Zabar’s is planning a one-night-only event next month that’ll bring a crowd into the store after hours, with free cocktails included. It’s being put on by two lifelong New Yorkers who’ve worked with the store before, and getting in won’t be as simple as buying a ticket.
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On Thursday, Oct. 1, a group called Underground Overground Magic will stage a magic show inside Zabar’s, located at 2245 Broadway at West 80th Street. Time Out, which first reported the event, describes it as the first magic show the store has ever hosted.Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m., according to the report. Ticket holders will be able to browse the store after closing time, and the night will include both stage acts and close-up magic, with complimentary drinks served throughout. The lineup of magicians hasn’t been announced.
Now for the catch. Time Out reports that tickets are only available through the group’s waitlist. The signup form asks for your name, date of birth, Instagram handle, phone number and email, along with whether you’re interested in comedy, magic or both. The company says people on the list get first access to its biggest shows before tickets are released to the general public.
Underground Overground Magic is the second act from Ethan Mansoor and David Levine. The two founded Underground Overground Comedy in April 2021 and have put on pop-up stand-up shows in places like a laundromat, a barbershop and Katz’s Delicatessen, according to People. Mansoor told the magazine they’d been bringing magicians to their comedy after-parties and realized they had to do something bigger with them. In that July interview, Levine said the next few magic shows would include “the world-famous Zabar’s on the Upper West Side.”
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It won’t be the duo’s first night at Zabar’s. In January, Underground Overground Comedy staged a stand-up show at the store as part of a five-night run it called the Big Small Business Tour. The tour also stopped at Barney Greengrass, Veselka, Economy Candy and Russ & Daughters. Guests at the Zabar’s stop got gift cards to shop downstairs before the performance, per Time Out.Getting in the door the first time took a while. In a December report on the comedy tour, the outlet wrote that Zabar’s required a two- to three-year courtship before the team connected with the right person. Levine said at the time that a lot of people move to the city after college without knowing Zabar’s or Barney Greengrass, and that the shows “get them in the door.”
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