Magician Andrew Evans likes to use two words in particular — “homegrown” and “hand-built” — to describe his insanely popular, yet still under-the-radar, speakeasy of tricks, The Magic Patio at 3264 Mission St.
The show did, in fact, grow out of his home: He began performing on the back deck of his Mission Street apartment in 2014.
The stage, built in his backyard, was oriented so that “the rest of the building could come up to their balconies and watch the show, like unofficial box seats,” he recalled.
That era of The Magic Patio is honored in artwork by Kelly Schmutte that graces the cover of the programs and adorns the entryway of the current location.
Today Evans is selling out three shows a week, often weeks in advance. He recently added a family matinee to the mix. The designer-turned-magician calls The Magic Patio “San Francisco’s best-kept secret.” He’s never spent a cent on advertising, and has had little news coverage in the decade-plus of operation, but that hasn’t stopped his success.
“The whole thing almost accidentally took on a life of its own,” he said. “It went from being one weekend a summer to one weekend a month, then to an every-other-weekend kind of thing.”
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