BUENA PARK, California, USA, October 1, 2026 — The Magic Castle has taken over one of Southern California’s most storied small stages for the Halloween season. Occultum, a new magic show curated by the Castle, is running on select nights through October 31 at the Bird Cage Theatre during Knott’s Scary Farm, now in its 53rd year.
Rudy Coby, a resident magician at the Castle, is curating the show. Coby performed at Knott’s in the early days of his magic career and credits the park with helping him get his start. Coby told Conjurly, “I’m excited to come back to where it all began for me 35 years ago!”
Coby’s own work is a natural fit for a haunt. As Labman, his mad-scientist alter ego, he built his career on the Four-Legged Man, a routine in which he strides onstage on four legs and removes the extras with a chainsaw. He took the character to two Fox specials in the mid-1990s, Rudy Coby: The Coolest Magician on Earth and Rudy Coby: Ridiculously Dangerous, and has collaborated with Marilyn Manson since 2003.
Several of the acts on the bill work in the same dark register. Dan Sperry bills himself as the Shock Illusionist and the Anti-Conjuror, pairing a goth look with stunts like swallowing needles. Rob Zabrecky, a regular at the Castle since 2002 and a medium in its Houdini Séance Room, plays an unsettling deadpan character that Magic magazine once likened to Norman Bates. Kevin James, known as The Inventor and for signature pieces that include sawing an assistant in half with a chainsaw while both halves keep moving, headlines Halloween week.
Sperry, who kicked off the season, told Conjurly, “Getting to work at Knott’s Berry Farm was a bucket-list gig, and I immediately said yes. When I was told it would be part of Knott’s Scary Farm and the Occultum concept, that made it even better. It’s a huge honor to be part of the cast representing the Magic Castle in this collaboration.”
The lineup changes weekly. Sperry opened the run September 17 through 19, followed by Zabrecky September 24 through 27. Georges-Robert performs October 1 through 4, Coby October 8 through 11, Johnny Ace Palmer October 15 through 18, and Dana Daniels October 22 through 25. Kevin James closes the season October 29 through 31.
The Bird Cage opened in 1954 as a replica of the 1881 Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone, Arizona. For more than 70 years it operated inside a temporary tent structure, and for more than four decades it was home to audience-participation melodramas in which crowds booed the villain and cheered the hero.
The stage helped launch a number of careers. Steve Martin, who as a teenager also demonstrated tricks at Disneyland’s magic shop, landed his first real acting job at the Bird Cage at 18 and performed there until he was 22. Other alumni include Disney film star Dean Jones, Lauren Tewes of The Love Boat, Skip Young of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and Kathy Westmoreland, who performed alongside Elvis Presley during his concert years in the 1970s.
The theater reopened March 13 after its first full overhaul. It is now a fully enclosed, air-conditioned building with new lighting and sound treatment, and the renovation restored bird cage–themed wallpaper that had been hidden behind wood paneling for 50 years.
Occultum runs about 30 minutes, with several performances each Scary Farm night. It is included with Knott’s Scary Farm admission, which is ticketed separately from daytime park entry. Tickets start at $65 and are available at www.sixflags.com/knotts/scary-farm-tickets.
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