Sold out magic shows at Le Dobule Fond

I was in Paris mainly for work, but figured that I might be able to find some time during the nights when I could do other things than work. I found a place not that far from my hotel where they have magic shows a few nights every week. It is also a bar, and they also do some magic at the tables.

出張でパリに行っていたが夜にもしかしたらちょっと暇な時間もあるかもしれないと思って、マジック見せて貰える店とかを調べてみた。僕のホテルからそんなに遠くないところに「Le Double Fond」というバーで毎週3回くらいマジックショーがあるみたい。テーブルでマジック見せて貰えるし。

The place is called "Le Double Fond", which means something like a "fake bottom" (in a box or drawer). When I went there, I was met by a friendly guy that told me that the place was booked for a private party, so I could not get in. He told me that after the magic show was over, they would open the place to people like me again, so I went away and had some food and came back later.

最初行った時に、今日は貸切だって言われた。マジックショーが終わったら、入っても大丈夫だと言われて、近くの店で食べに行って、1時間後に戻ってきた。外のテーブルに座って、飲み物を頼んだ。

Of course, the magic show was then over, but they gave me a table and I ordered something to drink. One magician came up to me and said something in French that I did not understand (I understand some French, but not that much). He then excused himself and fetched a young waitress. She explained that since he only speaks French, they would go get me a different magician that can speak English. I said that once he starts doing magic I probably understand enough French to keep up and do what he asks me to do, but they said nono, we will get you an English speaking magician.

マジックショーはもうなかったがテーブルでマジック見せてくれる。最初のマジシャンが僕のテーブルに来て、難しいフランス語で何か言った。僕はフランス語ちょっと分かるが何って言われたか全然分からなかったから英語で「すみません？」って言った。マジシャンが若いウェートレスを連れてきて、お姉さんが英語で「このマジシャンはフランス語しか話せないから、別のマジシャンを呼んできますって」と説明してくれた。フランス語もちょっと分かるから、マジック始まったら、僕も付いて行けると思うよと言ってみたが、いいえいいえ、英語のマジシャンを呼んでくるって。

I watched the French speaking magician do a few card tricks at a table close to mine, and a coin routine at another table. Then a magician that spoke English very well came to my table and did a long oil and water routine with a funny story for me. This was the same magician as in the rope magic DVD I had just bought.

フランス語のみのマジシャンが隣のテーブルで別のお客さんにマジックを見せるのもちょっと見た。アンビシャスカードをやった。別のテーブルでコインマジックをやった。ちょっとしたら、英語の凄い上手なマジシャンが僕のテーブルに来た。オイル＆ウォーターの長いルーティンを面白いストーリーで見せてくれた。さっき買ったばかりのロープマジックのDVDの解説のマジシャンだった。

The table magic was very short, basically just one routine, at all the tables. The magic is completely free of charge, though. You only pay for what you order, and the prices are the same as the normal bars nearby. 

テーブルマジックが各テーブルで短かった。ルーティン１つで終わり。でも、チャージが無しで、飲み物とかは周りの普通なバーと同じ値段なので、無料のサービスなんだ。

The guy who did magic for me asked me if I am a magician, so I told him that it is not my main line of work but that I perform two or three days per week in a bar in Japan. He asked me if I was interested in seeing the show they have, and I said yes. He went to check for me and came back with the sad message that the show for the next evening was already fully booked. Since there was only 1 of me, if there was any cancellation I could perhaps still get in, so he suggested I call the next day. I did, but there were no cancellations. It was Gaetan Bloom who was doing the show, and I would have loved to see him live. 

僕にマジックを見せてくれた人が「自分でもやっているんですか？」と聞いてきた。本業ではないが週に2～3回日本のマジックバーでマジックをやっているねと答えた。ショーも見たい？って聞かれて、次の日のマジックショーに席が空いているかどうかを調べて貰った。結果、予約で満席だった。1人だけなので、明日誰かキャンセルしたら入れるから電話してみてもいいかもと言われた。次の日に電話をしてみたがやっぱり満席だった。金曜日のショーも満席だった。土曜日はもしかしたら…と言われたが土曜日にもう日本に帰る飛行機の中にいた。Gaetan Bloomがショーをやっていたそうだから、凄く見たかった。

The Friday show was to be done by Dominique Duvivier, I think, but I would probably not be able to get away from work before 21:00 (the starting time of the show) on Friday. I asked anyway (and in fact got off work at around 20:45 on Friday), but the Friday show was also fully booked. They might have seats for Saturday, I was told, but then I was in an airplane flying back to Japan.

I stopped by anyway on Friday evening too, since I got off work a two minutes walk from Le Double Fond. Then I got to see some rope magic ("professor's nightmare") and also saw some card tricks performed for another group of guests.

金曜日の夜にも仕事があったから、ショーの21時には多分終わっていないと思ったが結局20時45分にその店のすぐ近くのところで仕事が終わった。ショーは満席でも、テーブルマジック見れるからもう1回行った。3本ロープのマジックを見せて貰った。

Overall, the table magic was quite similar to the magic that is popular in Japan. The magicians were good, but not the best I have seen. One thing I would have liked to see done differently is that when they did magic at one table they did not seem to care much about people at other tables. From where I sat, you could see a stack of coins being palmed etc. very clearly when magic was performed at the table next to mine.

テーブルマジックは日本で人気があるマジックと似ていると思った。働いていたマジシャンが皆上手だったがもっと上手なマジシャンも見たことがある。１つのちょっと大丈夫かなと思ったところは、マジックをやっている時に周りのテーブルの人に気をつけなかった。隣のテーブルでマジックをやっていた時に、僕に見ちゃ駄目なのが色々丸見えだった。

It was also interesting for me to see how French people watch magic. Some people were just enjoying the show while others kept saying things like: "I bet you have the other coin in your other hand" or "can you do it again if I hold this card in my hand like this?" and things like that. Overall, this too seemed quite similar to how things are in Japan.

フランス人のマジックの見方もちょっと気になっていたから隣のテーブルでマジックをやっていた時にマジックだけではなく、見ている人のリアクションとかも見た。純粋に見て楽しんでいる人もいたし、見破ろうとした人もいたし、日本人と同じくらいと思った。

So in the end, even though I came all the way from Japan, I ended up not seeing a single magic show. The shows seemed to be very good, though. If you are in Paris, you should book these shows in advance. The staff told other guests too that it is best to book well in advance.

結局日本から行っていたのに、マジックショー見れなかったからちょっと残念だった。ショーが凄く良さそうだったけど。パリに行ったら、何日か前に予約した方がいい。