John George | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | June 24, 1971 Los Angeles, CA, U.S. |
| Occupation | Magician |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Spouse | Devon Renee Fancher (m. 2004) |
| Website | johngeorge.com |
John George Fancher (born June 24, 1971), known professionally as John George, is an American magician. Working professionally since 1995, John George has performed at magic venues throughout the country and abroad while winning awards in a wide variety of magic competitions.
John George was born in Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles, California, to mother Joanna Fancher and father Gary Fancher. His father was a teacher at Pioneer High School and worked part-time at Disneyland as a ride operator. John George got his initial interest in magic from his father, who would perform tricks for the family every year around Christmas. Also through his father, he was able to get free admittance into Disneyland, where he first met Dana Daniels, a strolling magician employed by the park. Seeing Daniels perform at the park and employee picnics further inspired John George's early interest in magic. [1] [2]
John George attended California State University, Fullerton and graduated first in his class with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. [2] He gave a commencement speech during his graduation ceremony. His original emphasis was on woodworking, with the goal of making magic props and illusions for magicians. Under the guidance of Frank E. Cummings III, he crafted a wooden unicycle, which he sold to Irving Lipton, owner of the largest and most famous wood working collection in the world. [3] After graduating, he worked for Carl Williams at Custom Magic, a designer of magical apparatuses for top magicians, including Lance Burton and David Copperfield. Some of the props that John George made for Custom Magic are in some of the finest collections of magic, including the collection of Robert Albo. After starting his career as a performer, John George has continued to build props for his own use.
In 1995, John George met Johnny Ace Palmer, who would become his lifelong friend and mentor. Their friendship led him down the path of a professional magician. He began his career that same year, performing at private parties, corporate events and various restaurants around Southern California. Years later, both Palmer and John George performed at Disneyland for several years. [4]
He is a member of the Magic Castle and has performed there regularly throughout his career. [2] [1] While auditioning for membership, John George met fellow illusionist Doug Brewer. [1] The pair formed a magical partnership called the Magical Misfits, performing together for more than six years at venues including the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort. [1] [5]
As a solo performer, he is still the resident magician at the Waterfront Beach Resort, where he has appeared since 1995. In addition to his regular performances at the resort, he hosts charity galas there for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. [6] He also has a residency at Warren & Annabelle's, a venue for magical acts in Lahaina, Hawaii. [7]
John George's act incorporates sleight of hand, mentalism, card manipulation, coin magic, cups and balls, levitation and Rubik's Cubes as well as comedy and crowd interaction. Over the course of his career, he has performed at the private parties of many celebrities, including Nicolas Cage, Francis Ford Coppola, Drew Barrymore and Paul McCartney. [8] [9] He also performed at the red carpet premiers of The Prestige , Maleficent and WALL-E . [10]
John George has competed and won awards in a range of magic competitions, including:
John George became a speedcubing enthusiast after watching Will Smith solve a Rubik's Cube in the film The Pursuit of Happyness . He has participated in World Cube Association competitions with the Rubik's Cube and Pocket Cube. His personal records in competition are 26.75 seconds with the Rubik's Cube and 12.41 seconds with the Pocket Cube. [13]
While attending his first competition, John George met and befriended speedcubing champion Tyson Mao, who trained Will Smith in cubing for The Pursuit of Happyness. [14] In addition to competing, John George has staffed speedcubing events organized by Mao and co-created a DVD tutorial on speedcubing with Mao: You Can Solve the Cube. [15] [16]
John George resides in Southern California with his wife, Devon. He has constructed an 18-seat theater for magical performances in his home, named The Harrington at Crescent Glen after his grandfather and namesake, John George Harrington, a battalion chief for LA Country Fire. The theater is accessed by a hidden entrance and features a castle design motif. [17]
The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle originally invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Pentangle Puzzles in the UK in 1978, and then by Ideal Toy Corp in 1980 via businessman Tibor Laczi and Seven Towns founder Tom Kremer. The cube was released internationally in 1980 and became one of the most recognized icons in popular culture. It won the 1980 German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle. As of March 2021, over 450 million cubes had been sold worldwide, making it the world's bestselling puzzle game and bestselling toy. The Rubik's Cube was inducted into the US National Toy Hall of Fame in 2014.
Speedcubing is a competitive sport involving solving a variety of combination puzzles, the most famous being the 3x3x3 puzzle, as quickly as possible. A person who practices solving twisty puzzles competitively is known as a speedcuber, or a cuber. For most puzzles, solving involves performing a series of moves, known as algorithms, that alter a scrambled puzzle into a solved state, in which every face of the puzzle is a single, solid color.
Rubik, the Amazing Cube is a 1983 half-hour Saturday morning animated series based on the puzzle created by Ernő Rubik, produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises and broadcast as part of The Pac-Man/Rubik, the Amazing Cube Hour block on ABC from September 10 to December 10, 1983 and continued in reruns until September 1, 1984. The Rubik half hour was broadcast in reruns as a standalone series on ABC from May 4 to August 31, 1985.
Shotaro Makisumi, is best known for setting several world records for speedcubing, or quickly solving the Rubik's Cube.
The World Cube Association (WCA) is the worldwide non-profit organization that regulates and holds competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as twisty puzzles. The most famous of those puzzles is the Rubik's Cube. The WCA was founded by Ron van Bruchem of the Netherlands and Tyson Mao of the United States in 2004. The goal of the World Cube Association is to have "more competitions in more countries with more people and more fun, under fair conditions." In 2017, they started work to become a non-profit organization and on November 20, 2017, the state of California accepted the initial registration of the World Cube Association.
Lars Erik Petrus is an accomplished speedcuber. He has been described as a Rubik's Cube icon and master.
Tyson Mao is an American Rubik's Cube speedsolver. He is a co-founder and a former board member of the World Cube Association, an organization that holds competitive events for the Rubik's Cube. In 2005, he set the world record for 3x3x3 blindfolded. In 2006, he appeared on the CW Television Network's Beauty and the Geek as one of the participants of the second incarnation of the reality television show.
Leyan Andrew Lo held the world record of 11.13 seconds for the fastest Rubik's Cube solve until Toby Mao in 2006 had a solve of 10.48 at the U.S. nationals competition in San Francisco. Leyan appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, where he solved a Rubik's Cube in 18.9 seconds. He also holds the former world record for the fastest blindfolded Rubik's Cube solve, at 1:28.82.
Bob Burton is an American speedcuber, most famous for competing in and organizing competitions all over the world and his former world records on the Rubik's Magic and Rubik's Master Magic.
Ron van Bruchem is a Dutch speedcuber living in Hilversum. He helped create the current resurge of Rubik's Cube enthusiasm by founding the international speedcubing community and organizing international competitions. He is also a founder, delegate and former chairman of the World Cube Association, an organization aiming at the spread of speedcubing as a regulated sport. He is also the host of the website speedcubing.com.
Tobias "Toby" Mao is a former world-class Rubik's Cube solver. Hailing from Hillsborough, California, Toby graduated from Crystal Springs Uplands School in 2007 and went on to study mathematics at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He is the younger brother of Beauty and the Geek second-season participant Tyson Mao, with whom he taught Will Smith to solve a Rubik's Cube for the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness. In 2006, Toby set the world record in speedcubing by solving the 3x3x3 cube in 10.48 seconds.
Eric Limeback is a Canadian speedcuber. He is known for his 11/11 3x3x3 multiblindfold Canadian record solve, as well as his standard 3x3x3 blindfolded solving. Limeback was the first Canadian to record a sub-30 second official 3x3x3 blindfolded solve. Limeback began solving the Rubik's Cube in 9th grade. He graduated from Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute in 2010. He formerly held the Guinness World Record for the most 3x3x3 cubes solved in 24 hours, 5800, set from 3–4 October 2013 at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada.
Feliks Aleksanders Zemdegs is an Australian Rubik's Cube speedsolver. He is the only speedcuber ever to win the World Cube Association World Championship twice, winning in 2013 and 2015, and is widely considered the most successful and greatest speedcuber of all time. He has set more than 350 records across various speedcubing events: 121 world records, 211 continental records, and 6 national records.
Anthony Michael Brooks is an American speed cubing champion. He specializes in the 2x2 cube and classic 3x3 cube, and has been officially ranked in the top five in the world in both categories as recognized by the World Cube Association. Since learning to solve the cube in March 2008, Brooks has become known for developing advanced speedsolving methods as well as frequently promoting speedcubing in the media. While working as the Liberty Science Center's Speedcuber-in-Residence, Brooks set the Guinness World Record for most Rubik's Cubes solved underwater in a single breath, and also led the team that currently holds the world record for solving the Groovik's Cube, the world's largest functioning Rubik's Cube. In July 2017, Brooks was featured on the debut season of FOX's Superhuman TV show.
The Layer by Layer method, also known as the beginners method, is a method of solving the 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube. Many beginners' methods use this approach, and it also forms the basis of the CFOP speedcubing technique.
Vincent Sheu is an American speedcuber or Rubik's Cube solver from Saratoga, California known for organizing World Cube Association competitions and setting world records in both the Fewest Moves event and the 2x2x2 single solve. He currently serves as a Director and Delegate for the World Cube Association (WCA) and has been an organizer of every annual US Nationals Cubing Competition since 2010. Sheu previously served as the first Chair of the WCA's Regulations Committee with Lucas Garron from 2012 to 2015, directing a complete redrafting of the official competition regulations and guidelines during his tenure. Recently, he has received media attention as the subject of several viral images and video clips at various college sporting events.
Kevin Hays is a former professional American Rubik's Cube speedcuber. Recognized as an expert at solving big cubes, he has won 6 world championship titles and set 21 world records across the three events. He has also set 47 North American records and won 21 US National titles.
Krishnam Raju Gadiraju is an accomplished Indian speedcuber and unicyclist. He is a six-time world record holder and the first Indian to ever set a world record in speedcubing and unicycling.
Max Park is a Rubik's Cube speedsolver who is the world record holder for the 3×3×3 single solve at 3.13 seconds and is currently tied 2nd place for the world record average of five 3×3×3 solves at 4.86 seconds, set on September 24, 2022. Park first held this record from April 23, 2017 to June 28, 2017 and was the only cuber other than Feliks Zemdegs to hold the record between September 27, 2009 and June 5, 2021. Park has also set multiple world records in speedsolving in the 4×4×4, 5×5×5, 6×6×6, and 7×7×7 cubes as well as the 3×3×3 One-Handed event. As of January 28, 2023, he has won 401 total events in World Cube Association competitions.
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