Nothing has been going right for magician/landlord Steve Wyrick this year. In recent years, Wyrick has been operating out of his own theater in the mall at Planet Hollywood. Not that anyone paid him much attention. But in July, Wyrick announced a trick called “Death Drop” to promote the opening of a new tattoo parlor at the mall. That stunt resulted in a bizarre and as yet unexplained accident in which at least one worker may have been injured. Wyrick was very vague claiming he needed to protect the secrets of magic. Whatever. His last comments to me about the accident were: “I will speak to a couple people and get back to you.” Of course, he never did.

But today I have spoken to former employees and associates of The Steve Wyrick Theater, and they are telling me that the venue has been permanently closed and most if not all of the employees let go. I have left messages with the Steve Wyrick Theatre to confirm this is accurate. No one is answering the phone there. I have also reached out to his (former) employees via e-mail and Facebook.

But it appears like Wyrick’s multimillion dollar complex has vanished more completely than any airplane ever did from his stage. This has been a slow decline for a theater that never really found an audience for Wyrick or anything else that went on there.

At one time the venue had ambitious plans offering not just Wyrick but a themed nightclub as part of a proposed magical entertainment center. Instead, the room turned mostly into a pay-to-play venue where show business dreamers (Elvis impersonators, etc,) offered up rent for a stage until they could no longer afford to do so. Some shows there of late did not even last a month.

(Photo: Sarah Gerke, Planet Hollywood mall where Steve Wyrick vanished his Theater)