Inside the Magic: Nathan Coe Marsh Lecture at The House of Magic, Glenside

At The House of Magic - 101 S. Easton Rd in Glenside, Pennsylvania, an intimate theater fills with focused energy when Nathan Coe Marsh takes the stage. On September 3rd he delivers "Duct Tape and Magnets," a working lecture that strips back the performance veneer to reveal practical routines and the creative processes behind them. If you travel for craft and close-up precision, this evening is a concentrated clinic in professional material and real-world problem solving.

The room itself is compact, with audience seating angled toward a low proscenium and a close-up zone where volunteers directly test the work. Expect demonstrations of the Transported Deck variant tied to the Invisible Deck, an astonishing signed-coin-in-bottle in which a participant holds both objects, and a 16–20 minute Test Conditions Bill in Orange—Marsh’s long-polished comedy-magic centerpiece. These are shown as functioning tools, not mere curiosities: methods, timing, and presentation are explained so you can adapt them.

Marsh has logged more than twenty years as a working pro, touring trade shows, casinos, cruise ships, and theater rooms across the country. That experience shapes his lecture approach: pragmatic, frank, and geared toward immediate utility. You’ll learn estimation techniques, psychological forces, and staging moves that make effects reliable in less-than-ideal environments. Several pieces are being shared for the first time; performance rights may be reserved, but the lecture reveals the thinking and mechanics that produced the routines.

Bring a notebook, a volunteer attitude, and an appetite for solutions. The venue’s intimacy makes the lessons on timing and crowd work especially clear—attendees often leave with a new opener, a routinable effect, or a framework for building original material. Tickets are available via the event link and doors open at 7:00 p.m. for a 7:30 p.m. start. The House of Magic sits on Glenside’s small commercial strip, so pre-show coffee and post-show debriefs are easy nearby. For out-of-towners and working performers, this lecture is high-return learning: an evening that trades spectacle for craft and hands you specific pathways to upgrade your act.