Maho Magic Bar, Séance and Flight Are Bringing Tricks, Drinks and Thrills to South Bank's Maritime Museum

Tricks or thrills? Magic or mystery? Escaping via illusions or eeriness? Whichever appeals, Brisbanites will soon have options at South Bank's Maritime Museum. The riverside spot is welcoming three immersive pop-ups, each making their return to the Queensland capital, and all aiming to give attendees a multi-sensory reprieve from their routines.

If you not only like magic, but also cocktails, neon lights and feeling like you're in Tokyo, head to Maho Magic Bar from Thursday, October 3—Sunday, December 8, 2024. As the River City discovered on its past visits, it's a bar, a performance space and a show all in one — all thanks to Broad Encounters, aka the folks behind eerie Edgar Allen Poe-inspired warehouse experience A Midnight Visit, too.

Here, glowing lighting sets the mood, cherry blossoms hover above, and sake cocktails and shōchū lead the drinks menu. Also, magic shows happen at your table. An immersive event from the moment that you approach its luminous exterior, it's designed to replicate a night out in Shinjuku, and to conjure up an 'anything can happen' feeling.

The ace thing about the setup: whether you adore magic or don't think it's your thing, you'll still be entertained given the atmosphere (and the drinks and those lights) are a massive part of the allure. Still, magic is nonetheless a big part of it. Busting out illusions: a lineup that includes the gender stereotype-busting Kaori Kitazawa, Japanese TV staple Shirayuri, actor and Maho Magic Bar's hostess Spica, sleight-of-hand mixologist Jun Nakamura, the engineering-driven Wambi and close-up magician Sarito.

Fancy an atmospheric time in a shipping container or two instead? Enter Darkfield's Brisbane comeback across the same dates, this time with favourites Séance and Flight. The two installations have earned a cult following on previous visits here, around the countries and overseas — and regularly sell out, with more than 300,000 Australians stepping inside to-date.

Séance plays on the concept of sensory deprivation, thrusting audiences on a journey into the supernatural realm as they join a medium in trying to contact the spirit world.

As the name suggests, Flight takes place on board an imagined plane, sending passengers tripping through dual worlds as they're forced to ponder the many possible outcomes if the cabin suddenly happened to lose pressure. This is a nerve-jangler, for sure, even for those who aren't afraid of flying.

Find Maho Magic Bar, Séance and Flight at the Maritime Museum, Sidon Street, South Brisbane, from Thursday, October 3—Sunday, December 8, 2024. For further information and to buy tickets, head to the Maho Magic Bar and Darkfield websites.

Images: Realscape Productions, Mihaela Bodlovic, Jack Rintoul, Peter Wallis, Mike King, Anna Kucera and Nathaniel Mason.