Behind the scenes with the Amazing Johnathan
By LEN BUTCHER
Every so often I like to sit down with one of our entertainers just to give you an insight into what they're really like. A few weeks ago I had the chance to join the Amazing Johnathan in his dressing room after his show at the Sahara. A very funny show, by the way, considering this guy, by his own admission, sucked at magic.
"Yeah," he says, laughing. "My magic was lousy." He tells about the last time he ever performed serious magic. It was during his senior year in high school. "All of my friends, relatives and family were there. I did six tricks and all six went wrong. It was like God was watching my show and having a blast with it, as though He had rigged everything up against me.
"For my grand entrance, I came on stage wearing a cape and looking like a white-faced mime. I threw my arms out in a gesture and a big explosion was supposed to happen as I did that, but nothing happened. I tried throwing my arms out again and still nothing happened. I did it a third time and still nothing... So there's the audience, watching this idiot throwing his arms out in the air over and over again and I'm sure they're thinking, 'what is this? Is he saying hello?'"
His second trick with a girl in a box was even worse. "I started putting the swords through the box and she said, 'I have to get out, I have a leg cramp.' I pleaded, 'No, stay in the box, we're almost finished.' But her legs were cramping and she had to get out. When she stood, the box fell apart, a mirror broke and there she was, just rubbing her legs."
Hard to believe, he said, but it went downhill from there. "I stepped on a dove and killed it. I tried to do a guillotine trick with a girl and in the middle of it, the lights went out, the stage went dark and the girl got hurt. That very night I swore I'd never do serious magic again and I never have.
This disaster made him flee his hometown of Detroit and head for San Francisco, where Johnathan had heard there were a lot of street performers. That was where he met Harry Anderson (the judge on the TV series Night Court). "He took me under his wing, helped me with my act and taught me how to make money with it. It was Harry who told me to add comedy to my act. Harry was great and I thought, 'Wow, that's what I want to do'."
The gory part of his act that became a signature trademark for Johnathan in the early days came about, he said, "when I was eating razor blades’Äîa trick Houdini used to do. A guy came up to me, handed me a blood capsule and suggested I try it to see how the audience reacted. So I was eating razor blades and blood was gushing out of my mouth. The crowd went nuts and doubled in size just from seeing that. It's like watching a car accident. Crowds of people gather just trying to see some blood and gore. I put more and more blood in my act, more violence and more shocking stuff.
"I think it all worked well because there's only half a dozen people that have the correct blend of comedy and magic. My sense of humor is a little bit off and there are a lot of people with that same sense of humor, so I've found a niche for people who really like that crazy, dark side of magic and comedy."
It is a life he has enjoyed and the only job he's ever had. "I've never held any other sort of job. My father started out as a cartoonist but then got locked into a job he hated all his life. So he always told me, 'go out there and be a magician or be whatever you want, but don't get locked into a job.' It was a good choice."
Johnathan has also become quite a collector of cars, and he shared the reason why he started this hobby. "My first was a '57 Porsche Speedster. I'd bought it for my wife the day she left me. We came back from a trip and I'd had it wrapped in a bow and ribbons, waiting for her in the driveway. I said, 'See what I got you for Valentine's Day?' She said, 'I'm leaving you. I'm going back to Australia and I want a divorce.' She left that day. But I kept the car, so it was a good trade-off.
"That's what started me on cars. I'd drive that car around and when I wasn't thinking about driving off a cliff’Äîwhich is what I had on my mind most of the time’Äîpeople would stop me and ask about the car, so I thought that was cool. I now have a total of 21 cars and I have them stored in a warehouse. I don't buy and sell them, although they've turned out to be good investments and I could do that. But I just buy them and I drive a different one almost every day."
Johnathan recently did another special for Comedy Central. "When the network discovered that I was one of the top five comedians to be downloaded (iTunes), they asked me to do another special. It's called Wrong on Every Level. We just finished taping it at Manhattan's Hudson Theater (now part of the Millennium Broadway Hotel). We worked our asses off for about two months creating new material for the network special. The show you see today at the Sahara is mostly the material we created for the upcoming Comedy Central Special."
Check your listings folks, to see when it's coming. I guarantee you'll enjoy it. He's a hard-working, talented guy who has managed to survive and stay on top in one of the toughest businesses in the world. And make sure you catch his show at the Sahara.
Good luck and I'll see you on the Strip. And don't forget to check out www.valleyblogs.com and tune into Lenny's Las Vegas every Friday night at 7 p.m. on KLAV 1230AM.
If you have a question or a Las Vegas experience you would like to share with my readers, please e-mail me at lennylv@cox.net. Please include your full name and the city or town where you live.
