Hollywood's Magic Mecca Casts Wondrous Spell Pete McLeod Top Mage At Magic Castle Haunt By Daniel Kramer - Staff Writer LOS ANGELES - Almost everyone has heard the magical incantations, Open Sesame, Abracadabra, or Sim Sala Bim, but how many people personally know a magician? That's the odd thing about magic, nearly everyone loves a magic trick, but hardly anyone can name a world famous magician. Per haps it's because the medium must be performed live, in front of our very eyes, that magic does not translate well on the screen, like comedy, music, or other entertainment genres of the day. Al Davis, general manager of the Magic Castle in Hollywood agrees. "I guess basically it's the media, when you have the MC Hammers of the world going out and doing concerts… you don't have that in magic. Magic is more of a smaller venue, it's not done in coliseums." Because of the medium, a magician's fame is not as apt to spread as quickly as a television personality, or pop singer, someone who is able to use the mass media to their advantage. So, mages live in relative obscurity. Sure some make it into the national spotlight, but there are thousands of magicians across the country whom most people have never heard of. For instance, does the name Pete McLeod ring any bells? McLeod is one of the best sleight-of-hand practitioners in the entire world, and he lives right next door in Redlands. Southern California is the Magic Capital of the World, and located at 7001 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood is the Magic Castle which is comparable for magicians as the Black Stone, or Kaba, in Mecca is to Muslims. The Magic Castle is home to the best of the best magicians in the world, and McLeod is a member of the Castle. Fifty percent of those who apply for membership don't pass. McLeod, who practiced for two or three years before applying, remembers his audition with a smile, and a laugh. "I was real excited about it," he remembers. "No one told me that they were going to be as cold to me as they were. Every other time I had gone to the Castle it was fun and friendly and happy, and then when it came time to the night of my audition they took me way downstairs into the museum area. These four men sat stone faced with their arms crossed across their chests and said OK do your thing." "I tried to interact with them and be a little comical and they didn't respond at all," he continues with a grin. "One guy sort of chuckled one time and then caught himself. I had ten minutes prepared, so I saved my best trick for last, my portable hole trick, it is a very difficult routine to do. Well I was part way into My routine and the guy said, 'OK I've seen enough, how about you guys?,' and they said, 'Yeah, go up to the bar and wait.'" "I was the first person to audition that night so I waited three hours for them to come and get me," he continues. "So I was freaking out, you know?" The Magic Castle currently has members living in over two dozen countries around the world, and is without doubt the most renowned institution of magic in the world. Originally founded in 1963, the Castle opened with 151 members and today boasts over 5,000 members worldwide. McLeod, 40, has been a regular performing member at the Magic Castle since 1987. Originally from Kalamazoo, Mich., he began his magical mystery tour about six years ago when a friend of his vanished a coin. He bought a book on coin magic and practiced and read more and more until it became all-consuming for him. He started performing magic full time for parties, after dinner entertainment, companies, civic groups, church groups, anyone that has any size party. "I've done shows with 10 people in the audience, and I've also done shows with 2,000 to 3,000 people," McLeod says. "Most guys are a little more focused than I am. I do a stand-up music, magic, and comedy act." "My love is the close-up act, because people have this idea of if they get closer, I mean really close where it is right in front of their eyes, they think they're going to be able to tell how we do it." "And when these little miracles happen right before their eyes, they can't believe it's happening, with sleeves rolled up. It's really great to see amazement on peoples faces as well as amusement." And what better place to practice the art than in the only club in the world that has successfully featured magical entertainment for almost 30 years, The Magic Castle. Originally built in 1909 for real-estate magnate Rollin B. Lane, the Victorian mansion opened as The Magic Castle on January 2, 1963. Lane originally owned much of what is now Hollywood, and he had seen a beautiful Queen Anne style Victorian home in Redlands, Ca., built in 1897 and owned by the Kimberly family. He hired the same contractors who had built the Kimberly mansion, to recreate the house on the hillside in Hollywood. They followed his instructions making one change; they reversed the blue prints giving a mirror image of the Kimberly mansion. After the Lane family moved during the early '40s, the house fell into disrepair until by 1960 it was scheduled for demolition. Then Milt Larsen, spotted the building and spoke to Tom Glover, Sr. - the owner of the club - with the idea of refurbishing the mansion into a private club. For the next year, Larsen and his friends spent endless hours of spare time, and countless gallons of paint and paint remover, stripping the layers of white paint from the carved wood paneling, stained glass and carved fireplace mantels until their dream was finally realized in the dawn of 1963.
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