21 Fanciful Experiential Gifts
For those seeking one-of-a-kind gifts and terrible present wrappers alike: Give an experience instead of more stuff. Here, we present 21 suggestions, from indulgent (someone to play with your hair, a personal butler) to adventurous (nude body-painting) to surprising (adopting one of Jon Stewart’s cows). Plus, some timely, ultra-unique Star Wars–themed finds (light-saber class, a stay in Luke Skywalker’s bedroom). Find these, and 15 more ideas, in the slideshow ahead.
*This article appears in the November 23, 2015 issue of New York Magazine.
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Light-Saber Class New York Jedi offers two-hour classes during which aspiring intergalactic warriors choreograph a lightsaber battle. Oh, and BYO...
Light-Saber Class New York Jedi offers two-hour classes during which aspiring intergalactic warriors choreograph a lightsaber battle. Oh, and BYO lightsaber.
Photo: Brooks Kraft/Corbis
Nude Body Painting Get van Gogh’s Starry Night plastered onto your naked self at the city’s first retail body-painting studio.
Personal Butler A helper — somehow paid $18 per hour by this start-up — will pick up the dry cleaning, among other errands.
Someone to Play With Your Hair House-call-making Sujey Diaz will run her fingers through your scalp until you’re a Gumby of relaxation (646-626-3...
Someone to Play With Your Hair House-call-making Sujey Diaz will run her fingers through your scalp until you’re a Gumby of relaxation (646-626-3510).
Jon Stewart's Cow Adopt a cow through Farm Sanctuary, a charity Jon and his wife, Tracey, are very involved with.
A Perfect Handstand The Muse circus school offers hourlong handstand-mastering classes. No experience necessary.
A Pop-up Shop Your best friend has always wanted to open a boutique for her vegetable-based baby bath products. Here’s her chance to test it out....
A Pop-up Shop Your best friend has always wanted to open a boutique for her vegetable-based baby bath products. Here’s her chance to test it out.
A Stay in Luke Skywalker’s Bedroom It costs as much as a Sweetgreen salad to sleep at the former Star Wars set, which is actually the Hôtel...
A Stay in Luke Skywalker’s Bedroom It costs as much as a Sweetgreen salad to sleep at the former Star Wars set, which is actually the Hôtel Sidi Driss in Matmata, Tunisia. Overseas flight not included. Photo: 1996-98 AccuSoft Inc., All rights reserved
A Barbershop Quartet Quatrain, an award-winning quartet who have sung at Carnegie Hall and the Carlyle Hotel, don traditional barbershop attire (...
A Barbershop Quartet Quatrain, an award-winning quartet who have sung at Carnegie Hall and the Carlyle Hotel, don traditional barbershop attire (red-and-white-striped vests) and will delight even the Scroogiest Scrooge with their extensive repertoire of about 75 songs (“Sitting on Top of the World” is a favorite), including holiday standards (book through Steve Marrin at smarrin1@aol.com).
Photo: Lambert/(c) Lambert
Ivo von Hove Trio The director’s three New York productions: A View From the Bridge, The Crucible, and Lazarus (sold out unless you’re a New York...
Ivo von Hove Trio The director’s three New York productions: A View From the Bridge, The Crucible, and Lazarus (sold out unless you’re a New York Theatre Workshop patron, which costs $1,500). Photo: Jan Versweyveld
Lock-Pick School The set comes with four picks of varying shapes and five pin-tumbler locks (the most common design) that progress in difficulty....
Lock-Pick School The set comes with four picks of varying shapes and five pin-tumbler locks (the most common design) that progress in difficulty.
St. Ann’s Warehouse Subscription The top-tier membership includes a 15 percent discount (plus a free glass of wine) for all shows at this storied...
St. Ann’s Warehouse Subscription The top-tier membership includes a 15 percent discount (plus a free glass of wine) for all shows at this storied performance venue along the Dumbo waterfront, which just reopened after a three-year renovation.
An Extra Closet With a few clicks, storage app Clutter will send movers to pack up a closet’s worth of junk and transport it to one of its facili...
An Extra Closet With a few clicks, storage app Clutter will send movers to pack up a closet’s worth of junk and transport it to one of its facilities. When your favorite hoarder needs her majolica collection back, it’ll arrive on her doorstep in 48 hours.
A Weekend at the Raleigh Miami Beach in February A classic gift for the seasonal-affective-disordered person(s) in your life.
A Deeper Voice The top instructor at New York Speech Coaching will bring that upspeak down a few notches.
Photo: ullstein bild
Fertility It’s no 100 percent guarantee, but acupuncturist Erin Telford specializes in acupuncture sessions that can enhance fertility and increa...
Fertility It’s no 100 percent guarantee, but acupuncturist Erin Telford specializes in acupuncture sessions that can enhance fertility and increase success rates with IVF or IUI cycles by balancing hormones, improving ovulation, regulating the menstrual cycle, and relieving inflammation.
Photo: Tara Moore/Getty Images
Flipping a Table Step one: Build an Ikea table ($39) topped with a runner ($7), dishes ($20), glasses ($4), silverware ($8), and two dinners from...
Flipping a Table Step one: Build an Ikea table ($39) topped with a runner ($7), dishes ($20), glasses ($4), silverware ($8), and two dinners from Maple ($30). Step two: Invite them over for the sole cathartic purpose of flipping it—just like in the movies.
Immortality After a six-hour assessment at the Cenegenics “age-management” clinic, patients get a customized program including exercise, diet, an...
Immortality After a six-hour assessment at the Cenegenics “age-management” clinic, patients get a customized program including exercise, diet, and sometimes even human-growth hormone (Larry King’s death-cheater of choice).
Photo: Vincent Sandoval/WireImage
A Hobbit House This 400-square-foot treehouse rental in the Black Hills of South Dakota features an elfin five-foot door, round windows, and othe...
A Hobbit House This 400-square-foot treehouse rental in the Black Hills of South Dakota features an elfin five-foot door, round windows, and other Tolkienesque touches, including a selection of hairy hobbit-feet slippers, all alongside modern amenities like TV and Wi-Fi.
Photo: Courtesy of the Vendor
Extroversion Annie Lin of New York Life Coaching will help clients be more outgoing and more adept in social settings through various visualizati...
Extroversion Annie Lin of New York Life Coaching will help clients be more outgoing and more adept in social settings through various visualization exercises.
Photo: Laura Tulaite/FreeImages.com
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