JOHNNY ACE PALMER
World Champion Magician

By Ben Robinson

“Surely there should be dancing in the streets
when a great clown comic comes to town …”

--Alexander Woollcott, on Harpo Marx
appearing on Broadway, 1924

“It is only by conceiving of every one of his successive experiments as a play, complete in itself and governed by the inexorable laws of the drama, that the magician can rise to the summit of his art. He is a conjurer and a comedian at the same time…”

--Brander Matthews, from A Book About the Theatre, 1911

The world of magic in 2007 is built upon the modern revolution of this new art form. Modern revolution? New art form? Yes. While there are potentially accurate records of Eqyptian magicians circa 2500 B.C.,the “modern” art of magic really only begins in the middle of the 19th century in Europe. The Bamberg family in Holland, Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin in France, John Henry Anderson  and the Maskelyne family in England. My point, it is the stage artistry of all these individuals that paved the way for the modern magic stars: Houdini, Thurston, and the Blackstones. However, all of the big stage illusionists all sold their shows to bookers, buyers, managers, impresarios and sponsors with the magic of the hands, known today as close-up magic.

It is perhaps a little too pat to recognize John Mulholland as the premier magician of the 1940’s. Milbourne Christopher in the 1950’s, Mark Wilson in the 1960’s, Doug Henning in the 70’s, David Copperfield in the 1980’s and Lance Burton in the 1990’s. Yet, each individual mentioned holds merit – yet none of those proposed has done something that no magician in history has ever done before.

Enter: Johnny Ace Palmer. Born in 1960. At the age of 4 he did his first card trick. By 1986, at age 25, he had won every major competitive magic award the fraternities had to offer including the SAM Gold Medal; the IBM Gold Cups; and later the title of Close-Up Magician of the Year two years running from Hollywood’s Magic Castle.

But it was in 1988 when all the rules of the game changed. Something unusual happened. Something that had never happened before, and has not happened since.  In 1988 Johnny Ace Palmer became the first magician in history to be awarded by the Federation International of Magic Societies (FISM) with an award given only if merited – the Grand Prix. The Grand Prix is perhaps the only award in magic that translates to consumer understanding. Magicians from over 40 countries –  an attending body of over 2000 people  and the 12 internationally based judges – awarded their highest honor to Johnny Ace Palmer, as a close up magician.

He’s tall. He’s charming. His magic is so strong that audiences all over the world realize they are in the presence of born greatness. Born. That’s an important point to consider. Imagine the biological and divine elements that create an individual so special, so innately talented, that the only reward we can bestow is one never before given. Consider that level of quality.

Flash forward.

I’ve known Johnny Ace Palmer since 1986, since before he was declared a world champion. He worked a “circuit” he carved out for himself. He drove tens of thousands of miles, often alone, from his home base in Ohio to Mostly Magic in Greenwich Village in New York; to Houston’s Magic Island and finally, making jaws drop repeatedly at Hollywood’s famous Magic Castle. This grueling schedule would last over three years.  From the very first moment I saw Johnny perform I knew he was world class (he pulled an 8-ball from a thimble making me spill a drink all over my lap I was so surprised).

Through a detailed dialectic concerning “greatness” I concluded that Johnny Ace Palmer boldly edifies a virtue that the late Doug Henning did: selflessness.

Let’s explore “selflessness and greatness.”

I’ve spent a long time talking about the art of and the art in magic with Johnny.  We agree that the audience’s experience with wonder is primary to the successful understanding between the magician and their audience. Now, that previous sentence reads a little too clinical for my tastes – so let’s make it a little more  user-friendly. The issue is: does the audience have a good time and experience the willing suspension of disbelief. It is the assuredness of Johnny’s magic that makes his audiences have “magical feeling.”

Recently I was  contacted by the mammoth company, IBM. A major event in New York City was forthcoming to debut a new company facility that would ultimately affect more than 1 million employees and former employees. The venue: Grand Central Station. And it is almost needless to mention, but for those that don’t know, Grand Central is in the dead center of Manhattan, and the land is still owned by the Queen of England! A big gig.

After IBM made their decision to have me present their corporate message, in a script I co-wrote with their producer, I helped sculpt the evening by recommending a specific stage show to work in conjunction with their speakers and also provide RELEVANT close-up magic that integrated their corporate message with the best close-up magic the world has to offer. And that meant a phone call to World Champion Magician Johnny Ace Palmer.

Having stood on a stage at least 10,000 times myself and having seen Johnny Ace Palmer at a variety of venues all over the United States – perhaps as many as 100 shows over 21 years – I knew that IBM at GCS in NYC could do no better than to bring in Johnny. The problem was his schedule; Johnny Ace Palmer is booked literally every day from November 2007 until early January 2008 by the Walt Disney Company.

Being a world champion not only means he’s received an award in his class that no other magician has ever received, it means he delivers attention to detail to thousands of bookings all over the world.