Michael Ammar | |
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| Born | June 25, 1956 |
| Occupation | Magician |
| Known for | Magic and Magic Training |
| Website | http://www.ammarmagic.com/, http://www.michaelammar.com, http://worldsgreatestmagic.com |
Michael Ammar (born June 25, 1956) is an American close-up magician. [1] [2]
Ammar was born in Logan, West Virginia. His father's background was Syrian,
Ammar earned a degree from West Virginia University in business administration in 1978. [2]
In 1982, Ammar competed with magicians from 30 countries to win first prize ex aequo with Aurelio Pavito in Close-up Magic at Lausanne, Switzerland. [3]
During the 1980s he developed a close friendship with his mentor, Dai Vernon ("The Professor"), whose influence is apparent in Ammar's performances.[ citation needed ]
Ammar was the magic week finale on Late Night with David Letterman in 2010 and has made multiple appearances on The Tonight Show. [4] He moved to Los Angeles - where he became a regular performer at the Playboy Mansion, and made appearances on the Merv Griffin Show, The Tonight Show, CNN, and Travel Channel.[ citation needed ]
Ammar appeared at the Magic Castle in Hollywood.[ citation needed ]. By 1990, the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood had awarded him its "Oscar" in six separate categories (the maximum number of awards for which he is eligible). [2]
He appeared on NBC's 1998 "Worlds Greatest Magic 5" special, [2] and has been a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman.
Ammar has made private performances at Universal Studios and the Vatican.[ citation needed ] He performed and coordinated the magic talent at George W. Bush's Presidential inaugural banquet. [2] He was the first featured performer at the "Caesars Magical Empire" at Caesars Palace.[ citation needed ]
Ammar has performed on television in England, France, Canada, Japan, Sweden, Norway, Australia and Russia. [2]
Ammar's work includes the popularization of Topit, with his refinement of Topit technique and inspired a number of close-up magicians to adopt it. He has written "The Topit Book" and made "The Topit DVD".
Ammar has been lecturing to other magicians since about 1982. [1]
In 1999, Magic Magazine named Ammar as "One of the Most Influential Magicians in the Twentieth Century". [2]
On August 26, 2010, Outside cited Ammar as the "go-to source" for magic instruction. [5] The magazine published a list of "100 Things to Do Before You Die", and numbered 45 as "Learn a magic trick"—suggesting studying with the master, Michael Ammar. [5]
The cups and balls is a performance of magic with innumerable adaptations. Street gambling variations performed by conmen were known as Bunco Booths. A typical cups and balls routine includes many of the most fundamental effects of magic: the balls can vanish, appear, transpose, reappear and transform. Basic skills, such as misdirection, manual dexterity, sleight of hand, and audience management are also essential to most cups and balls routines. As a result, mastery of the cups and balls is considered by many as the litmus test of a magician's skill with gimmick style tricks. Magician John Mulholland wrote that Harry Houdini had expressed the opinion that no one could be considered an accomplished magician until he had mastered the cups and balls. Professor Hoffman called the cups and balls "the groundwork of all legerdemain".
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Harry Lorayne was an American mnemonist, magician, and author who was called "The Yoda of Memory Training" and "The World's Foremost Memory-Training Specialist" by Time magazine. He was well known for his incredible memory demonstrations and appeared on numerous television shows including 24 times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. His book The Memory Book was a New York Times bestseller. His card magic, especially his innovations in card sleights, is widely emulated by amateur and professional magicians.
Jeff McBride, also known as "Magnus", is an American magician and magic instructor. He is known for his sleight of hand skills and specializes in the manipulation of playing cards, coins, and other small objects. His stage performances blend elements of kabuki, a Japanese theater form, with traditional conjuring. He has been recognized by the Academy of Magical Arts, the Society of American Magicians, and the International Federation of Magic Societies. He has also has set several Guinness World Records.
Tony Slydini, simply known as Slydini, was a world-renowned magician. His mastery, expertise, originality and innovative approach to close-up artistry magic, earned him a legendary reputation in the magic world. He traveled the world performing for the public as well as performing and lecturing fellow magicians. As a result, he served as an inspiration to generations of well-known magicians, celebrities and entertainers, including Doug Henning, Dick Cavett, Bill Bixby, Ricky Jay, David Copperfield and countless others. Although he was best known as a master of close-up artistry, he continually demonstrated an extraordinary performing ability and during his lifetime was responsible for a long series of books, films and publications highlighting his mastery of the magical crafts. For his work, he received the highest honors that his profession could bestow, including both the coveted Masters Fellowship Award and Performing Fellowship Award from the Academy of Magical Arts. During his lifetime, Tony Slydini was inducted into the Society of American Magicians Hall of Fame as a Living Legend.
John Carney is a professional sleight-of-hand artist, author and comic actor. He won various awards from the Academy of Magical Arts, including "stage magician of the year", "close-up magician of the year", and "parlour magician of the year". In 1988 and 1991, he won first and second place, respectively, in "micro magic" at the world Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques championships. Carney studied under sleight of hand magician Dai Vernon.
Lee Asher is a close-up magician noted for originating new card tricks and hypnotic sleight of hand moves. He is considered an expert in playing cards, and as a collector is especially known for his work with 52 Plus Joker, the American Playing Card Collectors Club, of which he is the serving President. He has served as a magic consultant for professional magicians such as Greg Frewin.
Johnny Ace Palmer is an American close-up magician. He is famous within the worldwide magical community for his prodigious sleight-of-hand abilities.
David Roth was an American magician widely regarded as one of the world's greatest coin magicians. Roth was an important contributor to Richard Kaufman's Coinmagic, an influential text on contemporary coin technique; his major work was chronicled in David Roth's Expert Coin Magic, a book written by Richard Kaufman. Roth was associated with Fantasma Magic, a magic manufacturing and retail company in New York City before going to work for the Conjuring Arts Research Center during the last decade of his life.
Whit "Pop" Haydn is an American magician, and the winner of seven performing awards from the Academy of Magical Arts. He has been nominated by his fellow members for "Magician of the Year" in Close-Up, Parlor and Stage, Bar and Lecturer more than thirty times. In February 2006, he also became Vice-President of that organization, and served for four years in that capacity.
Daniel Sylvester Battagline, also known as Sylvester The Jester, is an American magician, best known for playing a cartoon character who comes to life. He has had hundreds of stage and television appearances, including NBC’s "World's Wildest Magic," ABC’s "Champions of Magic III", Jerry Lewis's Muscular Dystrophy Telethon and The Discovery Channel’s "More Science of Magic." He has performed in multiple Las Vegas shows including opening for The Amazing Johnathan, and appearing at Caesar’s Magical Empire. He also produces a series of magic products, and has been credited with creating the illustrations for various magic publications, such as the cover for The Amazing Johnathan's Every Trick in the Book, and the poster for John Carney's "Mr. Mysto" act. In 1996, he also created a prop for the television show, "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch." He has been featured on the cover of several magic and culture-related magazines, such as the September 1998 issue of Magic.
Kevin James is an American magician, known for creating several unique magical effects, such as the "Floating Rose" which is performed by David Copperfield.
A Topit is a pocket installed inside a jacket used by magicians to dispose of objects secretly. It plays a similar role in the magician's toolkit to pulls, holdouts, servantes, and techniques such as sleeving or lapping. While the original Topit booklet by Patrick Page was put out by Lewis Davenport Ltd. in London decades ago, it was Michael Ammar who popularized the Topit with his refinement of Topit technique and inspired a number of well-known close-up magicians to adopt it.
Daryl Easton, known professionally as Daryl and born Daryl Martinez, was an American magician based in Las Vegas. In his marketing he used the self-proclaimed title of "The Magician's Magician". Daryl usually went by his forename only.
Margo is the screen and stage name of Margo Timon, a magic performer and actress who had a starring slot in the NBC network television special The World's Most Dangerous Magic II. She worked with the duo The Pendragons.
Karrell Fox was a 20th-century American magician and television performer.
Lu "Louis" Chen is a Taiwanese magician and is credited to be the only Taiwanese magician to perform in Hollywood's Magic Castle, commonly referred to as China's most renowned magician. Lu Chen has worked in television industry for over 20 years and has been considered as an iconic magic figure in the Chinese world. His TV shows has been seen by more than a billion viewers in Asia. In 2011 he was awarded “The Magician of The Year” by The Academy of Magician Arts. He graduated from Soochow University with a degree in Japanese literature.
Richard J. Kaufman is an author, publisher, illustrator, and editor of books and magazines in the field of magic and amateur magicians of noted skill.
David Williamson is a professional sleight-of-hand artist, magician, and author. David Britland of Genii magazine called him "an exceptional stage performer" and "a magician who changed the way we do magic." He was named Magician of the Year in 2017 by the Academy of the Magical Arts, and was named an Honorary Member of prestigious British association The Magic Circle.
Bruce Cervon was an American magician who was best known for his close-up magic, both through performance and invention. He published a series of books and helped to create a permanent record of the magic of Dai Vernon through The Vernon Chronicles, and Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks.
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