Most magicians are self-confessed nerds. I can’t tell you how many magic shows I’ve seen where the performer describes a loner childhood, or recounts growing up in a town where the owner of the local magic shop was the only available friend. When others were out carousing on the town, your average conjurer was upstairs in their bedroom, perfecting shuffles. No disrespect intended; we magic fans usually have a lot in common with those who perform it for us.
But The Spellbinder blows that image out of the water. His retro show, “Diary of a Black Illusionist,” is cool. Way cool.
The Spellbinder, whose real name is Walter King Jr., is also a lot older than your typical performer at the Chicago Magic Lounge, where he has been holding down the Wednesday night spot—likely through the end of the year. He has a long history in Chicago, where he was born on the West Side. His pre-show (and post-intermission) videos feature old local news footage of King arriving at South Side dance clubs in a hearse, of all things, with dry ice billowing out the vehicle’s door as a younger version of The Spellbinder emerged, Michael Jackson-like, with glam entourage in tow.
From there, the tapes cut to a dance floor of the 1980s, where The Spellbinder can be seen sliding across the dance floor like he’s part of the choreography for “Thriller.” Those dance floor days perhaps are behind The Spellbinder (although perhaps not). But either way, he is still about the slickest mover in this magic town, and one should not assume that his appeal is not current.
Actually, he’s quite the social-media star of TikTok, and the Magic Lounge was packed last Wednesday night with the most diverse audience I’ve ever seen inside this fake laundromat in Andersonville. They were, to say the least, under The Spellbinder’s spell.
What does he do? King studied drawing and imagery at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he tells us, and his act involves some of what he learned. Otherwise, it’s nothing wildly out of the ordinary in terms of his classic tricks, which come replete with traveling cards, pretty white doves, and lots of opportunities for audience interaction.
People were fighting to get up there with him, too, and when they arrived, they bubbled with excitement. That’s not so usual.
Back in the day on the South Side, The Spellbinder performed bigger illusions, more in a David Copperfield vein, but the Magic Lounge isn’t so much set up for sawing an assistant in half. And if the illusions on offer for the Wednesday night crowd aren’t exactly grand, they are skillfully performed to a curated playlist that clearly matters to this highly accomplished Chicago magician.
What a pleasure to see an illusionist—which is The Spellbinder’s preferred term—with so many years of experience, working a mostly young crowd, entirely in his thrall.
**Review: “Diary of a Black Illusionist” (3.5 stars)**
**When:** Wednesday nights in an open run
**Where:** Chicago Magic Lounge, 5050 N. Clark St.
**Running time:** 1 hour, 20 minutes
*Review by Chris Jones, Tribune critic ([email protected])*
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/05/review-black-illusionist-magic/
