Little Rock's Mr. Magic closing after 25 years

Venerable source of tricks, novelties to disappear after 25 fun years

Jim Henson shows off a rabbit in a hat puppet Dec. 21 in his shop, Mr. Magic & Novelties in Little Rock. Long one of the nation’s largest magicians’ supply sources, the store will close Thursday.
Jim Henson shows off a rabbit in a hat puppet Dec. 21 in his shop, Mr. Magic & Novelties in Little Rock. Long one of the nation’s largest magicians’ supply sources, the store will close Thursday.

One of the nation's largest magic stores will disappear Thursday.

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The inventory at Mr. Magic & Novelties shop includes all manner of tricks.

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Mary Ann Campbell tells Jim Henson that she remembers going into a Sears portrait studio to pose for the photograph on the cover of the magazine in his hand, the International Brotherhood of Magicians’ journal The Linking Ring.

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Jim Henson has enjoyed doing magic tricks since he picked up the hobby in 1974 while looking for ways to spice up his talks about fire safety for schoolkids.

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The large inventory of Mr. Magic & Novelties will be available through a website after the Little Rock magic store shuts down Thursday.

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Mr. Magic & Novelties was a sideline for owner Jim Henson, who rose to chief in the Little Rock Fire Department before retiring in 2000.

Owner Jim Henson is closing the doors on Mr. Magic & Novelties, his Little Rock emporium of all things magic-related. Although the shop's inventory will still be available online, an era is ending.

Since 1990 -- and especially since 1995 when it moved to 8919 Stagecoach Road -- magicians and the magic-curious in Arkansas and from around the world have turned to Mr. Magic for a vast assortment of magic merchandise.

The 2,800-square-foot shop has more than 15,000 (that's three zeroes) items on display. There are playing cards and coins (of all sizes and kinds) and magic kits and ropes and balloons and dice and packet tricks and juggling supplies and props of every sort and puppets and wands and capes and scarves and magic powder and instant-appearing poles and ... on and on.

There are more than 2,000 magic books (many out of print) and more than 3,000 DVDs.

On top of every display case sit baskets and baskets of booklets and envelopes with packet tricks. It is mind-boggling. Name a magic or novelty item, they have it.

Henson says it took him six months "just to inventory everything."

But is it "the largest" magic store in the country? I have been in more than three dozen such stores from Washington to San Francisco, from Chicago to New Orleans, and none of them had even half so many items. Larry Bean of Fort Smith, who is territorial vice president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, agrees, saying, "I have visited magic shops from coast to coast, and Mr. Magic is by far the largest both in square footage and number of items carried."

But how did Mr. Magic come to be, and why is it going to close? And what's to become of all those 15,000 items? (Actually, there are more than 15,000, because there are many duplicates.)

CATCHING FIRE

In 1974, Henson had been a Little Rock firefighter for four years. As a fire marshal, one of his jobs was to go around to schools talking about fire safety and prevention. He got the idea of using magic tricks to make his talks more memorable.

Looking around for ideas, he found a magic store, a tiny vendor tucked inside The Little Barn furniture store in Little Rock. The owner, Randy Irwin, taught him several tricks and also talked him into joining a local magic club, Ring 29.

The next year, Henson joined the International Brotherhood of Magicians, with its past international president, Bill Pitts of Fort Smith, as one of his sponsors. And what good timing: The brotherhood held its annual convention in Little Rock that year. (This is the world's largest magic organization, with more than 10,000 members.)

Henson became a Ring 29 mainstay, serving as president three times over the years and leading the effort to bring the brotherhood's convention back to Little Rock in 1999.

But we're getting ahead of the story. In 1990, Henson wanted a place where magicians could gather and buy tricks locally. He was a partner in Action Bicycle Shop, a cycling store in Benton (he still rides at least 100 miles a week). His partners let him have one display case and about 75 square feet of the shop. Thus Mr. Magic was born.

(One of the first of the dozens of magicians Henson has mentored over the years was a bike-shop partner, Brad Matchett, who is now a professional magician in Virginia.)

The following year the bike-and-magic shop moved to a second location in the same complex, tripling the magic space.

Then in 1992, Action Bicycle Shop and Mr. Magic moved to the Heights area of Little Rock,

with the added benefit of a separate entrance for the magic store. Two years later, Henson sold his interest in the bicycle shop to his partners and moved the magic store to a strip center at Stagecoach and Baseline roads in southwest Little Rock.

The Stagecoach location let him expand across 1,200 square feet. But even that wasn't big enough. He kept adding more and more merchandise and needed more space. So when a clothing store vacated a three-store space next door, he moved in 1995, and has been growing there ever since -- 20 years.

The inventory that began in one display case now fills 72 cases. And on top of every display case and on the walls and on self-contained, rotating displays, there is still more.

In addition to magic, the shop carries family friendly novelties -- fun gags like Whoopee cushions, hand buzzers and fake dog poop, finger flashers and squirting flowers.

"There is close-up magic and parlor magic and stage magic and gospel magic and mentalism magic," Henson said, "and we have it all. The difference is you can see it and touch it here, and we'll even show you how it works. You can't do that on the Internet."

FAMILY AFFAIR

During the same decades, Henson advanced through the Little Rock Fire Department -- from fire marshal to captain to chief. He also was on the bomb squad. His daughter, Christy, and father, the late John "J.C." Henson, helped keep the store open, along with occasional employees.

His wife of 44 years, Brenda, stood behind him, although she was never as interested in magic as he. Their daughters, Summer and Christy, were involved in magic in the early years, but the craft only "took" with Christy.

Beginning at age 11, Christy taught magic classes, served as an officer and president of Ring 29, and for several years was on the international brotherhood's convention committee. She met Tyler Vodehnal, got him interested in magic, and they married in 2011. He also has served as Ring 29 president.

Henson retired from the Fire Department in 2000 to work in his magic superstore full time. And there you would find him, more often than not, five or six days a week.

So Mr. Magic rocked along year after year, following the philosophy "If you haven't got it, you can't sell it."

"Every penny which came in over the years," Henson said, "was put back into more merchandise. I never took any profit."

COMMUNITY OVER PROFIT

Magicians come from miles around, sometimes re-routing flight schedules to stop in Little Rock and spend the day at Mr. Magic.

Another of his philosophies was, "Don't sell some trick to someone you know can't do it."

"I would always rather make less money on a less expensive item I know someone can perform successfully," Henson said, "than to sell them a more expensive effect which I know they probably can't do."

Henson developed a reputation for generosity, charging his cost for shipping and none for handling, offering working magicians a 10 percent discount and allowing customers to put purchases "on account." But he didn't bill them, depending on them to remember to pay. Too many did not. "That's my fault," he said. "I'm too nice. I still think this is a hobby, not a business."

I asked Henson why he charges less than other magic stores. "Because," he said, "I have always considered this store as a hobby, not as a business or a living. From the start I just wanted a place where magicians could hang out and talk magic, and to buy whatever magic items they needed, at a fair price."

Several times a year he moves a couple of display cases, and Ring 29 meets there. Every other month the Junior Magician's Club meets there on a Sunday afternoon.

Or did. That's about to stop.

Besides his generosity, what else killed the walk-in store?

"There are many reasons why we are closing the store, but the Internet was the primary reason," Henson said. "It's so easy to buy on the Internet that more and more people are buying magic that way, even though they usually pay more, especially when postage is added. Our walk-in sales declined steadily in recent years, even while our mail-order sales increased.

"We still had to pay rent and utilities. I always said that if the store didn't pay the rent I'd close and go home. That's what happened."

After his 70th birthday Sept. 1, he started thinking about closing the store and focusing on Internet sales. "I thought and prayed about it. I talked it over with my family and a few close friends. It was a long and hard decision, but I am at peace with the decision, even though it hurts and I am sad about it."

Christy and Tyler Vodehnal, who live in Little Rock, will manage the online business. He is a computer specialist for General Dynamics, and she is retiring from Pulaski Academy as an English and history teacher.

So what will happen to all those 15,000 items on display in the store?

"We will put all of them in 450 big plastic tubs, all alphabetized," Henson said, "ready to find easily to mail out."

He also plans to become a trade show dealer at magic conventions. "I'll take baskets and baskets of magic items most people have never seen before, and should do well," he said. "And if someone has a big enough order in central Arkansas, I'll even personally deliver items to them."

The phone number of Mr. Magic & Novelties is (501) 455-6242, and the website is mrmagicstore.com. The website of Ring 29 is littlerockmagic.net.

​​​​​C. Dennis Schick is an assistant editor of The Linking Ring, the monthly magazine of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. He lives in North Little Rock.

ActiveStyle on 12/28/2015

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