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Magician With Mask

Magician with Mask. Today, we have quite a controversial subject!

A fan of magic or not, few individuals may truly claim to have not felt the influence of the notorious Masked Magician.

Who is the masked magician?

Will get to who in a second.,,More importantly, why was his career considered to be controversial?

The last episode involving the Masked Magician would air on February 15, 2010.  Considering that the original production began in 1997, that is undoubtedly an extraordinary career – lasting an astonishing 18 years!

To put that into context, can you think of any program – barring the news or sporting channels – which have shared similar life cycles? It just goes to show that interest in the world of magical entertainment was and is highly abundant.

However, what was his reasoning?  Was it strictly for the money and the fame – or should I say, infamy?

Let us take a deep dive and learn about this pariah’s whirlwind journey.

Val Valentino

Valentino – born Leonard Montano – was a Las Vegas lounge magician.  He was described by his peers to be a “decent journeyman, but not a headliner”.

What you may not know is that Fox Television had placed a multi-year informal offer for a magic program, desperate for a performer to ultimately break the Magician’s Code. As you can imagine, they were turned down many times – despite the high wages and international exposure which they were offering.

As you can imagine, all you need is for one person to say yes. Leonard Montano was that man.

This provided him with a worldwide platform, in addition to extraordinary production budgets whilst surrounded with scantily clad models to serve as his assistants.

The studio would play up the fact that Montano would be revealing genuine closely guarded secrets: “The mask is for his protection.  If his identity were known, he’d be dead within the week. Other magicians have a contract out on him.” This statement was never confirmed, and I doubt any true professional would assign a contract for his life. But if it did, it would make for a tremendous screenplay for a film or television show!

Who would you cast in the roles? Let me know!

What did the masked magician reveal?

The majority of Montano’s reveals were of routines forged many years previously.

The production would reveal the following secrets, in no particular order:

  • A person crushed in a box.
  • Sticking a pencil through a balloon without popping it.
  • Making a Las Vegas trolley car disappear.
  • Making a person levitate and disappear.
  • Stretching his assistants like rubber bands.
  • Card tricks.
  • Make doves randomly appear.
  • The teleportation illusion.
  • How to insert a coin into a sealed can of soda.
  • How to be impaled by swords.
  • How to be sawed in half.
  • Suspending bottles of water in mid-air.
  • Russian Roulette.
  • Sticking himself with needles without drawing blood.
  • Bending a metal spoon via telekinesis.
  • Transforming a skeleton into a living person.
  • Telepathy.
  • Reconnecting two cut pieces of rope.
  • Cutting off his own head.
  • Passing through a solid mirror.
  • Surviving a guillotine.
  • Escaping Houdini’s water torture device.
  • Drinking from a bottomless cup.
  • Materialising vehicles from the seemingly thin air.
  • Playing with fire without getting burned.
  • Balancing multiple women on an assistant’s arms.
  • Changing one vehicle into another.
  • Turning a cup of coffee into coins.
  • Frozen in a block of ice.
  • Walking through a steel wall.
  • Firing an arrow through an assistant’s stomach.
  • Escaping from a straightjacket.
  • Turning on a lightbulb without electricity.
  • Bringing a dead bird back to life.
  • Pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

Long list ey?

  • Turning water into ice in several seconds.
  • Catching a bullet safely in your teeth.
  • Escaping after being buried alive.
  • Levitation.
  • A seance causing a table to levitate.
  • Walking on water.
  • Transforming a $1 bill into a $100 one!
  • Threading a pencil through a balloon without it popping.
  • Transforming fire into flowers.
  • The Zig Zag Girl.
  • Chinese linking rings.
  • Sawing a person in half.
  • The Sword Basket.
  • The Vanishing Elephant.
  • Woman in the Painting.
  • Noah’s Ark.
  • The Lady of Steel.
  • Shooting an arrow through a woman.
  • The Box of Pain.
  • The Bed of Spikes.
  • The Stretch.
  • Daggers of Death.
  • The Haunted House.
  • Bullet Catch.
  • The Mismade Girl.
  • The Guillotine.
  • The Death Trap.

This, and many more!  Quite an extraordinary array of arrows in a magician’s quiver!

Valentino explained that the revelations provided were from his own modified performances, and not directly linked to others. A pretty bold lie.

Did it ever go wrong?

Unfortunately, Valentino is but a man and obviously prone to harm.  And as you can imagine, this was not all sunsets and rainbows as this endeavour would eventually come to bite him. He suffered a freak accident at his warehouse in Las Vegas, plummeting over 20 feet!  Valentino, thankfully, survived but suffered traumatic injuries: a broken jaw, broken ribs, a dislocated knee, and a shattered knee.  Rehabilitation did not come easy, as it took him nearly a full year to be capable of successfully walking once more.

His eventual revelation would have short-term boosts in ratings, but the expected disdain from Valentino’s peers now possessed a specific target. His star would eventually fade, as the mystery of his identity was what truly made him stand apart from his peers.

Valentino earned near universal scorn from his peers for his antics, prompting him to eventually backpedal. He would go on to say that he was simply attempting to “improve the art” and that he wishes performers to come up with something new. As you can imagine, most professionals within the industry scoffed at the notion and accepted that he was simply fueled by his own financial ambitions.

Val meets his match

Renowned magician, Penn Jillette (one half of “Penn & Teller”), would describe the following:At the strip club that night, Valentino was surrounded by women whose job it was to be sitting around whoever sat down with money…Valentino thought some of the women recognised me, and he beckoned me over to his hired table full of hired women. 

“Hey, Penn, I was just telling these beautiful ladies that I was the Masked Magician and they don’t believe me.” Has any non-dipshit man ever used the word “ladies” not followed by the word “room”? But he wasn’t done. “Would you tell these fine ladies that that’s me, that I’m the star, I am the Masked Magician?” 

I stood in front of Valentino and his “ladies” (even typing that makes my skin crawl) and started listing names: “David Letterman, Deborah Harry, Picasso, Mick Jagger, Madonna, Ke$ha, Bill Clinton, Mark Twain, Tom Jones, Fergie, Salvador Dalí, Muhammad Ali, Elvis Presley, Ayn Rand, Che Guevara, Ringo Starr, Janet Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Bette Midler, Cher . . .” I went on and on, yelling over the music. After about twenty names from politics, science, and the arts, I asked, “What do all these people have in common?” Valentino and his “ladies” shrugged their shoulders…I gave them time to think, and then I yelled, “We know who they are because they didn’t put fucking bags over their heads when they worked.” Pausing for another moment and then looked all the women in the eyes, ignoring Valentino, as I said, “I have no idea who this asshole is.”

I would have given almost anything to have been a fly on the wall that night!

The final word

During an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit, Valentino revealed that at that time the Art of Magic was about to change with the information highway – the Internet. Magicians had become complacent and were not prepared for any changes that were to come. The program seemed to be the place to shake things up and get magicians talking. Sure I took some flack but it was all for a good cause.”

The artist formerly known as the Masked Magician would be sued by multiple magicians, and his membership to various prestigious guilds and societies would inevitably be revoked with prejudice.

In review, his participation in the Masked Magician ultimately proved to be disastrous to his long term prospects as a professional magician.

But what are your thoughts on the infamous Masked Magician?  Were you aware of the production’s existence?  Were you an avid watcher?  Do you think that it broke the ultimate magician’s rule, or was done in fair game?

Please do share your thoughts: I would truly enjoy a discourse of varying feelings.  And remember, there are no right or wrong answers – as long as each discussion point is done respectfully.

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Evolving Magic

It was a long time later before things got very interesting in terms of magic effect and I began to play with the inherent advantages of having a fixed lens in a fixed location. Why is this interesting you ask? This lends itself extremely well to perspective based illusions. Moreover, this type of effect is something I absolutely love, but having always performed in an in-person setting with changing variables, its never something I’ve been able to do.

What is a perspective illusion?

A perspective illusion is a visual illusion in which objects appear differently to a viewer or audience member than they actually are. This is due to the controlled viewpoint in which they are presented. So to clarify, the illusion is caused by the way our brain processes the visual information it receives.

One common example of a perspective illusion is the Ames room illusion. This is a room that appears to be a regular rectangular shape when viewed through a peephole, but is actually a trapezoidal shape. You may well have seen this at an exhibition. If you and your friend go and stand at opposite ends – one of you will look like a giant(!) And the other very small. The illusion is created by manipulating the angles of the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room in a way that tricks the brain into perceiving it as a regular shape. Super clever stuff.

My virtual set up had particular elements that lent themself well to carrying out some great perspective illusions. I also had some interesting props used throughout the show that would be an excellent feature. The development of this method was something I later developed to help me win the international competition, The Virtual Magician Of The Year held by the worlds most prestigious magic society, The Magic Circle. If you would like to watch my act, I invite you to do so, on this private link.

My future as a Zoom Magician

I think it’s safe to say I’ll never return to 25 shows a week. Nor am I sure id want to. My journey as a Zoom Magician has been life changing and connected me with client on 6 of 7 continents – many of whom I have gone on to perform in-person events for. As much as I enjoyed it however, it was exhausting, as well as initiating a slightly unhealthy relationship with performing. I was going from my living room to the studio and back – sometimes not leaving the house for days! My friend jokingly said the only way to see was to visit my virtual bunker where id be hunkered down like Tom Hanks out of castaway till the year 3000. Unlikely, but I guess who knows what we can write off these days…

That being said, I am still hugely grateful they are still a regular feature of my services. I have put in so much work as a Zoom magician and am so proud to present to people what I think is a unique and memorable show filled with mind-blowing magic. So, if you are interested in booking a virtual show, please do get in touch. I still regularly perform corporate events for the worlds leading brands and am always happy to meet clients on Zoom or Teams to show them the set up and talk them through what I can do for them and their company. I love performing as an international magician whether it’s in-person or as a virtual magician!

BAFTA Award Winning Magician
The Virtual Magician Of The Year
100+ 5 Star Google Reviews
Performed on 6 continents
Member of The Magic Circle

Don’t take our word for it…

Fergus is not only a hugely talented magician – one of the finest close up magicians in the country – but also the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. He’s one of very few I’d recommend: you and your guests will absolutely adore him

Derren Brown

What a joy Fergus was! Fantastic host, personable, and a 10/10 magician. Could not recommend enough!

Amazon

We had Fergus perform two shows in the lead up to Christmas and they were an absolute hit with everyone! The show is super engaging, polished and absolutely mind-blowing. Working with Fergus before and after the shows was also a pleasure. He’s very professional, thoughtful and kind. An all round great experience!

Monzo

Fergus performed to a packed room of 350+ M&A professionals ranging from aged 19 to 50+ and had the entire room absolutely gripped! The feedback was tremendous and he will go down as one of our all time best 'guest speakers'! Thank you and we look forward to having you back.

Deloitte

It is hard to put into words how grateful we are to Fergus for performing at our wedding. It is probably the 5th time we have seen him perform at either a private or corporate event. Each time his act varies and it’s like we see him for the first time again. He is a truly wonderful person and an absolutely incredible performer. Couldn’t recommend him highly enough.

Leah BakerPrivate Client

Fergus was our No 1 choice for our corporate global annual get together for 2020 via Zoom. When you come across a talent like this, he sets a benchmark that's grossly unattainable by others. Humble, astonishingly natural…A guy with a heart the size of the entire Magic Circle, he has EQ that's off the chart and a way about him that genuinely leaves you in awe.

Cloud Margin

Fergus preformed virtual magic shows for two corporate functions we held for key stakeholders. He was professional, charming and most importantly the magic was incredible!

AON

We booked Fergus for a virtual online event. He was utterly brilliant. The tricks were mind-blowing and it was fantastic to walk away with a couple of tricks that he taught us too! Would definitely book him again!

BT

What they say…

"Fergus is not only a hugely talented magician – one of the finest close up magicians in the country – but also the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. He’s one of very few I’d recommend: you and your guests will absolutely adore him"

Derren Brown

"What a joy Fergus was! Fantastic host, personable, and a 10/10 magician. Could not recommend enough!"

Amazon

"Fergus preformed virtual magic shows for two corporate functions we held for key stakeholders. He was professional, charming and most importantly the magic was incredible!"

AON

"We booked Fergus for a virtual online event. He was utterly brilliant. The tricks were mind-blowing and it was fantastic to walk away with a couple of tricks that he taught us too! Would definitely book him again!"

BT

"Super engaging, polished and absolutely mind-blowing. Working with Fergus before and after the shows was also a pleasure. He’s very professional, thoughtful and kind"

Monzo

"Fergus performed to a packed room of 350+ M&A professionals ranging from aged 19 to 50+ and had the entire room absolutely gripped! The feedback was tremendous and he will go down as one of our all time best 'guest speakers'!

Deloitte