The Magic Continues in Downtown Martinez as New Magician Takes Reins of Club
John Gardenier takes helm of California Magic Club from Gerry Griffin, who recently retired
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By Sam Richards
Gerry Griffin had been operating a magic club and novelty store for over 25 years —the past 21 years in downtown Martinez — when he decided to try to sell the club and retire. John Gardenier said he’d been talking to his longtime friend and fellow magician Griffin about that, and about Griffin having a hard time finding a suitable buyer.
“He said he wanted someone who would be in the business day to day, someone intimately involved,” said Gardenier, who has performed at the small Main Street space two or three times a year for several years. He said Griffin was considering closing the club down if he couldn’t find that right buyer.
“I didn’t want that … so we started talking,” Gardenier said.
Gardenier, 57, retired in 2018 following a 20-year career in law enforcement, first with the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office based in San Ramon, and later joining the newly formed San Ramon Police Department. While still an officer, he also performed as a magician in his free time, at private events and at clubs like Griffin’s California Magic Club in Martinez, based out of his Brentwood home working out of his car trunk, packing and unpacking six or eight times a weekend. The idea of operating his own club became more appealing.
“I told my wife (Jade) I’d really like a place where I could leave my stuff and have people come to me,” Gardenier said.
