Merlin's Magic Dinner Theater
6 ratings since posting on Saturday, September 9, 2006
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Overall Rating  based on 6 ratings |
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This was the most pathetic excuse for "entertainment" that I have ever witnessed! I took my two daughters to celebrate my birthday, hoping it would be a fun night out for us.The food was OK, typical in a dinner/theater setting; and the rest of the staff was efficient and pleasant. Now I will start on Merlin: As he was taking orders, I asked him how long the place had been there. He gave me a disgusted look and mumbled 13 or 14 years..I don't know, then walked off in a huff. Great customer service Merlin...loved the kindness! There were a ton of kids ranging from babies up through teens. He kept cracking bad, off color jokes that barely got a laugh from anyone, and were kind of inappropriate for a show with that many young kids. Throughout his pathetic "show" (if you can really call it that), he made crude references and seemed like some sicko that you'd find on a police list, and you would tell your kids to stay away from. The "magic" he did was at the level of what a young kid could do when they got their first cheap magic kit from Santa! It felt like a bad Saturday Night Live skit...even my 9 year old said she felt like Ashton Kutcher was going to come running out and tell us we all had just been Punk'd!! To sum up this event, I spent almost $100 and lost 3 hours of my life...I can't get back either of those two things, and that is terribly tragic! Wish Merlin could use his "magic" to send me back in time so that I would have never picked up the phone and made the reservation. As final proof of how bad the evening was, I would say about half of the room got up and just walked out on the show. I have never walked out of anything, but I truly wanted to get away from this disaster! Do not, I repeat, DO NOT ever spend one cent or one minute of your time on this pathetic excuse of a dinner theater show!!! My actual rating would be around a -7 (if the scale went that low!). - Sue , posted 11/24/07 |
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I planned a special evening with my entire family (11 of us), and were extremely disappointed right away - the stage was something I would have seen in an elementary school play, the food mediocre, the magic tricks were the same tricks I've seen hundreds of times before, but done by better magicians than Merlin; and the jokes(mostly blonde jokes) were tired, and so were the wenches, not to mention the fact that they tried very hard to keep their English accents, although I've seen many a high school performance do a better job than the wenches. Merlin himself seemed to spat bitter and unfunny "jokes" about his wife getting a nice divorce settlement and it was only painfully obvious to everyone in the room that night that he was going through a divorce. His comments ("jokes") were not so funny as they were sad. they made him seem childish and nasty, though I believe he was trying to be funny. All in all, I would say, spend the extra bucks and go to a real dinner show such as Medieval Times or Pirate's dinner theater. Anything is better than Merlin...what a joke... - Martha , posted 08/22/07 |
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With overwhelming positive reviews from some obvious friends of Merlin at this website I invested over a hundred bucks and took my family on our LA road trip and was extremely disappointed. The magic show contained none of the "bigger" tricks featured on his website or brochure....it consisted of parlor magic ranging from various versions of "pick a card, any card" to making a hanky disappear by shoving it into a false thumb to the capper of the evening, the earworn "magic linking rings" (yawn). Comedy stemmed from Merlin's "saucy wenches" reciting blonde jokes while trying to keep up their fake English accents...high school drama students at best. The meal was nothing to rave about...Campbells chicken and rice soup served in melmac bowls was far from "homemade"...the ribs were tiny and not so tasty, the drinks were pricey and the whole evening consisted of Merlin taking your order, strolling backstage to turn his interlude music on and off (he desperately needed some kind of music during his show to fill the lulls!) and doing his parlor magic off a steel folding table provided by the restaurant. Save your money and go to a real magic show at the Magic Castle or enjoy the Pirates Dinner Adventure or Medieval Times down the street. The Merlin show hails itself as the best dinner show in the area...I'm honest enough to say it's true....if it's a "one block area" surrounding the tiny Rib Trader restaurant there in the city of Orange. - dave , posted 08/20/07 |
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I was also a serving wench in the early years. I even remember one New Years Eve when we caught people smuggling rum bottles in to pour in their cokes. Barb & Joseph are wonderful and Barb was my BEST Hermia in my Southern production of Midsummer Night's Dream 1993. The food is great and plentiful and for the price the show food & show can't be beat. Joseph is an amazing magician and this show kicks MT's behind. That show BORED me soooooooooooo much I could hardly speak, let alone choke down bad food and wave a lame pennant for a break away, balsa wood lance show. This is much better. GO GO GO -  Deirdre
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posted 09/12/06
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I've been there twice in the last year. The show is fantastic and the food is great. The price is better than Medieval times, and the kids will probably have more fun at Merlins. I've got some pictures of various dinner shows posted: www.renaissancefaire.net/dinne...ws.htm so you can see what it's about. - Richard
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posted 09/12/06
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Joseph and Barbara Derry are two wonderful friends that I first met at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Southern California well over a decade ago. He is a masterful and witty magician and she is his hilariously acerbic assistant. Together they have put on a dinner show for longer than I have known them at more than one venue. For years now they have performed in the banquet room of THE RIB TRADER in Orange, CA (just off the 55Fwy on Chapman, www.ribtrader.com). They also have provided many of their RenFaire friends with employment throughout the years. Many was the month that I was able to pay my rent because the Derry's put me to work and I certainly ain't the only one. Being able to help them put on this wonderfully entertaining show actually makes doing manual labor and being servile fun. I do not work there that often these days 'cause the temp computer gig is going well but I love being able to help 'em out whenever they give a holler. If you like magic, comedy, ribs, chicken, corn bread, cole slaw, vegetable soup, and booze and you are looking for a fun place to go for a celebration or just a date, I would like to wholeheartedly recommend MERLIN'S MAGIC DINNER THEATER. - Mudge
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posted 09/09/06
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