Maho Magic Bar

Overview

Brisbane has a new temporary home of tricks, magic and illusions: South Bank's Maritime Museum. The riverside spot has welcomed 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 — and one of them is Maho Magic Bar.

If you not only like magic, but also cocktails, neon lights and feeling like you're in Tokyo, head to Maho Magic Bar between Thursday, October 3—Sunday, December 22, 2024 (in a season extended by two weeks due to demand). 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.

Images: Peter Wallis, Mike King, Anna Kucera and Nathaniel Mason.

Updated: Thursday, November 21, 2024.