→ Bar Tricks & Bar Magic | Puzzles, Brainteasers & Bartender Magic

Eu vi meu primeiro truque de bar de um homem chamado Daddy Jack. Nos primeiros quinze anos de bar, minha coleção cresceu para quase 1000 truques. Era minha coisa atrás do bar. No início dos anos 1990, me pediram para ensinar truques divertidos de bar nas aulas obrigatórias de F&B do Walt Disney World, chamadas Quest for the Best. Esta experiência inspirou-me a publicar o meu primeiro livro Miss Charming's Book of Bar Amusements .

Pinturas de parede antigas nos mostram que os truques existem desde 5000 aC. O clássico truque do copo e da bola foi descoberto em detalhados pergaminhos egípcios. A Índia teve seus encantadores de serpentes e panfletos de tapetes, bobos da corte realizados para a realeza e, ao longo da história, a especulação é alta de que a média de Jane ou Julius testemunhou alguns tipos de travessuras nas casas de bebida da aldeia local. Nos tempos medievais, no entanto, os truques caíram em um armário da Idade das Trevas devido à associação com feitiçaria, e não era seguro sair e jogar novamente até o século XVIII.

Um truque de bar é uma espécie de quebra-cabeça desafiador usando uma variedade de itens encontrados dentro e ao redor de um bar/restaurante. Esses itens podem ser dinheiro, canudos, copos, garrafas, guardanapos, etc. Os bartenders usam truques de bar para entreter os convidados porque a maioria dos truques leva de dez a vinte segundos para configurar e explicar, o que permite que o barman se afaste para realizar outras tarefas enquanto os convidados divirta-se descobrindo um truque. Há também truques de bar que se enquadram nas categorias de jogo de palavras e gags.

Um truque de mágica de bar é a mágica realizada usando uma variedade de itens encontrados dentro e ao redor de um bar/restaurante ou com truques de mágica comprados em lojas. Os truques de mágica de bar exigem um pouco mais de tempo para preparar, apresentar e executar. Geralmente, os bartenders só têm tempo para realizar um truque de mágica de bar quando não estão ocupados ajudando outros convidados.

Outros são conhecidos por realizar truques de bar e/ou truques de mágica de bar

Doc Eason

Em 2005, o Academy of Magical Arts Awards realizado no mundialmente famoso Magic Castle em Hollywood, Califórnia, adicionou uma nova categoria - Bar Magician. Minha amiga, Doc Eason é o primeiro a ganhar este prêmio. William H. “Doc” Eason trabalhou no World Famous Tower Comedy / Magic Bar de John Denver em Snowmass Village, Colorado, de 1977 a 2004. Ele também é um animador corporativo e palestrante espalhando a terapia do riso. Doc também esteve envolvido no programa de TV da Fox Masters of Illusion.

Seus prêmios incluem:

2004 WC Fields Magic Bartender do Ano do Magic Castle

2008 Closeup Magician of the Year from the Magic Castle

2009 Closeup Mágico do Ano e Palestrante do Ano

2012 Melhor Mágico de Closeup em uma enquete de leitores em magic.about.com

2016 Palestrante do Ano da Academia de Artes Mágicas no Castelo Mágico

Confira o YouTube do Doutor e site.

Johnny Platt (1903-1990)

Johnny Platt era um vaudeville mágico. Durante quinze anos, ele também trabalhou no Gay Nineties Bar no LaSalle Hotel, em Chicago. Mais tarde, mudou-se para Hollywood para trabalhar no Magic Castle.

Frank Everhart, Sr. (1921-2004)

Frank Everhart, Sr. primeiro bar atendido em San Diego, CA no

El Cortez Hotel. Em 1949, mudou-se para Chicago e conseguiu um emprego de bartender no Gay Nineties Bar no LaSalle Hotel de Chicago, onde Johnny Platt trabalhou como mágico de bar. Platt ensinou magia a Everhart e depois assumiu o lugar de Platt. Em 1953, Everhart tornou-se o mágico do bar The Ivanhoe em Chicago. Dizem que ele se apresentou por uma noite e permaneceu por 21 anos. Everhart faleceu de ataque cardíaco aos 82 anos. O filho de Everhart, Frank Everhart, Jr. continuou a tradição da magia de bar no Schooner Wharf em Key West.

Frank Everhart, Jr. (1973- )

Frank Everhart, Jr. começou a aprender magia e performance de palco aos dois anos de idade com seu pai Frank Everhart, Sr. Enquanto no exército, ele descobriu que tinha um amor pela magia, então sua próxima aventura foi trabalhar como mágico de bar em St. Louis, MO. Durante as férias em Key Oeste, Flórida, Everhart decidiu se mudar para o Estado do Sol para perseguir sua paixão. Em 15 de maio, 1997, ele começou a trabalhar no Schooner Wharf em Key West e comemorou seu 20º aniversário em 2017. Na mesma época, ele entrou com uma ação contra um produto Lysol que ele acredita que o deixou cego em um olho e parcialmente cego no outro.

Dean Serneels (1970- )

Meu amigo de longa data, Dean Serneels é conhecido principalmente por ser um bartender premiado, inventando o Flairco Estilo garrafa , a barra portátil Flairco e produzindo um conjunto de quatro premiados DVDs de treinamento de bartenders. Mas ele também é mágico de bar e tem uma linha de truques de mágica de bar. Seu mais popular é a coqueteleira flutuante.

Michael Hayes

Soube pela primeira vez de Michael Hayes por volta de 1999 , quando navegava na web. Ele era dono do domínio bartricks.com (hoje o domínio se conecta diretamente a um antigo vídeo promocional do YouTube). Ele se autodenomina o "Copperfield dos Truques de Bar". Quando eu estava no meio da publicação do meu primeiro livro em truques de bar, ele contratou um advogado para processar a editora alegando que eu fiz uma de suas aulas e roubei todos os seus truques. Eu nunca conheci o cara e seu terno foi descartado.

Cheryl Charmosa (1960- )

Este sou eu! Como você provavelmente já deve saber, eu colecionei truques de bar, enigmas, piadas, curiosidades, história, coquetéis em filmes e muito mais por um longo tempo. Fiquei conhecida como a garota que faz truques de bar. O Walt Disney World até me contratou para ensinar truques divertidos de bar para garçons e bartenders e meu primeiro livro foi uma pequena coleção de truques de bar que os clientes compartilharam comigo. Infelizmente, não tenho muitos vídeos de truques de bar, mas há um que você pode ver.

Truques de bar na mídia

1938

Filme | Criando o bebê

Um barman mostra a Kathryn Hepburn um truque de bar.

1997

Filme | Boogie Nights

John C. Reilly interpreta Reed Rothchild, que faz mágica de bar algumas vezes ao longo do filme.

2014

Televisão | América têm talento

Na temporada 9, Smoothini se classifica como Bar Magician.

1910s–1930s: Birth of Chicago-Style Bar Magic

1914–1915 – Schulien’s Opens; Matt Schulien Begins Tableside Magic

Venue: Schulien’s German restaurant/saloon at 1800 N. Halsted, Chicago.
Performer: Matt Schulien (1890–1967), the owner's son, began greeting tables and performing close-up card tricks and stunts after Prohibition ended.
Innovation: Moved magic from distant stages to inches-from-the-guest tableside experience, mixing humor, cards, and bar-room interaction; this became known as Chicago-style magic.

1919–1933 – Johnny Platt (1903–1990) Early Career

Early work: Began as “La Platt” (1919); performed as Hadji Baba at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.
Bar connection: Later became a long-time MC/magician in the Gay Nineties Tap Room at Chicago’s LaSalle Hotel, sharing that space with other bar magicians like Johnny Paul and Frank Everhart, Sr.

1920s–1930s – Prohibition & Speakeasy Entertainment

Context: Illegal bars encouraged intimate entertainment; magicians and entertainers worked in speakeasies, though documentation of specific “bar magicians” from this exact period is spotty.
Effect lineage: Bar-themed magic effects (producing drinks, vanishes, transformations) fit naturally into speakeasy culture, setting up later formal “bar acts.”

1930s–1960s: Golden Age of Chicago Bar Magic

1930s–1960s – Think-a-Drink Hoffman (Charles “Think-a-Drink” Hoffman, c. 1895/96–1965/66)

Role: Vaudeville magician with a bar-themed act; often billed as “The Highest Paid Bartender in the World.”
Signature routine: Any Drink Called For / Think-a-Drink—producing any cocktail requested by the audience from apparently empty shakers/bottles using a trick “inexhaustible” bottle.
Relevance: Though primarily a stage performer, his entire persona was that of a bartender-magician, and his effect became a cornerstone of bar-magic literature and repertoire.

1940s–1980s – Proliferation of Chicago Magic Bars
Venues: By the 1940s–1960s, Chicago had 15+ magic bars/restaurants, including:

New York Lounge (opened 1945)
- Johnny Paul’s Magic Lounge (Cicero)
- Little Bit O’ Magic (South Side, 1970s)
- Frank Everhart’s Magic Bar (in the Ivanhoe Theater)
- Mr. C’s Magic Lounge (Berwyn), Houdini’s Pub, Magic Touch, and others.
  Style: Close-up magic performed while guests drank and dined; many performers were effectively bartender-magicians or “house magicians” in bar settings.

1949–1991 – “Heba Haba” Al Andrucci (c. 1914–1991)
Role: One of the fathers of bartending magic; performed from the 1960s into the 1980s, becoming synonymous with Chicago bar magic.

Venues: Worked at Schulien’s, New York Lounge, Pickle Barrel, and ran his own Heba Haba’s Magic Bar (Rogers Park Hotel) after WWII.
Signature contributions: Popularized effects like Card Under Glass; known for sponge rabbits, multiplying objects, and his “Heba Haba” catchphrase.

1950s–1970s – Johnny Paul
(mid-1900s)

Role: Bartender-magician at the LaSalle Hotel (Gay Nineties Tap Room) in Chicago; credited with instituting “Bar Magic” as a distinct style.

Style: Juggled bottles and performed jokes, gags, and close-up magic behind the bar (not just tableside), blending service with performance.
Impact: Inspired a wave of themed “magic bars” across Chicago; part of the same ecosystem as Johnny Platt and Frank Everhart, Sr.

1950s–1990s – Frank Everhart, Sr. (1921–2004)

Early career: Learned bartending in San Diego (El Cortez Hotel); moved to Chicago by 1949, working the Gay 90’s Room at the Hotel LaSalle, where Johnny Platt was the house magician.
Chicago residency: Ran Frank’s Magic Bar for ~21–24 years at the Ivanhoe Theater, establishing a long-running comedy/bar magic show.
Signature tricks: Famous for “Sam the Bellhop” and “Red Hot Mama” card routines; embodied the classic magic bartender persona.

1960s–1970s – Don Alan (mid-1900s)

Role: Chicago magician and TV host (Don Alan’s Magic Ranch); part of the same close-up/bar magic scene.
Connection: Associated with Chicago magic bars and TV exposure of close-up magic; appeared alongside or in the same circles as Johnny Platt and other bar magicians.

1970s–2000s: Modern Bar Magic Residencies & Documentation

1977–2004 – Doc Eason (b. 1947)

Venue: John Denver’s World Famous Tower Comedy/Magic Bar, Snowmass Village, Colorado.
Role: Full-time bar magician in residence for 27 years; performed intimate close-up magic inches from guests, blending sleight-of-hand, humor, and storytelling.
Recognition: Multiple Magic Castle awards:
- First-ever W.C. Fields Magic Bartender of the Year (2004)
- Close-Up Magician of the Year (twice)
- Lecturer of the Year (multiple times)
- Bar Magician of the Year
Impact: Became a benchmark for what a modern bar magic residency could be; his performances are studied as masterclasses in audience management and routining.

1980s–1990s – Jamy Ian Swiss (b. 1961)

Role: Close-up magician who worked as Magic Bartender at the Inn of Magic (Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC), c. 1985–86.
Contribution: Developed his own Card Under Glass routine, explicitly citing Heba Haba Al as the creator of that classic Magic Bar effect; later wrote about the history of Magic Bar in Genii and his book Shattering Illusions.
Relevance: Represents the second generation of bar magicians consciously building on the Chicago tradition.

1980s–2000 – Cheryl Charming That's me! (b. 1960)

Role: Bartender and author; collected and codified bar tricks, magic, toasts, and social amusements.
Career highlights:
- Worked on a cruise ship for four years, then at Walt Disney World, where she became known for bar tricks and began teaching bar amusements to other cast members via the Quest for the Best program.
- Bar Director at the Bourbon “O” Bar (New Orleans); named New Orleans Magazine Mixologist of the Year (2014).
Publications:
- Miss Charming’s Book of Bar Amusements (2000) – compiled nearly 1,000 bar tricks, including magic effects using matches, toothpicks, glasses, coins, bottles, and napkins and Be A Star Magician kit (2003) for children.
- Over 18 books on cocktails, bartending, and party hosting.
Contribution: Provided the most comprehensive printed reference on bar tricks and bar magic for working bartenders.

Dean Serneels – Bar Magician, Trick Inventor, and Flair Pioneer

Dean Serneels (often called “The Mad Mixologist”) is best known in the drinks world as an award-winning flair bartender and inventor of the Flairco Flair bottle and Flairco portable bar, as well as a set of four award-winning bartender training DVDs. But he also has deep roots in bar magic and bar tricks, with his own line of bar-magic effects—most famously the floating cocktail shaker.

Early Career: Tableside Magic in Canada

Before his flair fame, Serneels began as a tableside magician in Canadian restaurants, performing close-up magic for diners in the style of the classic Chicago bar-magic tradition. He started entertaining guests with magic tricks and sleight of hand early in his bartending career, which led him to work as house magician (5–8 p.m.) and head bartender at Philthy McNasty’s, a sports bar in Ontario. This dual identity—bartender by trade, magician by performance—shaped his later inventions and teaching.

Bar Magic Contributions

Serneels bridges the gap between flair and bar magic:

Floating Cocktail Shaker: His most popular bar-magic effect, a levitation-style illusion where a metal shaker appears to float in midair while he pours or gestures. This trick has become a signature “cocktail magic” routine, often performed as a homage to him in modern flair/magic circles.barstarspodcast+1
Bar Magic Product Line: He developed and marketed a line of bar magic tricks aimed at working bartenders, emphasizing effects that can be done with standard bar tools (shakers, jiggers, bottles, napkins, etc.).bartendbetternow+1
Teaching & Influence: Through his DVDs, lectures, and competition work (as judge, emcee, and sponsor), he has taught bartenders how to blend showmanship, sleight of hand, and drink-making into a cohesive bar performance

1990s–1999 – Final Closure of the Original Chicago Magic Bars

Milestone: Most Chicago magic bars closed by the late 1980s;
Schulien’s—the first and longest-running—closed in 1999, marking the end of the original era.
Legacy: The model of bar/resaurant magic lived on through individual performers and later revivals (e.g., Chicago Magic Lounge).

1990s–Present: Second-Generation & Contemporary Bar Magicians

1990s–Present – Frank Everhart, Jr. (b. 1973)

Role: Second-generation bar magician; son of Frank Everhart, Sr.
Venues:
- Originally ran Frank’s Magic Bar on Laclede’s Landing (St. Louis area) for ~4 years.
- Since the late 1990s, performs nightly at Schooner Wharf Bar in Key West, Florida, where his show is billed as Frank’s Magic Bar.
Recognition: Recognized by the International Brotherhood of Magicians as one of the foremost authorities in bar magic today.
Style: Close-up card magic, comedy, and audience participation in a casual dockside bar; continues his father’s tradition of comedy bar magic.

2000s–Present – Smoothini (Tomas B. De La Cruz, Jr.; b. 1980)

Role: Bar and street magician based in Las Vegas; TV personality (“Hip Hop Houdini,” America’s Got Talent semi-finalist).
Relevance to bar magic:
- Performs close-up and bar-style magic in clubs and lounges; often billed as the “#1 Bar Magician in Las Vegas.”
- While his brand is more “street/hip-hop magic,” his core work is close-up magic in bar/club environments, continuing the bartender/magician overlap in a modern, media-driven form.
  2010s–Present – Chicago Magic Lounge & Revival Venues
Venue: Chicago Magic Lounge (Uptown Chicago) explicitly revives the Chicago-style magic bar tradition.timeout+2
Performers: Features magicians who perform close-up/tableside magic in a bar/lounge setting, in the lineage of Matt Schulien, Heba Haba Al, and Johnny Paul.timeout+1
Significance: Provides a contemporary space where bar magic as a genre is consciously preserved and presented to new audiences.