The Magic Shop in Greenville, South Carolina

Magicians, card mechanics and illusionists of all kinds in Greenville, South Carolina finally have a home at The Magic Shop on Laurens Road. The Magic Shop officially opened for business in Greenville, South Carolina in early 2009, and it has already become the city's go-to spot for magic props and instructional books and videos. It has also become something of a social hub for local amateur professional magicians what are looking for a place to chat about their craft. Even if you don't really need any magic related merchandise, it is worth popping your head into Greenville's The Magic Shop just to get an inside glimpse into the city's community of magicians and poke through all the cool stuff.

It is easy to miss The Magic Shop as you are driving along Laurens Road in Greenville, South Carolina. The store is a nondescript unit in one of the many aging strip mall in the area cluttered with nail salons, ethnic grocery markets, and countless other locally owned businesses. Defying the challenging location and economic climate, The Magic Shop has managed to catch the eye of plenty of local magic enthusiasts, with a steady stream of customers looking for merchandise or more information on scheduling a live show from the store's staff and network of professional musicians.

The merchandise that The Magic Shop carries consists of magic tricks, instructional videos and toy pranks. The tricks run the gambit from close up magic with cards, coins or balls to more elaborate props that a professional might incorporate into his act. The owner of the store has demo versions of almost of all of the tricks available and can perform them flawlessly so that you can see the effect before making an investment. In fact, you can tell how much he loves magic by how quick he is to do a demonstration of trick no matter how precursory of an amount of interest you happen to show in an item. The gags in stock are all of the old pranks that we know and love from the advertisements in comic books and the like. As for

One of the coolest things about Greenville's The Magic Shop is the weekly classes that they offer. From 5:30 to 7:30 on Wednesdays and Thursdays, The Magic Shop offers classes for both children and adults on the basic and finer points of performing magic. Adult tickets are $10 per class or $70 per month. Whenever I've been in the store, the owner is busy teaching some young person some little trick or another, and he's so clearly good with kids that I'm sure the classes are great for young ones, but I didn't catch the exact cost. Whatever it is, it'd sure beat piano lessons.

The Magic Shop is located at Laurens Road and Pleasantburg Avenue in Greenville, South Carolina, and staff can be reached via telephone at (864) 233-2458. Hours of operation are 10 am to 7 pm Monday through Thursday and 10 am to 8 pm Friday and Saturday.