What's up, guys? Leslie Robbins here. Young Hollywood has gained exclusive access to the most fiercely private establishment in Hollywood. Welcome to the Magic Castle. Come on.

This was originally the Lane Mansion in the early 1900s. My grandfather's brother Milt spotted this building on a hill, sort of dilapidated. And he had the idea to follow through on their father's dream, which was to create a private club, a secret club for magicians. They approached the owner, this man named Tom Glover. Milt asked him about making this idea happen, and the guy shook his hand on the spot and gave him the keys and said, "You have a year, how about it?" No contract, no nothing. So Milt always said, "There's no contract stronger than a Texan handshake."

Wow. So you just told me you're a magician, a illusionist, and an escape artist. Yes. Those are three epic titles. Can you break down each one?

Magic is very close-up, uh, intimate and personal. Uh, illusions tend to be large scale, uh, whether optical illusions, special effects, and escapes. Well, I have to cheat death and try not to die. I used to recreate Harry Houdini's water torture cell where they'll lower me in a tank of water, handcuffed, upside down, and I have to escape before I run out of air.

So how'd you do it? How'd you do it?

Can't tell you.

You grew up here, basically. Walk me through how you became now a grown-up here.

So, um, I grew up in Mexico and uh when I was 11, my dad brought the family from Mexico to the US, uh, but my dad happened to have worked at the Magic Castle for now over 20 years. And when I was 11, he brought me to the castle for a brunch and, um, the moment I walked in through the bookshelf door, uh, you just say open sesame to an owl and it just opens, and I walked into a world of, uh, mystery. I was like instantly bitten by the bug.

Is your father still here?

Yes, actually, he still works here.

Wow. Yeah.

He's still here. Yeah, yeah.

Talk about how one gets in. I wore a little black tie dress because there's a dress code here. All of the above. Tell me about it.

It's extremely hard to get in. You have to know a magician to get in or an invite. Magic more than any other art form relies on secrets. So it's very important to have a a closely guarded castle because people have a lot of secrets to share here. So that's sort of why it has to be so exclusive. It's so cool to have the opportunity to be inside this doors, also with so much history, like the greatest magicians have walked through these halls, have performed in these rooms. And so, to be able to be following in those footsteps is really awesome.

So tell me what the Magic Castle represents to magicians, uh, what it means to have a community, a base.

It's really a brother and sisterhood. It's a very close-knit group of people. I've heard a lot of people say that you can go anywhere in the world and if you find someone who's a magician, even if you've never met, you can become instant friends. It's sort of it really brings people close. It's a family. Like any family, there's its share of dysfunction, but for the most part, it's a beautiful, beautiful community and very tight-knit and, um, when you love magic, anyone else who loves magic, you just instantly have something in common that's very special and deep. You really get to give people a sense of wonder, you know, and not knowing how something is done. That is such a cool feeling. Even as a magician, when I get in nowadays, it's like, it's my favorite thing in the world.

When you come to the Magic Castle, you're here and you get to bounce around or you just have a ticket to one room. How does it work?

Well, so you come and you have access to the whole thing and you kind of get lost. It's like choose your own adventure and especially if you've never been here before, you really can get lost. It's like a labyrinth. You're going upstairs and downstairs and in secret passageways and there's theaters everywhere. There are bars everywhere and there's a beautiful restaurant where you can have dinner and yeah, I think the point is to kind of get lost and at the end of the night be like, "Where am I? What happened?"

There is a rumor. Are there ghosts here?

Well, there's at least one resident ghost. Our piano player, Irma. She's invisible. She plays requests. So she came with the house. She's a very dignified lady. And then I'm almost positive there are other spirits here.

And what about the secret passageways? Where are they here?

You'll have to just sort of knock on walls and try the floorboards and see where you find them.

Going from the Magic Castle to getting the phone call to be part of Champions of Magic.

Yeah. Chasing the unbelievable. I mean, it is I'm so excited about this brand new show. I joined Champions of Magic in 2018 and we are like completely redoing the show. This show is unlike any other magic show that I've ever seen, I've ever worked on. It is all new. We're collaborating on all new material for me and for the other cast members. I feel like I'm jumping onto this tour right as it's about to go to the next level in a huge way. So it's a very exciting time to join. And it's not like anything I've ever done because it's a huge spectacle show. It's so ambitious. If you guys out there in the US have the chance or see the tour dates, you must come see it. Like, oh my God. Huge with pyrotechnics and fireworks. I mean, it's I've never been part of anything like it. It's an extravaganza. And it it's what magic really was in the golden era is these gigantic spectacle shows. It's a very interactive, immersive show. Honestly, it's an over-the-top show. It's incredible. I can't wait.

I feel like now is an appropriate time to maybe show me what you know.

One of the oldest pieces of magic in the world. It's very small. It's one of the first pieces of magic I ever learned and it's with the first song that I ever wrote and it's kind of a Halloweeny song 'cause it's Halloween season. So the song is called the Spider Queen. I don't know if you're scared of spiders. I happen actually I hate spiders. It's a song though what it's really inspired by is the weavers of the fates in Greek mythology. So it's about destiny. She hovers like the needle of a sewing time machine. And everyone who dreams will one day meet the Spider Queen. And you who would approach her web must travel all alone. And gather up her golden thread until you reach her throne. She'll ask, "Why have you come to me?" She'll listen to your voice. She'll ask, "Do you prefer to spin by gambling, or by choice?" She'll cast your lots and tie her knots and slowly, slowly, slowly she begins. 1,000 fingers flickering like, like diamonds as she spins. And she sings, "I stitch the story to which you've been assigned." "I measure every thread against the marvels in your mind." Leslie. "And those who say they've lost the thread I've spun will always find not a thing can separate what I have intertwined." She says, "I pluck the blossom and I fix it to the vine." Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Not a thing can separate what I have intertwined. I'm going to try an experiment, okay? I'm not sure if this is going to work. Um, but I just want you to name any playing card. Just name it.

Out loud?

Yeah.

Queen of hearts.

The Queen of Wow. I okay, I swear, I I've been thinking of the Queen of hearts like all day. I'm not even kidding. Promise, but whatever, you're not going to believe me. So, let me try this little experiment. I'm going to get um all the queens out. Okay. Spades, hearts, uh, diamonds. There we go. And, um, I want you to keep 'em face down. Okay. Okay? And just go ahead and shuffle them. So just shuffle them. Okay? Great. And then I just want you to put one here, one here, one here, and one here. Very good. Now, you said the Queen of hearts, right?

I did.

Hold hold on to my finger right there. Touch my finger. Think of your Queen of hearts. This is it. Right there. That was the Queen of hearts. Awesome. Bam. Okay. Look, I see you're not very impressed. It's okay.

How'd you do it?

Well, it had to be the Queen of hearts. Why? Cuz this card is not printed. This card's not printed. This one's not printed. I was so sure you were going to pick the Queen of hearts that I didn't even bother printing Any of the other cards. It's magic. Welcome to the Magic Castle. I thought we try something else for Halloween. You know how it's October. The veil is thin. You've heard people say that, the veil is thin?

No.

They say that about this time of year. The idea is that the closer we get to Halloween, the boundary between the visible world and the invisible world becomes thinner and more permeable. But I thought we might be able to try something to see how true that is. So, Don't worry, we're not going to whip out a Ouija board or anything. I'm not going to talk to the dead. Although we do have seances you can book upstairs if you want to do that.

You do. For entertainment purposes only. Wait, the Magic Castle has a seance?

a dining seance.

But for our purposes of what we're doing here, the invisible realm is not the land of the dead, but is the imagination.

Your imagination.

We're going to try an experiment, okay?

So put your hands out like this, a little higher, put them into fists.

Okay?

Are you left-handed or right-handed?

Right-handed.

Okay, so that would make your left hand your receptive hand.

That's the hand we want to use for this.

That's the hand that you receive with.

So put your right hand down, keep your left hand like that.

My grandfather used to like to say that the more clearly you can imagine something in your mind, the more likely it is that you can bring it into reality.

That's how this place came to be, right?

So whether it's an idea or a vision for your future, or even just something very small and subtle, you have to be able to hold it clearly in your mind.

Do you have a good imagination?

Strong imagination?

I do.

All right.

I think so too.

Now, what I want you to do first is to just actually stare at this candle flame.

And get really used to what it truly looks like so that when you close your eyes in a moment, you can visualize it really clearly, okay?

Do you see it clearly?

Mhm.

Close your eyes.

Imagine it in your mind.

And imagine it floating into your hand, into your palm as if you're holding the flame.

And not only see it, not only visualize it, but feel it.

Feel it getting warmer.

Do you feel the sensation on your palm with your imagination getting hotter?

You sort of willing it to happen with your imagination, getting warmer and hotter.

Do you feel any sensation in there?

As if it's there?

Can you imagine it?

Sure.

It's warm?

Hotter, hotter.

Blow it out.

One, two, three.

Open your hand.

Show the camera.

Show them.

Very good, you're a natural.

The veil is thin.

How'd that get in there?

You willed it.

With your imagination.

Leslie, first I want you to make sure all the cards are different.

Yeah?

Yes.

Audience, all the cards are different?

Yes.

Um, now, I'm going to drop the cards like this and whenever you want, I just want you to say stop, okay?

Okay.

You're just going to say stop.

That's it.

Stop.

Right there.

Take that card.

Look at and memorize it.

Don't forget to show it to the camera.

And if you wouldn't mind, please go ahead and sign uh your name across the face.

Sign where?

Across the face of the card.

So I can sell it on eBay.

It's worth about a nickel.

There you go.

You're funny.

Okay.

Um, now just go ahead and put it wherever you want.

Perfect.

And I'm going to try and find your card in a very unusual way.

So I'll put it, I'll put the whole deck back in the box.

And here's where the knife comes in.

I'm going to try and stab your card.

Really?

Well, yes.

This is the only way.

I I won't miss it.

I I'm pretty sure I got your card.

Probably got all of them, right?

I did.

Um, but watch.

Do you remember your card?

Yes.

What was it?

Can you tell me?

Sure.

I mean, might as well at this point.

Five of hearts.

Five of hearts.

A lot of hearts today.

A lot of hearts today.

Yeah.

A lot of love here.

Yeah.

Watch.

Don't.

Stop.

No.

Let's see if this works.

No, no.

I don't want to know.

No, I don't want to know.

I don't want to know.

Don't.

No.

No.

Stop!

What just happened?