Last week Lionsgate and I hosted an Advance Screening of Now You See Me 2 for all my magician buddies. HOLY HELL the movie is GREAT. And from a magic point of view…I truly didn’t know where the physical magic ended and the CGI magic began.

Is it just me…or is magic…going through a bit of a renaissance here?

The post Lionsgate and I Hosted a Now You See Me 2 Advance Screening…and it was Freakin’ Awesome! appeared first on Rick Lax.

Six months ago I started posting magic videos on Facebook. All of a sudden I’m America’s most-popular magician. Meaning, more people have seen me do magic tricks in the past year than anyone else.

Let me explain:

I got 238,000,000 video views in 6 months. That’s more than any other magician got last year. Or the year before. ALSO I’ve got more page likes than every other American magician except for one, though I’ve seen evidence that he has purchased social media followers, so I’m not going to count him. But take a look at our “engagement” (how many people are actually viewing our pages and liking and commenting…this week I got LITERALLY 10,000 TIMES more engagement than him.

The craziest thing is I didn’t use fancy camera equipment or sound systems. I film pretty much everything on my MacBook Webcam. Just goes to show you the power of good content.

Note: I say “American” because the UK magician Dynamo has WAY more Facebook fans than me, and his fans are legit.

Anyway, this is a weird distinction, and I have a feeling it won’t be long before I move away from Facebook and onto the next big project. But, yeah, I’ve been getting recognized and that’s weird for a guy who’s usually behind the scenes.

The post All of a Sudden I’m America’s Most Popular Magician appeared first on Rick Lax.

Penn & Teller have a show on the CW called, “Fool Us.” Basically, you go on the show, you perform a magic trick, and then Penn & Teller try to figure it out. If they can’t, you win.

I performed an original card trick called Binary Code. (It’s now on sale at Penguin Magic.) And I did it while reciting any poem Penn wanted to hear. He ended up asking for “Casey at the Bat,” and I’m happy to report that my recital delighted him…and my trick fooled the both of ’em! I was the only magician to fool P&T the whole episode.

And now…onto the next challenge! Whatever that may be.

The post I Fooled Penn & Teller appeared first on Rick Lax.

Working behind-the-scenes on Wizard Wars was great. But it did leave me wanting to try my hand in front of the cameras.

Just got my wish; I’ll be appearing on a reality competition show in the coming weeks. Can’t say which one, can’t say how I do, but I can say that I’m excited for you guys to watch. Stay tuned for more details!

The post Rick Lax to Appear on Reality Competition Show appeared first on Rick Lax.

Thank God my (super-liberal) grandmother wasn’t alive to see this…but last month I went on Fox News to discuss Trade Secret Law and The Business of Deception. Meeting John Stossel was a total honor and the whole segment went great. You can watch it HERE.

The post Discussing The Business of Deception on Fox News appeared first on Rick Lax.

Happy to announce that six all-new episodes of Wizard Wars will air on Syfy, beginning Thursday January 29^th at 10:00 pm. Prepare to see amazing magic with tiki torches, mice, hula hoops and fishing waders. Wizards will fly, challengers will teleport, minds will be blown.

The post WIZARD WARS – All New Episodes start Jan 29th at 10PM on SyFy appeared first on Rick Lax.

It’s official: Wizard Wars, the SIX-PART SERIES (!!!), airs on Syfy starting on August 19th at 10pm. What began as a fun project in my living room has evolved into a full-blown reality competition show starring Penn & Teller as judges. They’re joined by SO many other incredible magicians…too many to list in one blog post.

Here’s the short of it:

-I guarantee a show filled with nonstop surprises and mind-blowing illusions. You’ll walk away from each episode amazed by our performers’ top-notch showmanship and seemingly unlimited creative prowess.

-The format hasn’t changed: Teams of magicians must create and perform original magic routines with the random objects they’re given. They’re judged on Creativity, Showmanship, and Deception.

-Both Syfy and A. Smith & Co. (the powerhouse production company responsible for American Ninja Warrior) were an absolute pleasure to work with. Justin Flom and I feel so fortunate to have fallen into the capable hands of Executive Producers Arthur Smith, Kent Weed, Frank Sinton and Tim Eagan. Weed also directed the series–a HUGE stroke of luck for us, as the guy understands magic better than most professional magicians. And I truly believe Syfy’s incredible team of unscripted storytellers–Robyn Lattaker-Johnson, Andrew Whitney–will do for magic what they’ve done for special effects makeup via Face Off.
They’ll not only get the laymen/Muggles tuning in; they’ll get ’em CARING about the magic creation process.
 

The post WIZARD WARS on SYFY, Starring Penn & Teller appeared first on Rick Lax.

Craziest thing: I created a TV show…and it’s going to air on Syfy on March 4th. It’s called WIZARD WARS.

An original, hour-long special exploring how professional magicians transform ordinary objects into jaw-dropping miracles. Two teams of up-and-coming magicians are given four random items (e.g., bubble wrap, fish tank, postcard, 2-liter soda bottle). As soon as they create an original routine featuring each of the objects…they must perform it before a live studio audience and panel of expert judges led by legendary magic duo Penn & Teller.

The winning team of up-and-comers moves on to the Wizard War, in which they go head-to-head against two of our Wizards, an elite group of conjurors that includes two-time World Championship of Magic winner Gregory Wilson, Wynn Resort resident magician Shimshi, YouTube sensation Justin Flom, and Internationally-famous mentalist Angela Funovits. If the up-and-comers defeat the Wizards, they walk away with $10,000.00, and more importantly, the everlasting respect of their peers.

Here’s a the video and the Wired.com story that started it all:
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/07/video-vegas-wizard-wars/

And here’s a video of my friend Justin and me pitching the TV show to various networks:
http://itricks.com/news/2013/01/want-to-see-two-magicians-slowly-go-crazy-pitching-a-tv-show/

Be sure to tune in to Syfy on March 4th!
 

The post Rick’s New TV show, Wizard Wars, Airs on Syfy on March 4th appeared first on Rick Lax.

The post I GET PAID FOR THIS Book Release Party Pics appeared first on Rick Lax.

Now’s your big chance to take my publisher to the cleaners and pre-order a copy of my upcoming book, I GET PAID FOR THIS: Kicking Ass and Taking Notes in Vegas, for just $11.96. And that includes shipping. You can make that happen by clicking HERE.

The post Pre-Order I GET PAID FOR THIS For Just $11.96 appeared first on Rick Lax.