John Edward Szeles (born September 9, 1958), better known by the stage name The Amazing Johnathan, is an American stand-up comedian/magician. His act is mostly composed of hijinks, interaction with one specific audience member, and a few legitimate magic tricks. Since 2001, he has been a year-round headliner in Las Vegas. Self-described as the "Freddy Krueger of Comedy", Szeles usually performs wearing his everpresent headband and his shows frequently use gore, such as pretending to suck on his own hanging eyeball, cutting his wrists, and skewering his own tongue. He is also good friends with fellow performer Criss Angel, and has helped Angel perform a variety of illusions, most notably during his three guest appearances on Mindfreak.
Career
Early career
Szeles, who began his career performing in the streets of San Francisco, first appeared on television in The 8th Annual Young Comedians Show in 1983 and later went on to become the host of the short-lived 1991 syndicated variety/game show Ruckus. He appeared on various talk and variety shows from the mid-80s to mid 2000s. His only credited performance as an actor was The Obligatory Holiday Episode of The Weird Al Show (playing the part of Uncle Johnathan). He has made several appearances on Late Night with David Letterman, a record 24 appearances on Fox's Comic Strip Live, and has had several specials on Comedy Central including Comedy Central Presents, The Lounge Lizards and more recently his own one hour special entitled Wrong on Every Level., He dedicated the special to his Uncle Eugene, who showed him his first card trick which "started this whole mess". His only film appearance is the 2005 documentary The Aristocrats.
Johnathan had huge success in Australia, becoming a household name due to his many well received performances on Channel 9's "Hey Hey Its Saturday".
Szeles has also authored a how-to book on practical jokes titled Every Trick in the Book, a compilation of both classic practical jokes and plain magic tricks, along with his own original material in both categories. He is currently finishing up his memoirs, entitled, "Drive It Like You Stole It."
Recent years
In 2008, Szeles combined two of his passions (classic car collecting and drive-in movie theaters) to open the "Amazing Underground" a members only indoor drive-in movie theatre located within his warehouse facilities in Las Vegas.
As of 2011, Szeles was performing regular shows in Las Vegas at the Harmon Theater while also taking select dates at venues across the USA and in Australia. 2011 marks Szeles' third year of performing at the Harmon Theatre and Szeles' 11th consecutive year as a full-time Las Vegas headliner. He has won "Best Comedian" award from Las Vegas Review Journal, Comedian of the Year from Nevada Magazine, Top Ten Acts in Vegas (LVRJ) and is the longest running, most successful solo comic magician in U.S history.
Personal life
In March 2007 it was reported that Szeles was diagnosed with "a serious heart condition". The performer's website identified the condition as cardiomyopathy and went on to assert that, due to a combination of weight loss and blood thinners, he was doing well. After 13 years of performing at various Vegas casinos, in December 2012, Szeles called it off. Bally's lack of advertising and promise to "cross promote" him with their other properties never happened. Szeles walked out of the one year deal and decided to never play Vegas again. He toured for all of 2013 playing "The Improv" circuit and then was hit with news about his heart condition again. It was back and was much more serious this time.
He announced that he would finish doing his show in Toledo for the general public and then for members of The Magic Castle on June 30 - July 1, 2014. His final shows were sold out and he received standing ovations each night.
He currently does a weekly video internet talk show called "Burn Unit".
On November 5, 2014, he stated that he had little time left to live in front of an audience on ENT speaks.
Notes
External links
- Official site
- The Amazing Underground Drive-In Movie Theatre
- Burn Unit Podcast
- The Amazing Johnathan's Car Collection
- The Amazing Johnathan at the Internet Movie Database
- Interview at celebritycafe
- Video Of The Amazing Jonathan
- Show review : Amazing Johnathan Las Vegas Review Journal, Mike Weatherford, (February 12, 2010)
- The Amazing Johnathan's Burn Unit (Vegas Video Network)
- interview about his health/WTF Podcast/The Amazing Johnathan's Interview on WTF (WTF Marc Maron Podcast)
