There’s more on offer at the Checkered Past Winery than good food and wine. In the historic South Side on Lamar building, you’ll find a magic show that turns date night into an enchanting evening.

Magician Trigg Watson has been performing at the Checkered Past Winery for close to a year now. Naturally, as we were in a wine pub, it was only fitting that his first magic trick involved wine bottles and a wine glass.

Watson’s shows are limited to 45 people, which creates a more intimate setting and really lets you have a close-up view of the tricks he is performing. And he does an incredible job at involving his audience. During the show, Watson might hand you an object. Be prepared: at some point you will be getting called up on the stage to help him perform a trick. He also uses a camera that projects the video image onto a TV screen to give the crowd a closer look at some of his tricks.

As the show goes on, you learn about different things in Watson’s life that contributed to his career as a magician. He tells you about the different places he has performed: for from friends as a kid, and fraternity parties when he was in college, to cruise ships and the wine pub. His magic shows are full of funny moments and he will keep you laughing throughout the entire evening. After the show you have the chance to meet Watson, take pictures and chat.

If you are interested in attending a Trigg Watson show at Checkered Past Winery, you better grab your tickets now. He has sold out every show this year so far. The good news is that Trigg has added show dates on August 10^th and 11^th, September 29^th and October 20^th. Each date has the choice of a 7pm or 9:30 pm show. The tickets are only $20 for a magical night so, come thirsty and enjoy the magic!

Checkered Past Winery

Once you walk in the door of this urban winery, the friendly staff will greet you—or maybe even the co-founder, owner and winemaker Sandro DiSanto. The laid-back winery is decorated in a Mods and Rockers theme with scooters hanging from the ceiling and as artwork on the wall. The wine pub serves a variety of wines, from their own brand and Texas wines, to wines from around the world. You can order by the glass or bottle and there are some tap wine options as well a selection of local craft beer options.

We had the Checkered Past Winery’s viognier and syrah. I am a white wine drinker so I really enjoyed the viognier, which I would recommend to anyone who enjoys chardonnay. I also enjoyed the Syrah. The food menu includes boards, flat breads, small plates, spreads and dessert. We tried the Red Pepper Hummus, which was absolutely delicious and I would highly recommend it. Along with the hummus, we had the Rudi’s Double Meat Flatbread, with hot capicola, pork salami, marinated tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. The flatbread was delectable as well and was something different than most I’ve had. To finish off the night we tried the cheesecake that was topped with a cherry sauce and chocolate drizzled on the plate. Just like everything else we tried, it was very appetizing.