Simon Drake's House of Magic: great magic cabaret in London

Last weekend, my lovely wife surprised me with a birthday trip to Simon Drake's House of Magic in south London -- a fantastic night out of magic cabaret in a house chock full of funny, spooky tchotchkes and whatnot. There's slightly rude haunted cellar tours with a vampy vampiress, cold readings, magic pinball, truly outstanding close-up card/coin magic during dinner, and a fantastic stage magic show (I got to be the audience volunteer and got my hand sawed off). Between the pre-show warmups, the opening act (a surprise performance by the screamingly funny Dr Adam "London Underground" Kay) and the main event, we didn't get out until 1230 in the morning, and were delighted by the entire evening.

Simon Drake's House of Magic

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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greenglyph

For some reason I’m instantly reminded of Neil Gaiman’s short story, The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch.
imag

That’s frickin awesome. What a great birthday gift.

What’s it like to have your hand sawn off? Does the visual illusion even work for the sawee?
Anonymous

Why is it fun to have your hand sawn off?