Did You Know About This?: Illusions Magic Bar, Federal Hill

Did you know that Baltimore has a Magic Bar and Lounge?!?! Neither did I! Until my brother told me over dinner the other week!

So when Vasili and I were planning on what to do after our anniversary dinner (read), I took my brother's suggestion and made a reservation at Illusions Bar and Lounge in Federal Hill, Baltimore!

The showtime is 9pm (make sure you check show dates on their website) and they tell you to arrive a half hour early. There are two parts to the place; the front part is the bar and the back part (up the steps) is the show area. When you walk in, you pay your $12 admission and then can hang out by the bar. There is a two drink minimum per person, but at $3 a domestic beer, that's no problem! So we hung out amongst the very diverse crowd (all ages and types of people!) until 9pm when the host started seating people. Its a perfect place for both parties (there were several birthday crowds that evening) and dates! The seats for parties are set up along the walls with tables, and then the seats for couples are set along the middle against tables in sets of two! They do not offer food, but they allow you to bring munchies as you wish.

The show started 20 minutes late but there are servers that walk around and take drink orders. The main act has apparently been on America's Got Talent but was out touring (read the bios! very interesting!), so there was a special performance! Turns out that the show of the evening was of a Sword Swallower named Die, so we spent the 20 minutes starring in awe at the five swords of all shapes and sizes that were on a rack on the stage. This includes thin, thick, curved (literally), zigzag, and long. Sickening, but insanely cool.

The host introduced Die, the Sword Swallower who then began his performance. He is one of 80 S.S. left in the world and had travelled all over the world to learn the tricks of his trade. He was young and very entertaining... he even developed a drinking game with the audience! Aside from the swords, he did other tricks and had the audience very involved!

I don't want to go into too much detail because I do recommend you go and see this yourself. Any show they have promises to be fun and entertaining... especially when compared to the typical dinner and a movie and then possibly a drink at the local bar. I mean, it ended at 11pm, so I am sure you could still go to a movie or a bar afterwards if you wanted. But for $39, these two-hours of entertainment were definitely worth it! Especially on a memorable occasion such as our anniversary!

Go!