On the Job: Shop owners have the magic touch
Tom "Tom Jay" Peiritsh peddles illusions.
There's the deck of cards, with faces that appear and disappear, the stack of nickels that transform into dimes, and the tiny sponge balls that multiply in the palm of his hand.
Just don't bother asking Peiritsh, who co-owns The Cuckoo's Nest magic shop in the South Side with his wife, Linda, how he does it. He protects the secrets of his trade.
"I know it went well after the show when people are asking me questions," said Peiritsh, of Baldwin Borough, who also works as a computer programmer. "I'll usually say, 'I'll be thrown out of the magicians' union if I tell you.' "
T.J. Hill, 26, of the South Side, one of the shop's six part-time prestidigitators, puts it more bluntly.
"You go to the hardware store and you need help, you're generally not challenging the person who's, you know, helping you with your pipes," Hill said. "When the secret's told, the trick is sold."
The Cuckoo's Nest opened 32 years ago in Mt. Oliver and, after setting up shop in Carrick and Brentwood, the Peiritshes moved the business to East Carson Street in 1986. It has become a magician's dream, a one-stop shop with 4,000 items, including novelty goods, beginner's magic sets, trick decks, instructional DVDs, professional puppets and stage effects.
For $225, the shop even sells the materials needed to cut someone in half, saw and all.
"All you need's the volunteer," said Linda Peiritsh.
"And practice," her husband added.
She takes pride in a job in which no customer's request seems that unusual.
"They might describe something that's not possible, but that's not something that happens that often," she said.
The Cuckoo's Nest also has welcomed its fair share of celebrities, from within and beyond the ranks of magicians. "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson visited, as has magician and "Night Court" actor Harry Anderson. The shop has become a frequent pit stop for traveling magicians on the lecture circuit, as well as local magicians and avid hobbyists looking to wow family and friends, the Peiritshes said.
Bill Cornelius, a magician and retired boilermaker, has bought tricks from The Cuckoo's Nest for decades. For him, the store is a constantly replenished source of goods.
"It's really well-stocked, more than the average magic store. If I see an ad in a magazine, I call Linda and say, 'Can you get this for me?' and she'll say, 'I'll have it in two days,' " said Cornelius, 61, of Bon Air.
"The guys working there are just really technically skilled," said Joseph D'Alesio, a 34-year-old dentist and magician from Irwin. "It's one thing to read about a magic trick. But when they can show you ... right up close what an amazing magic trick looks like, it's worth the effort to make it to the actual store."
Tom Peiritsh knows all about demonstrating. As a magician, he has worked with a live rabbit and can make a bowling ball appear out of thin air. Though quiet by nature, he speaks through sleight of hand. And, sometimes, he's willing to share.
"(It's) the advantage of having a magic shop," he said. "To me, it's like an adult toy store."
