A tattoo shop on Main Street isn’t exactly where you’d expect to catch a close-up magic show. But that’s the whole trick.
Santa Monica magician-comedian-mentalist Zach Waldman is turning heads again with a delightfully absurd concept: “I’m doing magic shows in places where they don’t belong,” he tells The Sun.
The latest installment of his Wildcard Road Show unfolds Saturday, July 18 at Kiss Kiss Tattoo on Main Street. He’ll do two intimate, after-hours performances. The first, at 8 p.m., sold out in hours. A few tickets remain for a second show at 10:30 p.m.
Both gatherings are B.Y.O.B. in case you’re wondering. And don’t worry, nobody’s getting inked mid-trick.
“I am not doing this for the money,” says Waldman, who charges up to $15,000 for corporate gigs and has performed for everyone from Whitney Houston to Al Gore.
“I’m doing this because I wanted to do something to help small businesses and to promote them…and because I love Santa Monica.”
Waldman loves the city so much, in fact, that he has lived here –– in the same apartment –– for nearly 26 years. On any given day he can be found walking or biking to his favorite spots like Lula Cocina Mexicana, Jamesons Pub, Harvelle’s blues club and Illusion Magic Lounge.
His previous pop up shows have taken place within a few blocks of his home. The first, in April 2026, was at Eye Conic Gifts on Lincoln Boulevard –– a store that turns photos of customers’ eyes, lips and pet paws into artwork. The following month, amazed another audience the nearby Allen Pacheco Salon.
“What I want to do with these shows is close-up sleight of hand magic, but be able to do it with the kind of comedy I would do at the Comedy Store,” he says.
Waldman — a 25 year veteran of the Magic Castle — says most corporate performances require entertainers to be “squeaky clean” and “politically correct.” So do televised appearances like America’s Got Talent, which regularly feature magicians and comics.
“I have no interest in doing that,” he says of TV fame. “I hate the idea of art as a competition. The only show I am interested in doing in is Penn & Teller’s Fool Us.”
For now, Waldman says he is perfectly happy keeping things local — and offbeat. Perhaps next month he’ll pop up at a local pawn shop, animal shelter or inside a rental storage unit.
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