Holy City Magic, the intimate magic theater and bar located on the peninsula, on Tuesday announced that they will be permanently closing their doors at 49 1/2 John Street on December 21st.
Owner, magician, and mentalist Howard Blackwell made the announcement on social media, writing:
"After four years as a staple in the Charleston entertainment industry, we have decided to close our doors with our last show being held on December 21st. With the fairly recent updates to liquor liability insurance requirements mandated by the state, small businesses across the state who serve alcohol are being put into extreme binds and many are being forced to close. This year at Holy City Magic, our insurance rates were raised 1,000% for the sole reason that we serve beer and wine in our little theater. While our business is profitable, this drastic increase made a small business like ours have rethink our overall business strategy. We could have drastically increased prices or close our doors and look back at our business as an amazing adventure and move on. We decided to choose the later. Our business journey has suffered through a pandemic, riots and the occasional bad one-liner from the stage, yet we have grown through all of this. I could sit back and focus on the politicians who pushed for this ridiculous legislation or the fact that South Carolina is just not a small business friendly state. But, I am choosing not to do that, I will be focusing on the thousands of people we have entertained over the past four years and the thousands of people we were lucky enough to meet, work with and put smiles on their faces.
We will continue to operate as normal, enjoying all of the company Christmas parties that you all can throw at us and on December 21st, we will have a great send off. For me, I will focus on my corporate shows and larger theater shows (we are already booked for our own London West End Show in February). Our theater manger, Gogo has partnered with a firm from Las Vegas to bring his amazing magic to many people around the world. Our bartenders, Seth and Wes will still grow in magic as we will all remain life-long friends. So, in the mean time, book your tickets and come to see us this fall. I truly want to thank all of the people who have helped us on this journey, from our business partners to our amazing families and the countless guests who have graced our doors the last four years.
And as Dolly Parton once said, 'If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.' So, we are starting to pave our new roads and are excited to bring our magic to many more people around the world."
You can purchase tickets to the final shows on Holy City Magic's website.
