Welcome to the wonderful world of Steve Cohen’s “Chamber Magic,” an old-fashioned foray into magic, mind-reading and mentalism. Cohen, a darling of the entertainment and corporate world’s elite, figured out a way to turn his tricks of the trade into a fat cash cow at an early age at his uncle’s knee. His uncle, trained under the guidance of the famed Houdini, graced his eager young nephew with the trickery and show-biz whiz Cohen’s since used to entertain international audiences around the world.
The pay-off has been astounding, considering that Cohen’s audience has delighted the likes of (pre-scandal-ridden) Martha Stewart, Michael J. Fox, Mayor Bloomberg and the former president of Intel, who reportedly nearly suffered a heart attack after one card trick.
This late spring evening, Cohen’s audience was a motley assortment of the well-dressed and blue-jeaned, teens and seniors, all happy to participate in up-close-and-personal shenanigans. The well-dressed Cohen, a slight, red-haired bespectacled man of wit and tomfoolery, is a throwback with a contemporary twist. His Fridays-only hotel show has been up and running for the past two years and is typically packed solely by word-of-mouth. That’s all the advertising he needs, since the word has been positive and attendance bountiful.
Cohen's primary income comes from corporate connections he’s made over the years, resulting in hundreds of appearances around the globe. But tonight he’s performing before an assortment of New Yorkers and tourists who’ve heard about him through web sites, hotel concierges and friends-of-friends.
