THE MAGICAL STORY BEHIND THE MAGIC PENTHOUSE'S CREATION
Sin Ordu and Nick Roy first met at a Chicago magic shop in 2015.
“Nick walked in, did a trick, looked at me, we started talking briefly, and then he handed me his business card,” Ordu said.
The chance meeting led to a friendship and the eventual creation of the pair’s The Magic Penthouse business that has rapidly become hugely popular in Chicago and beyond. The next shows are on October 11th and November 15th, at the Kimpton Palomar Hotel in Downtown Chicago. The show features professional magicians performing in an intimate, up-close setting, plus live music, open bar, Champagne reception and catered appetizers.
“We wanted to create a party that we would attend ourselves,” said Ordu, 30, a Germany native now living in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. “And the magicians we choose not only have to be amazing, but they have to be relatable. Our idea is instead of separating the audience from the performer, we want the audience to engage with the performer. Every guest chooses their own night with different styles of magic and entertainment in different areas of the event. We even have a new secret speakeasy for the few chosen ones who find it..."
Said Roy, 32, a Connecticut native living in Chicago’s Fulton Market neighborhood: “Our show makes people think that the impossible could be possible. We are also trying to give back, by giving 1% of our revenue to a non-profit on the South side of Chicago, called The Ideal Candidate. They are changing lives every day, and that's real magic!"
Roy and Ordu are lifelong magicians. Roy has been practicing magic since his aunt bought him a hat, cape and wand for Christmas as a 6-year-old. He created his first magic show when he was 9 years old. Ordu has been obsessed with magic since he was 13 years old, when his older brother Deniz sent him a 7-second video of a card trick that turned the 7 of Hearts into the 8 of Clubs. Ordu couldn’t figure out the trick for more than two years but cracked the code after reading numerous magic publications.
Ordu moved to Chicago from Germany on Jan. 1, 2015 to live with his girlfriend – now fiancée – whom he had originally met when he was a foreign-exchange high school student in Georgia. The couple will be married Oct. 9, 2020.
A few months after arriving in Chicago, Ordu located the city’s only magic shop – Magic Inc in Ravenswood – and was hanging out when Roy walked in.
“Lots of magicians are a bit weird, and Sin seemed just like a normal guy, so I talked to him,” Roy said.
The two became friends and developed the first show in 2016 at a penthouse where Roy worked, and The Magic Penthouse was born.
“From the very first show on, we didn’t care about the cost; we wanted to make it the best experience possible,” Ordu said.
Said Roy: “We had no idea what this would become.”
It worked and the pair grew a large customer base. Monthly shows are at the Palomar Hotel, but The Magic Penthouse also has done countless corporate and private events for companies including GE, Dunkin Donuts, Zebra Technologies and Nestle.
Ordu said The Magic Penthouse is on the verge of really taking off as well
“Five years from now, we will be the thought leader in magic in the Midwest,” Ordu said. “As soon as someone thinks about adding an element of magic to their party, that call has to come to us. … Our goal is to create the most magical and unique events in the US for our clients.”
For more information on The Magic Penthouse and ticket information, visit https://www.magicpenthouse.com