The Magic Castle Suspended Murray Sawchuck
FREE: Magic exposure controversy
It’s been quite the couple months for Murray Sawchuck, also known as Murray The Magician, the large, spectacled, wacky-haired, comedy illusionist.
Last week, he played his final show at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, a venue he has headlined for the last 12 years before it closed its doors for good to make way for a new baseball stadium. But he recently caused a stir after becoming the latest magician to be suspended from The Magic Castle in Hollywood.
His crime: exposing the secrets of magic online.
Murray, 50, has been performing magic for over 40 years. As well as being one of the biggest names in Vegas, he has toured his comedy magic shows all over the world and is set to perform in Europe and Australia later this year, but his big break was arguably when he appeared on the 5th season of America’s Got Talent, where he made a train carriage disappear.
However, his recent foray into exposing magic secrets, which have so far racked up nearly 66 million views on Facebook and over half a million views on TikTok, have got Murray into hot water.
In the videos, which Murray considers “hilarious,” he performs a series of tricks, including a vanishing bouquet, a pen through anything, a sword swallow, silk vanish, and an Oreo Bite. After each trick, his wife behind him takes the props from him and reveals the method openly to the camera, making a mockery of Murray’s attempts at wizardry—at least that’s what the joke seems to be.
The clips remain uploaded on his social media pages, and many magicians are not happy about the fact so many methods have been exposed in what appears to be quite a meaningless way.
Shortly after these videos began to circulate, Murray was a guest on The Magicians' Podcast, with hosts Richard Young and Alan Hudson, where even Young described the videos as “bad for magic,” “lazy,” and “just about money,” directly to Murray’s face.
Subsequently, a group of magicians who shared Young's perspective complained to the Castle and Murray’s Magic Castle membership was swiftly suspended.
If you’re not familiar with The Magic Castle, it’s perhaps the most reputable venue dedicated to the art of magic worldwide. Residing in Hollywood, it is the clubhouse of the Academy of Magical Arts (AMA). It has welcomed some of the world’s greatest magicians, and it has frequently hosted star-studded events (Katy Perry had her birthday party there, and Neil Patrick Harris used to be the club’s president!).
Murray is by no means the first person to be kicked out of the Castle. Val Valentino, the man behind the infamous Masked Magician and the star of the hit noughties TV show Breaking the Magician’s Code: Magic’s Secrets Finally Revealed, where the methods to large-scale illusions were dissected in great detail, was also banned for exposing such secrets. And Katy Perry was apparently extremely drunk at her birthday bash and broke a bunch of items there, so she’s allegedly been banned, too. Silly Katy.
