Magic in Philadelphia has a rich and diverse history. The city has been home to many renowned magicians and has a vibrant magic community. From intimate close-up magic performances to grand stage illusions, there is something for every magic enthusiast in Philadelphia. One of the most iconic magic acts in Philadelphia is the late Harry Blackstone Jr. He was born in Pennsylvania and made a name for himself as a master illusionist. Blackstone Jr.
Attendees who spend $150 in a single transaction at the show store on-site will receive a Relentless Rats promo! Please note this offer is available while supplies last and is only available for in-person shoppers.
As of right now, not one VIP badge holder who attended Philly is suggesting that anyone get the VIP package in the future Magiccon s unless changes are made in the experience. People who attended both Vegas and here as VIP s said in Vegas that WOTC staff would come randomly multiple times per day with packs and just start doing events in the lounge play area with people there.
Blackstone Jr. toured the world with his grand illusions and captivating stage presence. His performances captivated audiences and left them in awe of his magical abilities.
MagicCon Philadelphia 2023 Black Lotus VIP critique with pictures
EDIT 9/27/23: The post about Las Vegas can be found at https://old.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/16tmj5p/magiccon_las_vegas_2023_black_lotus_vip_critique/ ?
I arrived at the convention center early to check out the lay of the land. I also wanted to take pictures of the Black Lotus VIP lounge since it appears no one else has done that at previous con’s or Magicfests so people could see what it’s like. From what I was told, there were about 350 Black Lotus VIP badges sold for this event. Every single person I talked to who had the VIP badge here said that after this event they will not be buying it again and will tell others not to but it into the future because it’s not worth it unless changes are made to the experience. Link to pictures: https://imgur.com/gallery/KHE0RNU
The VIP Lounge / play area
When I arrived I was very disappointed in the lounge itself. It was very sparse. The tables had no covers with bare plywood and heads of screws exposed, in the room was coffee, hot water, and a 5-gallon water dispenser. They had Earl Gray tea to go with the hot water. There was an empty bowl of popcorn and no other drinks/food for the rest of the day. It was the same on Saturday, except there was about a dozen small bags of chips, a small bags of nuts, and a handful of candy bars. At about 3PM on Saturday some cookies, brownies, and cans of soda were brought out. The lounge closed at 7PM so this was already most of the way through the day. On Sunday morning, we finally had table covers on the table and the snacks/sodas weren’t stocked until around noon. There were never any restocks of the snacks or drinks that I saw and they went pretty quickly. The VIP play area was a decently sized roped off section on the main trade show floor near the command zone. However with it being a distance from the lounge, I almost never saw anyone in there and there were no special events in that area.
On Saturday when they didn’t have food or drink in the VIP area, the staff had a few convention food vouchers to give out. However they only had about 8-10 of them which wasn’t even enough for everyone sitting in the lounge at that time.
This is in contrast to MagicCon Vegas where the VIP lounge had coolers with Monster Energy drinks and sodas in them, and they were replenished throughout the day so they were always available. The VIP play area in Vegas was also located in the lounge itself. In Philly, there was a free-play area right next to the VIP lounge and that could have easily been used as the VIP play area if they just merged the two by moving the dividers. One staff member mentioned on Sunday that later that day it was/being turned into a VIP play area(more on that later).
The VIP Experience (intangibles)
We were permitted to enter the official merchandise store 30 min before the rest of the attendees at 9:30am to get our shopping done early. However, Exhibitors(card stores with booth space) were also admitted to the hall early to get their booths set up and they had already formed a line in-front of us to buy product to bring back to their booths and home with them to sell later. We had our own VIP line but a lot of them were able to place their orders before we were able to do so negating this benefits value.
On at least Saturday and Sunday morning, Mark Rosewater came in the VIP lounge and answered questions / signed cards. He stayed until people didn’t have anything else to sign and everyone ran out of questions. He even calling out a few times before he left if anyone else would like anything signed or if anyone had any other questions. Aaron Forsythe was also in there for a short time. There was apparently an art director who worked at least a little bit in the VIP lounge but no one knew he was an art director so no questions were really asked about art. I don’t know if there were other official WOTC staff working or if the rest were all contractors. I didn’t see or hear about any of the hired cosplayers in the VIP area until Sunday(more on that later).
The VIP party was decent. It was held at an art gallery where there were quite a few original arts on display. Mark Rosewater was here too answering questions. Gavin Verhey was inside for a hot minute. There were some other employees of Wizards, but I didn’t know who they were. The Professor Onyx cosplayer was in attendance and I think one other was too but I don’t remember. It was nice to spend a little time there and have your two drinks which were included.
John Avon had two times reserved on Sunday where he did signing sessions just for the VIP attendees. 10:00AM – 12:00PM and 4:30PM to 5:30PM. The first one was right before and during the VIP sealed event and the second was after most people had left the con to go home. From what I understand of him, this was most likely his idea because he is all about the fans and doesn’t want anyone thinking they had a bad experience with him.
Kudos to Mark Rosewater and John Avon.
The VIP Swag (tangibles)
We did get what they said we would get when signing up for the event and that was it. The consensus among badge holders was that nothing at the con really made us feel like VIP’s with the VIP SWAG. Some people were expecting more things as unannounced items like at MagicCon Vegas. In Vegas they received a Richard Garfield PH.d signed card and a box of Magic 30. One person I talked to got the Black Lotus package only because they thought they would get the Magic 30 box, but myself and everyone else assumed it was a marketing promotion to try to hype it up before it went on sale and we were not expecting to get boxes or packs of it. Everything we received except for the backpack and Arcane Signet cards could have been purchased at the con for much less than we paid for this badge. The staff also told us to double check the contents right away because about 25% of the bags were mis-packed. If you did have an issue the staff in the VIP lounge couldn’t help you right here. They had to instruct you to go to the Reed Exhibition(trade show coordinator company) info desk and talk to them about it. While most people weren’t expecting a Magic 30 box, most were at least expecting something like an exclusive printing of a card or something similar just for the VIP attendees.
Sunday:
We had the VIP event on Sunday morning. It was Dominaria Remastered sealed. They also gave out three different collector boosters as swag for attending, but you couldn’t use them in your decks. Also really nice is the prize points were doubled compared to other events. They also stated that if you 3-0 you get a secret prize. They wouldn’t tell us what it was until someone did go 3-0. It ended up being a Traditional Foil “Just some totally normal guys” secret lair.
It also seems that staff may have been listening to some of our complaints during the con that they basically “phoned in” the VIP experience compared to the Vegas and tried to make up for it. But they failed pretty hard at this. People who attended both Vegas and here as VIP’s said in Vegas that WOTC staff would come randomly multiple times per day with packs and just start doing events in the lounge/play area with people there.
During the VIP event at 12:15PM(45 min before the drafts were to start), they sent out an e-mail stating that there would be “free on-demand drafts in the Black Lotus VIP lounge from 1:00 – 4:00 PM today!” Please join us after your VIP event to participate. Draft product will be from recent Magic: The Gathering sets and limited to two drafts per person.” The issue is this was way last minute and during the exclusive VIP sealed event. A lot of people don’t have e-mails pushed to their phone and missed out on it if they didn’t happen to go into the lounge later that day. I only knew about it because I walked by the lounge and one of the staff members outside told me to check my e-mail. What happened when showed up is they crossed our name off a list, gave up 6 packs of Dominaria Remastered draft boosters and said to the effect of “you can play or not, do whatever”. It wasn’t really planned, no one was running it. We would have to form the pods and do logistics ourselves after just handing out the packs. Everyone took the packs and there was no drafting done since quite a few people still needed to go back to the tournament floor to finish the last two rounds of the VIP sealed event.
They also brought the cosplayers Professor Onyx, Chandra, Garruk, and a Phyrexian to the lounge in the afternoon for what I believe was the first and only time during the con to interact and take pictures with the VIP attendees.
Miscellaneous
During the con very a limited edition Secret Lair Shivan Dragon card with art from a very popular artist was given away randomly by staff. https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/114se25/sld_shivan_dragon/ to my knowledge and asking others, none of these at all were given away in the VIP lounge. So we paying $700 for access to private lounge which by being there was supposedly to relax away from the show floor and this caused us to miss out chances on obtaining one of these cards. The consensus from badge holders is that this didn’t seem much like a VIP experience to us.
We had starting letting staff know that we weren’t happy with the VIP experience and people who were at both Vegas and here were mentioning the differences. During one of these conversations a staff member said that the higher ups were seeing the VIP experience as being better at Vegas based on the metrics they follow. This flabbergasted us who were involved in this conversation. I asked what metrics they were using and they said it was issues with bags, the VIP event starting on time, etc. I asked if badge holder satisfaction was a metric they were measuring and I was told that it wasn’t.
Staff
On a bright note, the ones we interacted with directly were great and none of us had complaints about them. They helped out as much as they could and at least from what we saw, tried to be advocates for us because they also didn’t like what they saw going on for how much we paid for the badges.
Conclusion
Overall, every single person who I talked to who had a VIP badge said that they did not find value in it over standard access to the con. The lounge wasn’t really worth it because the convention space was so large that there was always space on the show floor to sit at a table by yourself if you wanted. Except for the backpack(nothing really special in it) and Arcane Signet cards, everything else could have been purchased for retail for much less than the extra price for the badge.
From what we were told the metrics they use were showing that this was a better VIP experience than Vegas, but those metrics don’t take into account the most important metric; customer satisfaction, and that was very low from everyone I spoke with. I mentioned that people buy the VIP badges based off the experiences of people at the previous con. As of right now, not one VIP badge holder who attended Philly is suggesting that anyone get the VIP package in the future Magiccon’s unless changes are made in the experience.
If anyone from Wizards is reading this, I am in marketing & have years of experience planning trade/consumer shows in the course of my employment, so I have experience here. Please DM me if you would like to have a conversation to improve the experience for the future. We had discussions in the lounge of other intangibles / low cost ideas that would make people feel more like VIP’s and feel like they got the value for what we paid for and doesn’t eat into your bottom line from the badge sales. I have purposefully left these out of this post because some of them wouldn’t really be understood unless you went through the experience we did in Vegas and at Philly. Also, if you do decide to do something like a special card or something to try to make up for the disappointing VIP experience in Philly and vastly different VIP experiences between Vegas and Philly, you have our mailing addresses.
Another notable magician from Philadelphia is David Copperfield. Although he was born in New Jersey, Copperfield spent much of his childhood and early career in Philadelphia. Copperfield is widely regarded as one of the greatest illusionists of all time. He has achieved numerous accolades and holds many world records for his magical performances. The local magic community in Philadelphia is also flourishing. The Philadelphia Magic Gardens is a popular destination for magic enthusiasts. This unique space showcases the work of mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar and frequently hosts magic performances and events. It serves as a gathering place for magicians and provides a platform for up-and-coming talent to showcase their skills. In addition to established magicians and attractions, Philadelphia also has magic shops and clubs where magicians can connect and learn from each other. The Tannen's Magic Shop is a historic magic shop that has been catering to magicians since the early 1900s. It is a haven for magic lovers, offering a wide range of props, books, and instructional materials. Philadelphia also hosts the annual Philadelphia Magic Convention, which brings together magicians from all over the world. This event features lectures, workshops, and performances by renowned magicians. It serves as an opportunity for magicians to network, learn new techniques, and be inspired by the best in the industry. Overall, magic in Philadelphia is thriving. Whether it's enjoying a mesmerizing stage show, exploring the world of close-up magic, or connecting with fellow magicians, Philadelphia offers a vibrant and enchanting magic scene. The city's rich history, talented magicians, and supportive community make it a magical destination for both performers and magic enthusiasts..
Reviews for "Unleashing Your Inner Magician: Workshops and Classes in Philadelphia"
1. Mary - 2 stars - I was really disappointed with "Magic in Philadelphia". The storyline was slow and confusing, and the characters were completely underdeveloped. I found it hard to connect with any of them and couldn't fully invest in the plot. Additionally, the magical elements felt forced and unrealistic. Overall, I didn't find this book engaging or enjoyable, and I wouldn't recommend it.
2. John - 3 stars - "Magic in Philadelphia" had an interesting premise, but it failed to fully deliver. The concept of magic intertwining with the city of Philadelphia should have been captivating, but the execution fell short. The pacing was uneven, with long stretches of nothing happening followed by hurried plot resolutions. The protagonist lacked depth, and I didn't feel invested in her journey. Some scenes also felt cliché and predictable. While the book had potential, it ultimately left me feeling unsatisfied.