Recap: 2026 Dent Hollywood Weekend of Magic, Mystery, and Surprise
For more than a decade, Dent conference attendees have been invited to unique gatherings that can’t be had elsewhere — a backstage visit with Teller before the Las Vegas Penn and Teller show, a dive to Aquarius Reef Base, the undersea habitat used to train NASA astronauts, and an ongoing run of Dent Dinners and meetups in cities across the country.
Earlier this month a small group of our 2026 conference registrants returned to Hollywood for the latest of these: a weekend built around magic, mystery, and the art of surprise. Here's a look back at what the group experienced.
The excursion began on Saturday morning with a visit to the Houdini Estate in Laurel Canyon, a multi-acre hillside compound most Angelenos have heard of and almost none have been inside. Denter Kristen Stavola, who manages the estate for its owners and runs We Are Laurel Canyon, opened the doors for us and walked the group through the property's strange history. Houdini reportedly stayed in the guesthouse during his Hollywood film period, and the ruins later became a quiet locus of seances and spook-lore through the '70s and '80s. (William Shatner even hosted a Halloween TV special there back in '89.)
The Houdini Estate
Saturday evening found us at The Smoke House in Burbank, a Hollywood institution opened in 1946 that sits directly across the street from Warner Bros. Red leather booths, prime rib cut fresh in their own butcher shop, garlic bread they've been famous for since Eisenhower, and a Denter connection: George Clooney loved the place enough to name his production company Smokehouse Pictures after it, the same outfit that made Argo (the film based on the story of Tony Mendez, whose wife Jonna is a longtime Dent member). The restaurant is even featured in the movie. After dinner, a quick drive over to Black Rabbit Rose, to catch the acts at the hidden magic cabaret tucked into Hollywood.
The Smoke House in Burbank, as featured in Argo
Sunday afternoon, Wes Palmer gave us an early preview of Parallax, his new immersive venue on Hollywood Boulevard. Wes walked us through the technology and the vision behind it: a 2,000-square-foot space that uses camera-based tracking to run personalized, interactive narratives for visitors. The team is doing something genuinely new with the form.
Black Rabbit Rose in Hollywood
The evening was the main event: dinner and a night at the Magic Castle, the invitation-only clubhouse of the Academy of Magical Arts. CNN said it best, the “hardest trick is getting in.” Our connections to multiple Castle members in the Dent community garnered us a private group dinner reservation. We enjoyed cocktails, close-up magic in the Close-Up Gallery, parlor sets, and the 10:00 PM show in the Palace of Mystery. Dent sommelier Greg Kisor chose the wine pairings for the dinner, which made an already memorable evening that much better.
The Magic Castle
A huge thank-you to Jon Luini, Kristen Stavola, Wes Palmer, Greg Kisor, and everyone who helped make the weekend what it was. And to the group who came along, dressed up, and brought the spirit: thank you.
How can you be put on the invite list for events like this? Registering for our annual Dent conference in Santa Fe is the door in. We can get you set up. The first step is to get your invitation to our upcoming Dent conference.