M for Magic Documentary about the Magic Castle’s History and Los Angeles Magicians
The Magic Castle has been a Los Angeles institution for over 60 years and is home to the Academy of Magical Arts. A private club for magicians and their invited guests, the Castle boasts three floors of history, performance, and reverie. As a private club, it’s remained mysterious though famous. M for Magic is a new documentary that looks specifically at the family that founded the Castle: the Larsons.
Having grown up as a magician in Los Angeles, I was fortunate to have the Magic Castle just 20 minutes away. The club functioned as a community space where I could learn from some of the best magicians in the world, see performances, and get valuable on-stage time performing for patrons. The connections I’ve made thanks to the Magic Castle have been invaluable.
Brothers Milt and Bill Larson, Hollywood writers in the 1950s, founded the Castle in 1963 as a private membership club for magicians. Just as mens’ clubs were falling out of fashion (often for very good reasons…), the Magic Castle served as a community space for Los Angeles magicians and their patrons.
But the Larson family is bigger than the two brothers, and the whole family has contributed immensely to the character and identity of the Magic Castle. This documentary tells the story of the family, their ceaseless passion for magic, and the place they built.
