🌈Magic, Mystery & a Drag Brunch Too at Poe's Magic Theatre!🎭
- Poe's Magic Theatre
- Jun 17
- 5 min read
The Blog of Poe's Magic Theatre at the Lord Baltimore Hotel
Issue 11 | May 17th, 2026
Poe's Magic Theatre: This Weekend
Welcome back to another week in which Baltimore has somehow managed to schedule approximately everything at once. Juneteenth weekend. AFRAM's 50th anniversary. The Orioles on a full West Coast road trip. And, of course, Poe's Magic Theatre, which continues to exist in cheerful defiance of any notion that a Thursday night in a historic hotel is not the correct time for astonishment.
We have a lot to cover.
Thursday, June 19
Thursday is Juneteenth this year, which means the city will be celebrating in Druid Hill Park, along the waterfront, and everywhere in between. And then, once the sun is properly down, you can come indoors to The Lord Baltimore Hotel and watch things disappear. The Magic Showcase brings together some of the best sleight-of-hand, mentalism, and theatrical magic you're going to find in the city, delivered in an intimate setting that makes the impossible feel almost uncomfortably personal. It is the right way to end a Juneteenth evening.
An extraordinary gathering of mystical masters, converging on the Lord Baltimore Hotel for one night of pure magic. The best magicians in Baltimore and beyond, under one roof, with the distinct possibility that a few illustrious luminaries may show up unannounced. It's that kind of evening. The kind where you genuinely don't know what's coming next, which is, when you think about it, exactly what magic is supposed to feel like.
TEO is the sort of performer who makes you wonder, briefly, whether you've been wrong about the nature of reality. Not in a troubling way. In the very best way. Worlds Beyond Imagination leans into nerdy, wonder-soaked storytelling that will feel familiar to anyone who has stayed up too late reading fantasy novels or arguing about games, and is, somewhat against the odds, also excellent magic. Friday night is when you should find out what that means firsthand.
Drag Brunch LIVE!
Saturday, June 21 | 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Gizele Monáe headlines alongside the very welcome return of Virya Shavasana for a Pride Month Drag Brunch that earns its own category. Burlesque performances, drag excellence, and brunch inside the Lord Baltimore Hotel. Sunday afternoon has rarely made this good an argument for itself. It's also a natural landing spot after AFRAM wraps its second day at Druid Hill Park, if you have the stamina, which you should.
Downtown Baltimore This Week
It is, as mentioned, a very busy stretch. Here is what is happening around the city.
AFRAM 50th Anniversary FestivalFriday June 19 through Sunday June 21, noon to 9 PM daily. Druid Hill Park, 900 Druid Park Lake Dr. Free.AFRAM turns 50 this year, which is not a small thing. One of the largest African American festivals on the East Coast, it returns to Druid Hill Park for three days over Juneteenth weekend, with a lineup that includes Charlie Wilson, Tamia, The Lox, SWV, PJ Morton, Chloe Bailey, and a cluster of Baltimore-born artists including Mario, Ultra Naté, and Paula Campbell. Plus African drumming, carnival mask-making, kids' programming, and local vendors. Cash only on site, ATMs not available, so plan accordingly before you go.
Juneteenth Block Party at The Walters Art Museum
Thursday, June 19. 600 N. Charles St., Mount Vernon. Free.The Walters hosts a Juneteenth block party in its Mount Vernon plaza, with live performances, hands-on art-making, gallery talks centered on the African and African diaspora collections, and after-hours museum access. A very good way to spend a Thursday evening before coming downtown.
Pratt Street Market
Thursday, June 18, 11 AM – 2 PM. Pratt Street, north side between Light and Charles.The weekly Thursday market continues, as it does, because Baltimore remains a city that understands the value of a good outdoor lunch situation.
Saturday Outdoor Workout with Merritt Clubs
Saturday, June 21, 10 AM – 12 PM. Hopkins Plaza, Downtown Baltimore. Free.Outdoor boot camp, if that is your version of a Saturday morning. Hopkins Plaza, 10 AM. You have options.
Soundbath Sundaze with Evan Hall
Sunday, June 22, noon – 1 PM. Downtown Baltimore.Weekly sound bowl and gentle yoga session. If you spent Saturday at AFRAM and the Drag Brunch, Sunday's Soundbath may in fact be medically necessary.
The Birds: Orioles Update
The O's are fully on the West Coast this week, which means late starts for those of us on Eastern time who have opinions about this. Thursday June 18 at Seattle (4:10 PM EDT) is the most civilized of the bunch. Then it's three nights at the Dodgers (10:10 PM EDT, Friday through Sunday), followed by the Angels on Monday June 22 (9:38 PM EDT). Night owl games, all of them. Plan accordingly, or don't, and just check the score in the morning like a reasonable person.
Gunnar Henderson has been doing encouraging things lately, and the All-Star voting window is open. Adley Rutschman and Henderson both deserve your votes. The All-Star ballot remains, inexplicably, a popular contest, so make it count.
A Bit of Magic History: Juneteenth and the Conjurers
Since Juneteenth falls right in the middle of our week, it's worth pausing on something the mainstream history of magic tends to quietly skip past.
The first American-born professional magician of any race was Richard Potter, a biracial man born around 1783, the son of a plantation owner and a woman who was enslaved. He built a career in early 19th-century New England that drew sold-out crowds at a time when most Black Americans were legally property. He was, by the accounts that survive, America's most famous entertainer for a stretch of years. He has been largely forgotten by magic's official histories, which is a very particular kind of erasure.
Later came Benjamin Rucker, who performed as Black Herman, one of the most prominent African American magicians of the early 20th century. Records from Magicpedia document a Black performer using the name "Prince Herman" performing at churches in the Baltimore area in the spring of 1916, though whether that was Rucker himself or another performer working under a similar name is not fully settled. What is settled is that Rucker eventually made his way to Harlem, became a major touring act, and died on stage in Louisville in 1934 under circumstances that, to be charitable, would make an extraordinary piece of bizarre theatre.
The history of Black performers in American magic is deep, and it has been deliberately difficult to locate. Records were scattered, archives were not kept, and professional organizations did not, for a very long time, open their doors. It is a history worth knowing. James Haskins and Kathleen Benson's Conjure Times: Black Magicians in America is one of the better entry points if you want to go further.
That is your week. Come see us at The Lord Baltimore Hotel. Wear comfortable shoes for AFRAM. Vote for Gunnar. And if anyone asks what kind of city schedules a 50-year festival, a magic show on Juneteenth, and a drag brunch all on the same weekend: the answer is Baltimore, obviously.
Until next week,
Vince Wilson
Poe's Magic Theatre | Lord Baltimore Hotel | poesmagic.com
The Purloined Dispatch publishes every Tuesday.
Poe's Magic Theatre at the Lord Baltimore Hotel | poesmagic.com
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