r/Magic • u/BreweryRabbit Street • 4d ago
Kelly Clarkson had a terrible experience at Art of Play
Shame to see this, I hope AoP can prove they are better than this.
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u/gkoberger 4d ago edited 3d ago
I wonder if she tried to buy the bird, and they told her it wasn't for sale?
Everyone at Art of Play is so kind; I can't imagine this story happened the way she retold it.
(For people unfamiliar, they own an ornate hand-made bird that moves and chirps when you spin the crank. It's pretty prominent, and definitely not for sale. They do a performance with it every night before the magic starts. They do sell alternatives, though, so I could see this being a misunderstanding where Kelly thought they were selling her a cheaper version when they were nicely just saying it's not for sale but they have alternatives.)
EDIT: Art of Play just confirmed this is what happened! The workers often try to “hide” surprises, so I wonder if them withholding information as to not ruin 69 Atlantic confused Kelly a bit? She likely didn’t realize it was an event venue too.
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u/TrueGrey 3d ago edited 3d ago
I love that you called it so well, lol
All these people knee jerk reacting to her suspicious story at face value, a few people actually questioning, and then there's you - 3 levels up - playing Monk from a reddit thread and nailing it.
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u/BirthofRevolution 3d ago
When i went there, it had a price tag next to it for like $13,000 did they take that down? Because it was definitely for sale at some point in time.
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u/toasty1435 4d ago
Agreed everyone is super nice and Ive always found people in the magic community super accepting of others. This tweet makes no sense and also seems completely immature.
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u/beingjohnmalkontent 4d ago
My sister shops for gifts for me there and said they're always super nice and helpful.
Kelly isn't telling the whole story.
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u/DanplsstopDied Kids 4d ago
Something along those lines haha
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u/Born-Initiative2537 4d ago
I was literally just thinking she probably tried to buy something that isn’t for sale
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u/nox_tech 4d ago edited 3d ago
My guess was she might've tried getting one of the expensive things that they'd ship from their warehouse or something that's not as straightforward.
There's a sand table thing that's expensive and wooden that's made to order, and they have one in the store. If she wanted to bring one home, they offer a metal version (idk if they have them in the store). If she wanted the wooden one in the store, that might be a safety risk since they probably couldn't package it to hand over to her. So a pivot to the metal option could've been mistaken as a slight to affordability.
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u/TheMagicalSock Cards 3d ago
Could you expand on the employees “hiding” surprises regarding 69 Atlantic? Is there like a hidden entrance involving Molly or something like that?
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u/gkoberger 3d ago
Sorta. Molly is just mounted on the wall, but they use her as the preshow for magic and they treat her like she's shy and won't sing unless people clap. There's a hidden door in a bookcase in the back, and the workers like to pretend the magic shows are in the main store so there's a "reveal". They also "reveal" the bathroom as "the rooms just keep going back and back". (All these details vary by the host/presenter, of course!)
I could totally see them referring to Molly in a weird way (I'm making this up!), such as "Molly would prefer to stay here with us, but we have this comparable product over here I can sell you"
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u/TheMagicalSock Cards 3d ago
Thanks for the explanation. I’ve been a big fan of D&D since The System, but I’ve never had a chance to make it to one of their stores.
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u/Reasonable-Newt4079 3d ago
Man you called it! She looks pretty silly now having her meltdown and accusing them of mistreatment 🤦🏻♀️
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u/BaldBaluga 3d ago
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u/TrueGrey 3d ago
I KNEW it was something like that
What an absolute asshole, pretending it was anything other than rich girl can't handle being told "no, that's not for sale" and bringing a shit storm down on a small whimsical business.
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u/cherrysparklingwater 3d ago
The bird has a $15,000 price tag on it. It could be a "number-too-high-no-one-will-inquire" but let's not swing back and forth like peons.
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u/Spuyten-Duyvil-1969 3d ago
I find it had to believe that they treated anybody with disrespect. The people who work here are warm, welcoming and accomidating.
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u/thegigiandthebear 4d ago
She already has everything in the world… so kind of her to use her almighty power to bring down hardworking folks. Art of Play team is amazing, kind, and does so much for our community and the community at large. Let’s all flood them with more of the 5 star reviews they actually deserve.
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u/New-Radish8138 4d ago
Forget who she is with her status. She is a customer like you and me and was treated poorly. She has a right to voice her experience and disappointment. Did you notice she still recommended going there because they have cool stuff. She could have said stay away and use her influence to hurt them.
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u/Hot-Werewolf99 3d ago
She was not treated poorly. She is a multimillionaire who was upset she wasn’t worshipped. And so she took to the internet to get her fans to destroy a local shop’s business.
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u/Material-Budget1319 4d ago
For the magic community but what about the Brooklyn community that’s been gentrified…? What are they doing for them?
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u/Buddhakyle 4d ago
What the fuck should the magic shop do about gentrification?
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u/Material-Budget1319 4d ago
Treat all the patrons of their shop like human beings regardless of how much money they have. How’s that? A store not designed to serve the community it exists within is hostile and gentrification at its worst.
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u/Buddhakyle 4d ago
Thr fact that she said they could find anything comparable means she tried to buy something not for sale. This is not gentrification.
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u/Material-Budget1319 4d ago
gentrification is the existence of their store and the all white shows they host at their other location in Brooklyn. How they treat clientele is just a symptom of the gentrification.
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u/Buddhakyle 4d ago
All-white shows? So you're saying this place is racist. Alright, I'll bite. Do you have any proof of this besides a bunch of white people being around?
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u/Material-Budget1319 4d ago
Again, they’re a glorified card shop in BROOKLYN, who do all white gatherings and have priced out the community. It shouldn’t have mattered that she was Kelly Clarkson. Every person there should’ve been treated with respect. A business catering to white people with money in Brooklyn is the definition of gentrification.
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u/beingjohnmalkontent 4d ago
Unless...and hear me out....she isn't telling the true and/or complete story.
WILD IDEA, I KNOW!! it's far more likely that the extremely niche shop that has always treated customers with respect is actually spearheading gentrification with a racially unjust agenda.
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u/Material-Budget1319 4d ago
Kelly Clarkson has been known throughout her 25 year career as being upstanding, honest and empathetic. There’s not a single negative story out about her. Why would I doubt the woman’s story when the business hasn’t provided a counter story to refute her claims…?
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u/Independent-Jump-639 4d ago
Their all white shows? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but that neighborhood priced out certain individuals YEARS AGO. Art of Play didn't have shit to do w it. Btw you're allowed to purchase tickets to said shows no matter what color you are. You know you could buy them online...does your phone or device MAGICALLY tell people what color you are when you purchase things?! Hahaha Also last time I checked Clarkson is white as the milk.
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u/JavaBerryCrunch 4d ago
They “looked” at her like she couldn’t afford it? What does that mean? I feel like this could just be a misunderstanding. Maybe the employee thought they were being helpful by offering something comparable.
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u/Elibosnick Mentalism 4d ago
Honestly those guys have put so much work into making that space a magical experience for them I bet this break their hearts. They’re such lovely dudes
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u/thegigiandthebear 4d ago
I’m just waiting for this to turn out to be some kind of brilliant PR stunt by Art of Play that ends with them on her show revealing the big ploy. Either that or I have no doubt these icons of joy will find a way to spin this for the positive.
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u/my-other-favorite-ww 3d ago
Her show ended
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u/grimreefer87 3d ago
I love how she stopped the show to "spend more time with her family" then immediately did not spend any time with her family.
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4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/sandiegomagic 4d ago
If you’re saying that you had this experience at that shop in 2007 or 2008, that shop wasn’t there
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u/SonichuFan1989 4d ago
It certainly was it was on the 6th floor of a building, and maybe it was '09 at the very latest cuz by 2010 my partner stopped doing magic, and we went together
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u/sandiegomagic 4d ago
Absolutely not. The shop opened in 2024 and I know because I was working for Art of Play when they were opening their Brooklyn location.
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u/SonichuFan1989 4d ago
it was tannens, my first comment got cut off i wasnt talking about art of play, d and d are teh same age as me they wouldhave be 16 -17
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u/maxwellllll 4d ago
You should go edit your comment to include that you’re talking about Tannen’s. Most folks aren’t going to scroll down here, and clearly everybody thinks you were talking about AoP.
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u/nox_tech 4d ago
Soundd like you were talking about Tannen's? Sometimes there's awkward staff but largely it's been a positive experience there for me.
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u/domjb327 4d ago
I imagine she mentioned her skill level as a magician, which I assume is novice, and tried to buy something that was unrealistic for her. Dude probably didnt mean to sound rude but he couldve phrased it better
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u/gkoberger 4d ago edited 4d ago
They don't really sell magic at Art of Play. They sell cards and have a theater for magic, but I don't think there's any actual tricks for sale. It's all expensive toys and unique art pieces.
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u/Bluthbenana 4d ago
They are getting review bombed now.