It's been a long time since magic was at the heart of pop culture, when Saturday night telly drew millions by having men disappear glamorous assistants, and Sunday morning markets were filled with men hustling with nothing but three cups, a ball and chutzpah.
But in Clerkenwell, there is somewhere where the magic has never faded. For almost 70 years, there has been the International Magic Shop. It opened in 1958, first on Saffron Hill, moved briefly to Leather Lane, and in '63 found its forever home on Clerkenwell Road. It is a small, hole-in-the-wall kind of place, with a brass-handled, red front door flanked by two large windows under a sign where a man in tails crouches, holding billiard balls aloft. He is burgundy in relief against a gold oval background, like a faded photo in a locket.
