Simon Drake’s House of Magic, Secret central London location.
From the outside you’d never know Simon Drake’s house is magic. In an unsuspecting residential street you approach what appears to be a knockabout old Victorian pub, now boarded up with metal shutters. If your name’s down, you are coming in, through a red metal gate around the side. Once you’re inside though the illusion is broken and you find yourself immersed in the most outlandish venue we’ve visited in London. Bought by the prominent magician Mr Drake as his abode over 15 years ago, he set about turning it into self contained island of entertainment where guests can be plied with food and drinks before being terrified and amazed to varying degrees throughout the night. Although it’s often booked out as a whole for corporate nights the house also has a number of public nights throughout the year including the extremely well received Hallowe’en parties.
As you walk nervously through the gates and into the garden your ears register the sound of wildlife and, disconcertingly, wolves. As your eyes adjust to the eerie lighting and smoke the path leads you through a small garden home to glowing fishponds and mechanical critters that rustle about in the undergrowth. You find yourself shaking hands with a headless butler who ushers you inside the house and strangely enough this is the point where things start getting really strange.
Once inside the grand Gothic Red Room if you had any doubt before you immediately realise this is not going to be like a night out at your local. We found ourselves staring around incredulously at our surroundings, from the haunted portraits to the chandeliers and collection of creepy automata handmade by the owner. A tour of the house eventually brings you to the drawing room, which is a living homage to the owners’ 30 year career in the magic business. It’s like your favourite bar crossed with a museum of curiosities, with everything from vintage posters to toys, models and book shelves stuffed with interesting tomes on the dark arts.
For the sheer variety of entertainment Simon Drake’s is hard to beat. Over the course of the night and plenty of drinks we had our fortunes read, played on an old pinball machine, and were left suitably bewildered by the wandering band of close-at-hand magicians. There was a tour of the haunted cellar by the master’s butler which was part pantomime horror, part magic show and heavy on vampire based innuendo throughout. Finally, after generous helpings of the buffet, the show began and started with the brilliant Adam Kay (of the Amateur Transplants) who sang a selection of properly hilarious and downright offensive songs. After that the main event, we won’t spoil it for you but rest assured this is proper magic with blood and knives and levitation, the kind they used to show on the telly before it all became about plinths and conning bookies. It’s all as you’d hope from the glamorous assistants to the outrageous costumes and sinister showmanship.
Tickets for the night start at £45 including dinner and range up to £85 if you want seats reserved for the night. After the show the tables are cleared for dancing till 1am at which point anyone left inside is put in a box and stabbed with swords. It’s a pricey night out but where else are you going to see a man’s head come off these days (that’s not You Tube)? Think about it as if you’re planning a night out at a museum, theatre, restaurant, bar and club all in one… what’s more you’ll definitely be talking about this place for weeks to come. This is living folks (and significant amounts of dying related stuff too).
