Monday, October 5, 2026, 12:00 AM - 3:00 AM · The Philosophical Research Society, Los Feliz, Los Angeles
The Philosophical Research Society hosts a private off-site tour of magician John Gaughan's workshop and clockwork automaton collection, featuring 18th and 19th-century mechanical marvels he's restored over six decades. Gaughan has built illusions for David Copperfield and David Blaine, and his rarely-seen collection has been displayed at the Met and the Getty Museum.
A quietly mystical Los Feliz compound that feels like you accidentally wandered onto the set of a 1930s occult noir. There’s a library packed with esoteric texts, a courtyard that begs for whispered conversations, and a steady calendar of lectures that swing from genuinely mind-expanding to delightfully unhinged. Come for a talk on alchemy or Jung, stay because the energy is strange in a soothing way. It’s cerebral, eerie, and deeply LA in the most charming sense.