Steve Spill

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Steve Spill (born Steven Spillman; San Francisco, California; 3 January 1955) is an American magician and founder of Magicopolis, [1] a 150-seat theater that opened in 1998 [2] in Santa Monica, California, where Spill performs sleight-of-hand and large-scale illusions. Spill's shows have been praised by critics, [3] [4] theatergoers, [5] feature writers, [6] families, [7] [8] tourists, [7] and magicians. [3]

When Steve Spill was young, his father was night manager of the Magic Castle. It was there that Spill met influential magicians such as Dai Vernon and Charlie Miller. [9] Prior to the opening of Magicopolis, Spill worked as a magic bartender at the Jolly Jester in Aspen, Colorado, c.1976–c.1980. Partner with Bob Sheets as "Sheets & Spill" c1978-85. Regular at Inn of Magic in Washington, DC, area 1981–85. Played Harrah's, Lake Tahoe, 1987–88. He has toured USA, South Africa (1990), the Caribbean (1993), Europe (1995), and Canada (1996). He wrote My Hands Can Be Yours (1973, 79pp), Imagine Magic (1974), Spill Bar & Grill (1980), and three cartoon booklets. On May 12, 2015, Spill's book I Lie for Money was published by Skyhorse Publishing. [10] [11]

Spill is known to magic aficionados [12] as a performer who innovates magical effects used by other magicians, such as his version of Bill in Lemon [13] and his Mindreading Goose. [14] He has been featured in industry journals such as Genii , [12] MAGIC , [15] and M-U-M , [16] and created the DVDs Ten Years of Steve Spill 1980–1990 [17] and Confessions of a Needle Swallower. [18] [19] Spill lives with his wife Bozena in Los Angeles.

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References

  1. Matsumoto, Jon (1999-01-14), "It's No Illusion: A Magic Act That's Kid-Friendly", Los Angeles Times , retrieved 2009-07-02
  2. Chambers, Cheesna (1998-09-18). "Penn & Teller christen Magicopolis". Daily Variety.
  3. 1 2 Foley, F. Kathleen (2001-06-14). "Silly 'Hocus Pocus' Does the Trick". Los Angeles Times .
  4. Kawamoto, Wayne. "Review: Magicopolis". About.com . Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  5. Miller, Mark (2005-01-27). "Couple's best trick: staying visible". Los Angeles Times .
  6. Riley, Jenelle (May 29 – June 4, 2003). "All That Abracadabra". Back Stage West Magazine.
  7. 1 2 "The Short Set: It's Magic". Los Angeles Times . 2008-02-07.
  8. "Magicopolis". TripAdvisor . Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  9. "Exclusive Interview with Professional Magician & Magic Theater Owner Steve Spill". HuffPost . 24 October 2016.
  10. "Steve Spill. This guy lies for money!". 20 February 2015.
  11. "I Lie for Money". 7 March 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Steve Spill, a conversation between his right & left brain". Genii Magazine . June 1991.
  13. "Bill in Lemon". 2008-01-21. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  14. "Steve Spill's Mindreading Goose". 2008-12-12. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  15. Caveney, Mike (November 1998). "Magicopolis Grand Opening". MAGIC .
  16. Close, Mike (August 2009). "Steve Spill". M-U-M .
  17. "Ten Years Of Steve Spill DVD" . Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  18. "Steve Spill | Magic Product Reviews". Archived from the original on 2009-06-14. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  19. Sim, Bernard (2009-02-09). "Confessions Of A Needle Swallower by Steve Spill" . Retrieved 2009-07-02.[ dead link ]