There is currently a little bit of a growing trend towards members only, luxury karaoke bars. I’ve not been to one of these places myself, but it does remind of of a great little bar called Illusions, which might be about to kick off a trend itself. Illusions is the UK’s only dedicated magic bar, as in, it is a bar… with magicians!

You might be like me, and shudder at the thought of Royal Variety esque showmen strutting around embarrassing people as they try and enjoy a quiet drink, but I urge you to read on as this mystical night out conceals more than just a white rabbit in its hat… (I can’t believe I just wrote that).

Illusions is located on Bristol’s legendary triangle, a big straight sided roundabout of road laying genius right in the heart of town. The bar is separated into two parts, on the right side of the room is the drinks bar and on the left side is the (yep, you guessed it) magic bar. This means that  if you wish you can just enjoy a drink in Illusions as if it were any other bar.  But inevitably you will at some point feel compelled to gather around the magic bar and witness some truly spectacular trickery.

If you’re a magic expert yourself and you’re wondering just how good these guys are, well let me tell you – Our magician, Kieran Johnson, managed to turn a deck of cards that was sandwiched between my hands, into a block of glass. And no, I didn’t word that badly, he actually made a deck of cards into glass right before my dumbstruck eyes.

The walls of Illusion are tastefully dressed with original giant playing card artwork, photos of performers and other magic related paraphernalia. The bar stocks a good selection of spirits and beers and even a fun cocktail list. The relatively large cocktail selection consists of well put together classics, such as Cosmopolitan, Mai Tai, Margarita. You can even buy a unique take on a jug or sharing drink, called a Cocktail Wand. It looks like something I use for measuring the alcohol content of my homebrew, but it’s actually a 4.5pint, vaguely wand shaped drink dispenser, which sits comfortably in the middle of the table.

I’m not going to lie and say that the drinks here are amazing, it goes without saying that the main aim of visiting this bar is not to to sip on a Manhattan, but to enjoy the live music, friendly atmosphere and honestly very good magic. For entertainment factor alone I would be doing well to conjure up a better recommendation in Bristol than Illusions.

*sigh*

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