You’ve heard of The Amazing Johnathan haven’t you? WHO? The Amazing Johnathan, the WORLD FAMOUS American magician and TV icon, who starred in his own Vegas shows for years, that’s who!
Well last week I had the pleasure of talking to the Amazing Johnathan via a call to his home in Las Vegas. He retired a couple of years ago due to health issues and now he’s doing all sorts of stuff in retirement – such as learning how to play the piano. He says, “I’ve one good hand.” So not exactly Billy Joel then, I reply. He tells me he’s hoping to get good enough to play some Radiohead.
So why am I grilling The Amazing Johnathan, known around the world for his outrageous humour and quirky magic shit? Well, I’m doing an interview with him for magicseen magazine, Europe’s number one magic magazine.
Magic can be boring, so I ask him about his comedy heroes. “Charlie Chaplin!” says Johnathan, “a f**king genius!” As he says this, I show him the latest book I’m reading: Charlie Chaplin’s autobiography! “That’s cool, man!” he says nodding. That’s right, Charlie Chaplin was a genius, no doubt! Go and watch The Flower Seller or Modern Times and you’ll know what I mean”.
So, what else does the Amazing Johnathan get up to? “Well, I write now and again for Criss Angel, Copperfield, Penn & Teller and others…” But The Amazing Johnathan doesn’t have to do anything, he earned a fortune in Vegas. “I was having a clear out and threw away a load of my payslips. Jesus, I couldn’t believe how much I was earning then…”
The Amazing Jonathan made his comedy club debut on the very same night as the comedy legend Robin Williams – they became life-long buddies – and they were in a bar together the very night that Robin Williams got his contract for the TV classic ‘Mork & Mindy’. “He came into the bar clutching his contract! He was in high spirits – they were paying him $5000 an episode, which was massive back then!”
I ask Johnathan if his autobiography is ever going to get released? He laughs, “It will probably never see the light of day. In the US, they love a story where the guy takes drugs, losses his career, gets clean and then becomes successful again! Unfortunately for the publishers, my story is: ‘Guy takes drugs, becomes successful and so takes even more drugs – and is EVEN MORE SUCCESSFUL!’ It’s not a story the US public will find palatable!”
Read the full interview in magicseen magazine out soon!
Graham Hey's Comedy writing BLOG thing! 