By Sarina Trangle
Few bars advertise their services with beverages flying through the air or accessories catching fire.
But that is how Rogue’s Magic Bar made its foray in Rego Park.
Roger “Rogue” Quan gave the watering hole’s first performance Feb. 28, beckoning a crowd by turning a rainbow scarf into a black shawl with a shimmy and extinguishing a flaming stick in his mouth.
Spectators scrambled to snap photos and record videos on their phone when Rogue held a copy of a daily newspaper above a diner’s head and poured a bottle of water into it. None spilled onto the table below.
Rogue, 35, and his fiancée Paulina Gonzalez, 27, formally opened Rogue’s Magic Bar on the second floor of Red Panda Asian Bistro, at 92-25 Queens Blvd., last Friday.
The Briarwood couple describe the bar as a Las Vegas-style venture featuring nightly magic shows, bartenders trained to perform illusions such as serving levitating drinks and a slate of stiff beverages.
“Every adult has a little person inside of them. That’s what this is for,” Gonzalez said. “It’s bringing a little Vegas to Queens.”
Rogue said he has cultivated a talented network of comedians, musicians and magicians while hosting weekly shows at his Rogue Magic and Funshop in Elmhurst.
He plans to tap into that scene to keep the crowd coming to the stage at Rogue’s Magic Bar.
The couple said Mondays would be an open microphone night and “talented Tuesdays” would reserve the stage for veteran performers.
Rogue’s magic bar would host a ladies’ night Thursdays and “a freaky” Friday event for adults.
On Saturdays, the bar would offer family-friendly entertainment. The weekend would conclude with barmaids incorporating magic tricks into dance routines Sundays.
“We want to make it a different experience every time you come,” Rogue said.
Rogue’s Magic Bar plans to keep the enchantment flowing from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. every day but Wednesdays.
The drink menu consists of $4 to $5 beers and wine for up to $7 a glass.
Rogue’s Magic Bar is working on acquiring its liquor license, but has already begun planning a cocktail menu.
Gonzalez said she plans to serve up rainbow shots that change color as the cup is tilted and sleeping beauties, a Hpnotiq Liqueur beverage with blue liquid on the bottom and pink floating at the top.
Revelers may order a beverage named after the master magician, but the Rogue — a Long Island iced tea-inspired mix of several liquors topped off with flames — is not for the light drinker.
“Every kind of liquor you can think of, it’s in it,” Gonzalez said.
Mixed drinks cost up to $12.
Reach reporter Sarina Trangle at 718-260-4546 or by e-mail at strangle@cnglocal.com.
