Beyond the Veil: Christian Cagigal’s Witching Hour at Hotel Majestic
By Kellie Hanna
Walking into Hotel Majestic feels like stepping into the past. Built in 1902 and said to be San Francisco’s oldest continuously operating hotel, Hotel Majestic carries a storied history and a few resident guests who never left. Its Edwardian architecture, understated decor, and vintage San Francisco charm create an atmosphere steeped in mystery—the perfect setting for Christian Cagigal’s Witching Hour.
When my partner and I arrived, we were greeted by Cagigal himself. With a smile and quiet intensity, he took our names and asked us to have a seat in the Butterfly Lounge, where Mike, the bartender, was artfully mixing classic cocktails and custom concoctions.
“Tell me your flavor profiles and I’ll make you a cocktail,” Mike said when we sat down at the bar. I asked for something with bourbon, herbal notes, and a refreshing finish. Moments later, he handed me a glass filled with a basil-infused, citrusy bourbon potion that tasted like liquid magic.
True to its name, The Butterfly Lounge’s walls were decorated with brightly colored, century-old butterfly specimens and preserved insects in their original frames. Beside us hung a menu from 1907, the lounge’s opening year, a quiet reminder of the hotel’s rich and haunted legacy.
As the lounge filled with guests, Cagigal reappeared and led us into the adjacent Café Majestic, where a table was set up, surrounded by 12 chairs. Cagigal had already chosen our seats, and he sat each of us personally, working his magic before the show had even begun.
The seating arrangement was intimate, making it easy to forget we were in a larger, empty dining room. As soon as we sat down, time seemed to stop. The suspense was palpable as Cagigal stood before us with a knowing gaze, as if he were reading our very souls.
Cagigal is at once a masterful storyteller, sorcerer, and mind reader. His magic isn’t a flashy spectacle like some high-production magic shows I’ve seen. There are no grand illusions or glittering tricks of the trade up his sleeve. His is a personal, immersive, creeping kind of wizardry—one that gets under your skin and leaves you with a lingering sense of awe.
What seems like a routine card trick transforms into a silent exchange, where your choices are Cagigal’s to reveal before you make them. Objects disappear and return—or move, seemingly on their own. Unvoiced thoughts appear, scrawled on a chalkboard or a slip of paper. It’s as if a choice you made in the moment, seemingly on your own, was predicted long before you arrived.
“Typically, my theater shows aim to create a subtle, dark, ephemeral world of magic,” Cagigal told me later. “However, the world has felt very dark for many years (and not in the fun way!). I really just wanted to have a good time, do some of the more traditional close-up magic I don’t normally get to perform in my theater shows, giving people a respite from the world and the news. Of course… we still go dark by the end. (But in the fun way!)”
Indeed, we did.
For the second half of the show, Cagigal led us upstairs to room 407, said to be the most haunted room at Hotel Majestic. Legend has it that Lisa, the original owner’s daughter, refused to leave her room (now room 407) when her father sold the building and makes her appearance known to staff and guests.
As soon as we stepped into the dimly lit room, the atmosphere seemed to shift. The air was thick with anticipation, each of us wondering what we might encounter. Cagigal shared Lisa’s story, along with a few unsettling anecdotes from past guests who had experienced strange occurrences in the room.
As he spoke, he set up his final props for the night—among them a Ouija board and an antique, unsettlingly lifelike doll. As the second act unfolded, we stood spellbound as Cagigal seemingly blurred the line between illusion and the otherworldly.
We came for a magic show, but Christian Cagigal’s Witching Hour turned out to be so much more. It felt as if we had been swept into a realm where past, present, reality, and the preternatural intertwined and shifted at Cagigal’s fingertips.
Christian Cagigal’s Witching Hour: February 13th, 20th, and 27th, 7:30 p.m. Hotel Majestic, 1500 Sutter St., San Francisco.
Also check out Cagigal’s San Francisco Ghost Hunt, a walking tour of the City’s most haunted landmarks. You can catch his tours Fridays in February and Saturdays in March.
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