Reviews of Joke Shop (Costumes)

Patricia Taylor

I'm a past student of the 1st owner DON LAMB my 8th grd science teacher. He was GREAT teacher and magic show when kids did not want to listen to class. I was at his shop sometimes when I was young, lots of fun I was a clown myself. I'm in town this sunday 12/3 looking forward to stop in or at least try my heart is HaPpY tO cOmE. LoVe that mr lamb as a good person, Thank you Pat Leifer-Taylor

Donna Baumann

Very courteous staff!

Sabrina McQueen

I loved the joke shops fake throw up

Jose Lopez

Nice pranks

Jason Molitor

The magic shows during Friday Night Live are a favorite of my kiddos.

Tom Bilb

Fun and great experience

Paul Fidlin

My kids love this place and always ask to go here, and I remember riding my bike here with friends and loving it when I was a kid! John is always awesome with hooking the kids up with balloon animals/etc. Now the kids are getting into the practical jokes and love getting new gags. This place is an old favorite!

Tiffany Pease

Great product

William Wible

Very friendly, gave the kids an impromptu magic show

Peter John

I love this place. Reading though these reviews you can tell other do too. It is a fun and interactive place and the shop goes out of their way to make sure you walk away happy. I have no idea why someone would leave a negative review such as "so dum" without giving a valid reason. I can only assume that not only did they prove they can't spell "dumb" correctly but they proved they don't know how to review something properly. If they did not like them traditionally one gives a reason why. Example here are some of the reasons I like the place: 1. Easy to find (right in the middle of Main Street) 2.Friendly staff (they often show magic and have been known to give away balloon creatures without charge to customers. 3. They care about the community (they have a kid's magic club that not only learns magic but does free shows during the summer). 4. They recommend performers for private events (unlike another magic shop) they refer people to the performers and do not ask for a commission or booking fees for this service. 5. They have a complete supply of magic, balloons, comedy props, practical jokes/ novelties, wigs and make-up. 6. They have a place where fellow performers can meet up, sit down and talk about different aspects of performing and customers can often get to meet and interact with these performer. 7. They are family friendly... this means you don't have to worry about bringing in your kids as there is no "adult" (dirty) novelties to avoid there. 8. They will custom order and on occasion build or create something special that you were looking to purchase. I have been going there for the last 34 years and while it changed ownership once (recently), the spirit of the shop is much alive with the new owner. So if you have not checked it out it is a must stop in Waukesha.

Ryan Grant

Great for all kinds of party gifts or gatherings. All kinds of random cool things to keep things interesting!

Sam Sléibhín

Great shop for magic and gags. You never know who you're going to run into in this place. On more than one occasion I've walked in to see famous television magician checking out the store. Be sure to stop here if you're ever in Waukesha.

Mrs. J Roth

Interesting place. Not a whole lot to look at but there are some good practical jokester stuff to be found. The owner was nice and friendly.

Robert J. Kreckel

One of my favorite stores to visit. Friendly and helpful service. Plenty of resources for a beginner or experienced magician or jokester.

Heidi Solterman

Not much selection. You have to wait for someone to show you items, which can be a wait if there are other customers in the store.

Tamara Cantner

Friendly place... not much to choose from.

Bryan Kujawa

Great place. Used to come here as a kid to stock up for my magic shows. Now I'm a teacher and I perform "Monday Magic" for my students. I still return from time to time to restock on smaller tricks. Staff is always friendly and knowledgable. Clean place. Ok prices. Update August 2016, everything is still true from what I wrote above, however I have some additions to my review. First, prices are a bit high. I understand the Joke Shop needs to make a profit, but many other magic dealers are selling the same products at fractions of the cost. Second, I have bought two "bottom of the barrel" products from Joke Shop. What I mean is they are the last in stock and look like they haven't been dusted off in some time. Yes, I did still by them, but the quality of some products sold could be improved.

Lisa Budnick

Good tricks

Jim Urbas

Great place for all kinds of joke, gag and magic gifts

We Cell Marketing

Truth be told, my fiancee goes in here on a regular basis and buys fart bombs and horrible tasting candies. I hate the fart bombs, they're extremely potent, so I guess they sell quality stuff! lol

Joker Malikus

Awesome place to buy tricks

Andrew Behne

Great shop with incredible service

Mary Gonzalez

So dum

Peter John Lindsay

Love this place. Magic, wigs, jokes and more... What is there not to love?

jeff long

Cool place helpful staff

Jim Mitchell

great jokes and Magic! Helpful staff!

John Holtz

I remember riding my bike here as a kid. We would buy stink bombs and other fantastic stuff. So glad they are still up and running

Daniel Gross

We went to the Joke Shop to check out juggling materials. There really wasn't anything beyond very basic beginner items. Signs everywhere said don't touch, or talked about shoplifting. Items were in opaque drawers that said something like "noses - staff only." Posters of traveling magicians were around the store, often signed or personalized to what appeared to be the owner. Remnants of a balloon twisting session, and a trading card game were left out. A guitar was out, perhaps a jam session or in preparation for the Friday Night block party held there in the summer. Overall, the store appeared to perhaps had closed in 1980, and opened for the first time yesterday, even though we know that isn't the case. As we walked by half an hour later, two young kids and their mom emerged giggling with hand buzzers they purchased - a great classic, but hardly enough to keep the store open. I would love to support this kind of business. But it has to separate itself from the antique ("resale") shops nearby full of old junk, and online Amazon's cheap, fast, but very sterile style that doesn't care what you're looking at, as long as you buy. There were tons of VHS and DVD on display and sale. Put them to work! They likely may never sell, so have them playing in store. Clean up everything and remove the dust. Touch every item in inventory at least once a month. Make it visible to customers. Find a way to protect your inventory, but still let customers see and touch the products. Create a theme or featured area and put it all out there - a particular magician, small table toys and games, stocking stuffers, juggling, Yu-Gi-Oh or whatever card game you were playing, just things to engage and get customers to return. When you're open, maybe something that spills out onto the sidewalk like the silk flaming kettles, or some kind of magician, juggler, costuming prop on the sidewalk asking passers by to "come in!" This was maybe our 4th visit? The first time the store had been open. The hours are short, and we found it often closed for other reasons even during those hours. The hours are different from other similar businesses on the block.

Ally G

I’ll tell you a funny joke they aren’t open when the hours say they are (even the updated hours)

Jim Myers

I like the mystery bags.

Chris C. Severson

One of the best places to learn about magic and jokes. I now travel the world working in the magic industry because this place fueled my interest and now love of magic.

Jeremy Hahn

My Dad sent me here long ago to start my road to learning card magic. It's a great store, lots of stuff. Highly recommended. Well worth navigating the maze of streets to find it. :)

Alex u

Historical and fun place! An anchor in the community.

William Dossett

If they don't have it they will get it

Michael Joseph

Very friendly group, great selection of magic and novelty items.

Ivelisse Valle

It ok

Davis Jaspers

Had a great time picking up some new tricks. Worth the drive if your out of town

Carol Sroka

They everything you need to do magic tricks

David Clark

A Waukesha institution. It's a fun place that's not much on decor. I've often wondered how they make a go of it, but this place has been around for ages. Changed hands a few years back, but the vibe is the same.

Cam Ava

You can find a lit of cool things here and it just a really friendly environment