Jamy Ian Swiss
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
close-up magician
Magic (illusion)
Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...
who works primarily with cards
Playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...
.
Career as a Magician
Jamy Ian Swiss is world renowned as a sleight of hand performer specializing in close-up card magic.He has performed magic throughout the United States for presenters ranging from Fortune 500 companies to the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. He has been featured in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
and New York Press
New York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
. He has also appeared in television programs including 48 Hours
48 Hours (TV series)
48 Hours is a documentary and news program broadcast on the CBS television network since January 19, 1988. The program originally presented documentaries of various events related to a particular subject occurring within a 48-hour period, and is credited as one of the first to air a "reality show"...
, the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
series NOVA
NOVA (TV series)
Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...
, and the PBS documentary The Art of Magic and The Today Show.
He also worked as a comedy writer and chief magic consultant for Penn & Teller
Penn & Teller
Penn & Teller are Las Vegas headliners whose act is an amalgam of illusion and comedy. Penn Jillette is a raconteur; Teller generally uses mime while performing, although his voice can occasionally be heard during their performance...
on their television program, Sin City Spectacular
Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular
Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular was a weekly American television variety show hosted by Penn and Teller that appeared on the FX Networks from August 10, 1998 - June 30, 1999...
. He also served as head writer and associate director for The Virtual Magician starring Marco Tempest
Marco Tempest
Marco Tempest is a Swiss magician based in New York City. He is reputed for his multimedia magic and use of interactive technology and computer graphics in his illusions and presentations. He stars in the eight part television series "The Virtual Magician"...
, which aired in 45 countries; created, produced and performed in the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
documentary, Cracking the Con Games; and has consulted on feature films including The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into...
. Swiss is also a co-founder of the National Capital Area Skeptics and the New York City Skeptics.
Performances
In 2000, Swiss presented a one-man show The Honest Liar as part of the New York International Fringe Festival. His show of intimate sleight-of-hand magic, Magic: Close-up in Concert, ran for six months at the Rainbow Room in New York City, and has also been presented at the Players Club.Swiss is currently a co-producer and performer for Monday Night Magic, New York City's longest running Off-Broadway magic show.
Writing and Lectures
Jamy Ian Swiss is the author of the essayEssay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
collection, Shattering Illusions. He is also a co-author of the companion volume to the PBS documentary The Art of Magic and the Explaining Magic chapter of Visual Explanations by Edward Tufte
Edward Tufte
Edward Rolf Tufte is an American statistician and professor emeritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale University. He is noted for his writings on information design and as a pioneer in the field of data visualization....
.
He also contributed to, or consulted on, the following books:
- Magic for Dummies...for DummiesFor Dummies is an extensive series of instructional / reference books which are intended to present non-intimidating guides for readers new to the various topics covered. Despite the title, their publisher has taken great pains to emphasize that the For Dummies books are not literally for dummies....
- Penn & Teller’s How to Play with Your Food
- American Gods by Neil GaimanNeil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
He writes columns for Skeptic magazine
Skeptic (U.S. magazine)
Skeptic is a quarterly science education and science advocacy magazine published internationally by The Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting scientific skepticism and resisting the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs...
and the quarterly magic journal Antimony. He has written for Genii, the Conjurors’ Magazine
Genii (magazine)
Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine is the longest-running independent magazine devoted to magic and magicians in the history of the art. It was founded by William Larsen, Sr. in 1936, and run by his descendents until 1998, when it was sold to The Genii Corporation, headed by well-known magic author...
since 1994.
He has lectured to magicians in 13 countries. He also created and produces Card Clinic, a seminar on sleight of hand with playing cards.
External links
- Home Page
- Card Clinic: three days that will change your magic forever
- Biography of Jamy Ian Swiss at Adobe.com
- Video of Jamy Ian Swiss from the New Yorker Festival