウンターがある。20人くらい座れると思う。昔からインテリアが変わっていなさそうで、昔風な雰囲気がある。きれいだ。

When I got there, which was fairly early in the evening (around eight or so) there were no other guests there. There were three magicians, and they each came to my part of the counter and performed magic for 10 to 20 minutes for me. As they were doing so, other guests started coming, and when the last magician was finished at my place the bar was full. I was allowed to stay around and watched the magicians performing for the group of people sitting next to me too. For most guests, as soon as the last magician finished the "mama" of the place showed up with the bill, and people came and left pretty quickly.

僕が割と早い時間（20時頃だったかな？）に入った。その時に他のお客さんがいなかった。マジシャン3人がいて、1人1人で僕のところに来て、10～20分のマジックを見せてくれた。マジックを見ていた時に、どんどん他のお客さんも入って、最後のマジシャンが僕のところに来た時にもう満席だった。僕は3人のマジック全部観終わっても残っていて、隣のグループに見せていたマジックも観た。他のグループはだいたい最後のマジシャンのマジックが終わった瞬間にママがチェックを出したから他のお客さんが入って、マジック観て、結構早く帰った。

The magic they performed at Nishioka was very nice. They did a lot of very famous classical tricks, that are classics because they are great tricks. Some of the things they are famous for are the cups and balls (8 lemons showed up in total) and watch steal (pickpocket magic). The group of girls sitting next to me saw the same girl having her watch stolen several times (every magician wanted to take a watch for some trick, and since she had the only watch...).

見せて貰ったマジックが結構良かった。有名な（クラシックな）マジックを沢山見せて貰った。西岡で有名なマジックは例えばカップ＆ボール（レモン8個も出る）やピックポケットで時計をとるマジック。隣に座っていた女の子たちの時は同じ女の子の時計2～3回取られた。マジシャンが皆時計取りたがってて、時計している人はその女の子しかなかったから毎回その時計になったね。

The son of the owner of Nishioka complained that I did not give him fair warning when exactly I took a photo of him, so he did not have time to adjust his face...

... so I took one more photo and he was very happy with that. No noticeable change at all, though, haha.

I also had one of my 10,000 yen bills signed and then made to disappear, and it later appeared inside a box of matches that had possibly been on the table the whole time. There was also a production of 50 or so sponge balls, which was very funny. The group of girls next to me also got a huge sponge penis (which the magician did not produce for me). I also saw rope magic (professor's nightmare), coin magic, card magic, strange iPhone apps, ring and string magic, a three shell game, the China rings, magic with safety pins, and the invisible deck. All in all, they showed me a lot of magic, in a very high tempo.

他に、僕の1万円札にサインして、お札が消えて、ずっと置いてあったマッチボックスの中から出てきた。スポンジボール50個くらい出てきたし。隣の女の子たちの時に観たことのないデカいちんこも出たが僕にマジックを見せていた時にそれ出さなかった。ロープ・コイン・トランプ・アイフォーンのアプリ・指輪と紐・シェルゲーム・チャイナリング・安ピンのマジック・インビシブルデックもあった。クラシックなマジックをバンバンやっていた。


Summary:
Location: In the entertainment district Nakasu, easy to get to by subway.
Type of magic: Close up.
Quality of magic: Good.
Cost: 5,500 yen, including one drink.
Interior: Old, nice.
Staff: Funny.
Overall impression: Lots of classics of magic. Recommended.

まとめ：
場所：中洲、行きやすい
マジックの種類：クローズアップ
マジックの質：良かった
値段：ワンドリンクで5,500円
インテリア：昔の雰囲気できれいだ。
スタッフ：面白い。
全体的な印象：クラシックなマジックを沢山やる。面白い。

A~majide again

On my way home from Osaka, I also had time to visit the magic bar "A maji de" again. It is the only magic bar I know of in Osaka that is open on Sundays. I went there on Sunday evening and it was packed. There was a group of high school teachers there that were very funny to talk to. They were interested in Sweden, and they laughed at my t-shirt.

大阪から帰る時にマジックバーえ～マジでにも行けた。大阪の日曜日にやっている店はそこしか知らない。日曜日の夜に行って、かなり混んでいた。高校（？）の先生の団体がいた。面白い人たちだった。スウェーデンの話もしていたし、ティシャツも突っ込んでくれたし。

When I arrived a magic show was just about to begin at the show table, and the teachers were kind enough to squeeze together to make room for me too. Later, two more guests showed up and everyone squeezed together even more so these two could see the show too.

僕が入った時にちょうどショーテーブルでマジックショーが始まる感じだった。混んでいたが皆頑張ってくれて、僕も入るようになった。その後、カップルも入ってきて、皆もっと頑張って、そのカップルもマジックショー見れるようになった。

We got to see the young magician Korogi do quite a lot of funny magic, and then we got to see master Kubo do a full show too. Both of them did a lot of the same magic that I saw last time I was there, but they also did quite a bit of magic that I had not seen before. Korogi did a fun trick where the audience mixed up a small Rubik's cube, and then he took a big Rubik's cube and in 3 seconds made it into the same random pattern as the small cube. Master Kubo did a trick where three coins on the table turned into four coins, and then he took one coin away so it was three coins again. They then turned into four coins again, which was repeated very many times. Very clean.

若いマジシャンのコオロギのマジックも見せて貰ったし、マスター久保のマジックショーも見れたし、面白かった。前に行った時と同じマジックが結構あったが見たことなかったマジックも色々見せて貰った。コオロギさんがお客さんにぐちゅぐちゃして貰った小さなルービックキューブに合わせて、３秒で大きなルービックキューブを同じようにした。全面同じになった。マスター久保がコイン３つを４つにして、コイン１つ取った。テーブルにある３つのコインがまた４つになった。永遠繰り返しても大ジョブなマジックみたいで、何回もやっていた。不思議だった。

After the big group of guests left, several small groups of new guests came, so in the end they did a new full set of magic, so I got to see the two magicians do their shows twice. Lots of fun.

団体とカップルが帰ったら、またお客さん何人も入ったから、結局もう１回ショーが始まった。沢山マジック見れて楽しかった。

Magic bar review: Magic Time

On my trip to Osaka for my friend's wedding I did find time to visit the magic bar "Magic Time" in Osaka too. It is run by the very funny magician "Monsieur Pierre". I had seen him one before, in Vernon's Bar (also in Osaka), but now he has opened his own bar. Bar Magic Time is located very close to Vernon's Bar.

友達の結婚式の為に大阪に行った時に「マジックタイム」というマジックバーに行く時間も見つけた。ムッシュ・ピエールさんのマジックバーなんだ。前にバーノンズバーというマジックバーで1回ムッシュ・ピエールを見た。結構好きなキャラだ。今独立して、バーノンズバーの近くにあるマジックタイムでマジックを披露している。

The bar is quite small, with a counter that seats about 8 people or so, and some small tables against the other wall. These tables and chairs are on an elevated part of the bar, so sitting at the tables you can still see any magic being performed at the counter. The bar is run by Monsieur Pierre and his wife. There are specific show times when a magic show starts and you are expected to show up before or after a show, not in the middle of an ongoing show.

店が割りと狭い。8名入るくらいのカウンターがメインで、他に小さなテーブルもある。テーブル席はカウンター席と段差があるので、テーブル席でもカウンターのマジック見れる。いい作りだと思った。ムッシュ・ピエールと奥さんで2人でやっている店だ。決まったショータイムの時間にマジックショーがある。ショーの最中には入って欲しくない。

I showed up early for the very first show of the day. Apart from me there was also a couple in their thirties or so (I can never tell with Japanese people) and a family with of three with a high school kid who also did magic.

僕が早く入って、その日の一番早い時間のショーを見た。他に３０代（かな？日本人の歳分からない）のカップルと家族３人もいた。家族の高校生の息子も自分でマジックをやっているそうだ。

Before the magic show started Monsieur Pierre gave us some riddles to think about to pass the time. One was: "How do you turn the false equality '1 / 100 = 100' into a true equality [so no making the '=' into a not equal sign] by drawing one straight line?" which I figured out fairly quickly. He also told some funny stories.

ショーの時間になる前にムッシュ・ピエールが面白い小学校の入学式の問題とかを出して、面白い喋りで時間つぶした。問題の例は：「1 / 100 = 100」に直線１つ書いて、正しくして下さい。「＝」に直線を引いて、ノットイコールにするのが駄目だった。まあまあ早く解いたから、小学校に入れるみたい、ｗ。

Then the magic show started. For about 45 minutes Monsieur Pierre did lots of magic while being very funny. There were lots of puns in Japanese, and the ones I could understand (possibly there were others that I did not notice) were quite funny. He did close up magic at the bar counter, and he used nice looking props from Mikame Craft, did magic with cards, very very quickly solved a Rubik's cube, did magic with coins, etc. We got to see most of his famous tricks, like the jokers that ride two on one bicycle, or his necktie disappearing and appearing under a handkerchief. There was also a lot of magic that I had not seen before, neither on TV nor at Vernon's Bar.

その後、ショーが始まった。約４５分のマジックショーだった。ムッシュ・ピエールが色々なマジックをして、面白い話もした。オヤジギャグが多くて、面白かった。僕が結構笑った。カウンターでクローズアップマジックを見せて貰った。ミカメクラフトのマジック道具を使ったり、トランプマジックしたり、ルビックキューブを凄く早く解いたり、コインマジックしたりして、色々なマジックがあった。ムッシュ・ピエールの有名なマジック、例えば二人乗りのジョーカーやネクタイがなくなってまた出てくるマジックもあったし、僕が見たことなかったマジック（バーノンズバーでもテレビでも観ていなかったマジック）もあったし、面白かった。

Bar Magic Time also has a stamp card system, and if you get three stamps in a certain amount of time, you get 1000 yen off the next time you go. Monsieur Pierre also asked us if we new the old Japanese word for March, and anyone that new it would get an extra stamp for free. Since someone new and said it out loud, everyone of course got an extra stamp. Lots of small funny interactions that made the visit very pleasurable.

マジックタイムのスタンプカードもあった。期間中にスタンプ３つ集めると１０００円割引になる。ムッシュ・ピエールに「３月の古い呼び方知っていますか？」と聞かれて、知っていればスタンプもう１個貰うということだった。誰かが知っていたから、その人が答えてから勿論皆スタンプもう１個簡単に貰えた、笑。そういう小さなギャグも多くて、面白かった。


Summary:
Location: In the entertainment area near Osaka station and Umeda.
Type of magic: Close up.
Quality of magic: Very good.
Cost: Cheap, 3500 yen if you do not drink that much.
Interior: Nice.
Staff: Very funny and friendly.
Overall impression: Funny. Very good magic. Cheap. Highly recommended.

まとめ：
場所：大阪駅（梅田）の近く
マジックの種類：クローズアップ
マジックの質：良かった
値段：安かった。沢山飲まないと3500円で終わる。
インテリア：きれいだ。
スタッフ：面白い！
全体的な印象：面白い！マジックうまい！安い。おすすめ。

Magic bar Toto's bar

During my trip to Tokyo I also spent two nights in Toto's Bar. My hotel was quite close to Toto's Bar, and it is one of Tokyo's best magic bars. Magician Toto is extremely good at entertaining people. There are a bunch of other magicians working in Toto's Bar too, and they are nice too.

東京の出張の時に、2回も都々’s Barに行った。泊っていたホテルが近かったのもあるが東京のトップレベルのマジックバーなので、何回も行きたくなるのもあるね。都々さんが凄く盛り上げ上手。他のマジシャンも都々’s Barにいる。皆面白い人だ。

A live goldfish that appeared from nowhere

I first met the female magician Minto in the hallway outside, where she was seeing off some other guests. She commented on my t-shirt and then did some magic for another group. I was at the same time being entertained by the magician Yamato (who I had met once before in Sapporo), so I could not see much of what Minto was doing. She then left. Yamato stuck around for a long time, and he did a lot of magic for me. He produced a real live goldfish out of thin air, for example.

最初、廊下でマジシャンミント（眠都）に会った。他のお客さんの見送りをしていた。僕のティシャツ、突っ込んでくれた。その後、他のお客さんにマジックを見せていたが僕がその時にマジシャンヤマト（大都、札幌で1回会った）にマジックを見せて貰ったからミントさんが何をしたか観えなかった。ミントさんがその後帰った。ヤマトさんが沢山のマジックを見せてくれた。空中から金魚を出した。

Very good karaage chicken

I also met the magician Yuto, who I had not seen before. He turned out to have watched a lot of my YouTube clips so we talked about that for awhile. He had even learned a card move from one of my clips and asked me if he was doing it right. We seem to have similar taste in magic, and he did a lot of magic similar to tricks I do.

他にマジシャンユウト（遊都）もいた。会ったことがなかったがちょっと話したら、僕のユーチューブをよく観ているって。僕がアップしたカードの技法１つを練習したから、僕に見せた。合っているかどうか、教えて欲しかった。他にもマジックの趣味が似ているみたい。他のお客さんに見せていたマジックは僕がやるマジックと結構似ていた。

Raisins in butter, stuffed into bread

At around 1 a.m. the bar become completely full again, and they decided to do one more stage show, with Toto, Yamato, and Yuto all performing. After all the "normal" guests had left they had a "magic study circle", and I was invited to join them too. I joined for an hour or so but had to get some sleep before next day's work too, so I left "early".

午前1時にまた満席になったからもう１回ステージショーをやることになった。都々さんも、ヤマトさんもユウトさんもマジックを披露した。普通なお客さんが帰ってから、マジックの勉強会もやるからって誘われて、勉強会にもちょっと参加した。次の日に仕事があるからちょっと寝ないとって思って早く帰ったけど。

A late night meal for the staff

I dropped by the next night too, and saw two more stage shows. I also spoke to a magician from southern Japan who was visiting, and saw a lot more close up magic. I also showed one trick to Yamato that he liked a lot, so he asked me to show it to the others too, and he asked me if it was OK if he copied my trick. I said fine :-)

次の夜も都々’s Barに行った。ステージショーを２回も観れた。日本の南のほうのマジックバーからの若いマジシャンも隣にいたからちょっと話した。ヤマトさんに僕が考えたマジック１つ見せて、凄い気に入ったみたいなので、他の人にも見せてと言われた。そして、私もやっていい？って聞かれた。勿論、どうぞって答えた。

The new edition of the Toto's Bar cards

During these two nights, they also kept giving me food. They came over with some fried chicken or some raisin/butter sweets and said: "Try this, it is really good". Indeed, the food was really good! I had eaten before coming there so I guess I gained a few kilos during this trip... They also refused to let me pay for the food, so I got two super great visits very VERY cheap there... So cheap I felt bad about it. They also gave me a deck of cards with the new Toto's Bar card design (I have two decks of the old design since before).

この２回で、何回も食べ物を出して貰ったんだ。「この唐揚げが凄く美味しいから食べてみて」とか、バターレーズンのお菓子とか、色々貰った。本当に美味しかった！バーに来る前に普通に食べ放題とか（仕事の懇親会）を食べたから、東京で太ったなぁ。帰る時に食べ物の分を払うとか、基本的に払うのが駄目だと言われたから激安って感じで終わった。申し訳ないほど払っていないから…都々’s Barの新しいデザインのトランプも貰ったし（前のデザインのトランプも２個持っている）。

So I had a great time, got to see huge amounts of very good magic, got quite a lot of food, and got to see them feed all the doves and parakeets they use in their show, etc. Toto's Bar is always great, so I highly recommend it to anyone in Tokyo.

凄く楽しい時間過ごせたし、素晴らしいマジックを沢山見せて貰ったし、美味しい食べ物も沢山貰ったし、ハトやインコに餌をやる時も見れたし、色々楽しかった。都々’s Barはいつ行っても楽しいから、かなりおすすめだね！

A fake candle (actually a very realistically looking electric light)

The lit and fluttering fake flame looked less realistic from the side

Magic bar Surprise

During my short trip to Tokyo I also managed to get away early (around 22:00) from work on Friday and went to the magic bar Surprise in Akasaka. I have been there twice before. This time there were three magicians there, Susumu (who I had not seen before), Alice, and Akimoto.

東京の出張で、仕事から割と早く（22時頃）逃げれた。赤坂にあるマジックバーサプライズに行った。サプライズは3回目になった。今回、マジシャン3人がいた：進夢（初めてみた）・アリス・秋元。

If you, like me, do not drink a lot, Surprise is a very cheap magic bar, especially by Tokyo standards. The bar is quite small, in a very nice and cosy way. Every time I have been there they have always been very nice and spent lots of time talking to me about all kinds of things after the magic has finished. This time too, we talked about Sweden, about a magician that Akimoto used to work with who now lives in Hokkaido (where I live) and who I happen to know (we were on TV together, for instance), and about Alice having trouble convincing a magic shop dealer in the US that she was not a kid (he apparently kept showing her only kids magic props despite her telling him she works in a bar; the curse of looking very young I guess, haha).

僕みたいにあまり飲まないとマジックバーサプライズがかなり安い。東京にしたら、大変安い。割と小さな店で、いい雰囲気だ。毎回皆優しくて、マジックが終わってからも色々話してくれる。今回も、スウェーデンの話とか、秋元さんと一緒に働いていたマジシャンが（僕が住んでいる）北海道に行った人の話（僕も知っている人だった）とか、アリスのアメリカに行った時に子供ではないのがなかなか信じて貰えなかった話（マジックショップの人に子供用のマジック道具しか見せて貰えなった。バーで働いていると説明したのに。若く見える日本人の面倒なところなんだろうね、ｗ）とか、面白い話が色々あった。

The magic was also nice. First Susumu showed me card tricks, coin tricks, cups and balls, and more. Then Alice came over and did more card tricks, coin tricks, etc. She was very funny, with lots of ironic stories regarding the magic she did, that she told with a completely serious face. She had me take out a 100 yen coin from my wallet and sign it. She had me check that I had indeed never signed any 100 yen coins from 1997 before, and in general made the coin seem very important. Then she put it in a paper envelope, set it on fire, and made the coin disappear. And that was that. Seemed like there was not that much need for signing the coin. A very similar coin did appear much later in a different magic trick, though. And then she proceeded to tell me how special this occasion was, and that she was going to give me a present which she said was very rare in their bar. It was also a very very rare present. She gave me a 100 yen coin that was signed, so there was probably only one of these in the whole world. A very rare present indeed. Lots of things like that. When I mentioned we had met once before she did recall that it was more or less exactly two years since I was there last time.

マジックも勿論見せて貰った。最初は進夢さんが来て、カード・コイン・カップ＆ボール、色々見せてくれた。その次はアリスがきた。真顔でのふざけた喋りが面白かった。僕が財布から100円を出して、サインした。その後も、平成15年の100円にサインしたことないことも確認された。この100円が凄く大事だって印象になった。その後、紙で包んで、燃やして、消した。それで終わった。サインとか、必要なさそうだなぁと思った。だいぶ後で、似たコインがマジックで出たけど。そして、滅多にしないことになるがお客さんにプレゼントを差し上げますって言われた。凄く珍しいプレゼントだし。かなり凄い話になった。結局、（僕の）サイン入りの100円を貰った。世界に1個しかないから珍しいんだろうね。うける。前に一回会ったことあるって僕が言ったら、ちょうど2年前だったのを覚えてくれた。

Finally, the magician Akimoto cam and did some magic tricks that I had not seen before, and some that he showed me last time I was there too. He has a very good second deal.

最後に秋元さんがきた。見たことないマジックも見せてくれたし、前回も観たマジックもあったし。セカンドディールうまい。

Magic bar Issey

About six weeks ago I went on a business trip to Tokyo. (I have been travelling too much and not had time to catch up with the blogging.) I arrived late at night on the day before our meeting, so I had some time to visit some magic bars in Tokyo. First I went to Magic Bar Issey. I have been there once before, and it is a nice place. They do both table magic and a stage magic show on a small stage. They even do illusions.

6週間前に出張で東京に行ってきた。最近出張が多すぎて、ブログ追いついていない。夜に東京について、次の朝からの仕事が始まる前にマジックバーに行ける時間があった。六本木にあるマジックバーISSEYに行った。前にも行ったことがある。テーブルマジックもステージマジックも見せてくれるんだ。イリュージョンまでもやる。

This time I saw the magicians Shingo (who I had not seen before) and Seiju (who was working last time I was there too). First they each came to my table where I was sitting alone, and they did table magic for me. Then it was time for the stage show. After that I watched some more table magic being performed for a group of young girls at the table next to mine.

今回、マジシャンシンゴ（初めて見た）とセイジュ（前にもいた）がいた。最初1人1人で僕のテーブルに来てクローズアップマジックを見せてくれた。その後ステージショーもあった。最後は、隣のテーブルの若い女の子たちにマジックを見せることも横から見た。

After the stage show they had lots of doves, and three parrots.

The stage show was as expected a lot of fun. I got to see Shingo swallow a two meters long balloon and then later produce the same balloon from his mouth. There was a small illusion, magic with face masks, lots of goldfish appearing, some audience interaction with a peanut butter sandwich magic trick, and much more.

ステージショーが思った通り面白かった。シンゴが風船を飲んで、後で口から2メートルくらいの風船を出した。初めて生でみた。イリュージョンもあったし、マスクのマジックも金魚が沢山出たマジックも、お客さんと喋ってパンとジャムを使ったマジックも、色々あった。

A deck of cards turned into a small lunch box.

The close up magic was also nice. Seiju is very good with coins, and he did some traditional magic tricks using non-standard methods. He also used a lot of joke props. Shingo did some interesting card tricks, and a lot of other things too. Seiju did sort of remember the first time we met after I mentioned that he had not come to our table at that time, haha.

クローズアップも良かった。セイジュはコインのマジックがうまい。有名なマジックをちょっとマニアックなやり方で見せてくれた。ギャグネタも沢山あった。シンゴが面白いカードマジックもやったし、他のマジックも色々やったし。前にISSEYに来た時にセイジュがいたがうちのテーブルに来なかった話をしたら、セイジュさんがその時を覚えてくれた。

They have a live shark swimming around behind the counter.