Murray Sawchuck takes magic act to Vegas

By Dan Hilborn
Published Feb. 4, 2006


Murray Sawchuck, the world-famous magician who had his start at the Cavalcade of Stars when he was a student at Burnaby Central secondary, will be headlining in the show capital of the world this month.

Sawchuck, who just wrapped up a three-month tour of Korea, will perform at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas this week, before starring in his own Really Big Shew at the Flamingo Hotel in Laughlin, Nevada from Feb. 19 to April 16.

In a telephone interview from Seoul, the guy with the sparkling blue eyes and shocking blonde hair said he will definitely miss the terrific reception he received in Korea, but he's looking forward to returning to his transplanted home in Nevada.

"I've never seen such a reaction from a country toward magic in my life," said Sawchuck, who first arrived in Korea around Halloween as part of a World Stars show, featuring magicians from Holland, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia.

"Every country reacts to magic differently, but in Korea, it was like Justin Timberlake was coming on stage," Sawchuck said. "The minute I walked on stage, the audience started screaming and cheering. I thought maybe there was somebody famous behind me."

After several weeks of screaming fans, and having their own YuGiOh cards created - YuGiOh is a kid's card game featuring usually fictitious magicians - Sawchuck and his colleagues began to joke about having to leave Korea before they get "too used to" the big star treatment.

Sawchuck became hooked on magic at the age of eight when his parents gave him a Seigfried and Roy magic kit. Already a budding musician, Sawchuck took to the sleight of hand naturally, and when he was given a Commodore 64 computer for his 14th birthday, he began marketing himself as a birthday party performer.

He soon joined the influential Vancouver Magic Circle, which has spawned such world champions as Coquitlam's Shawn Farquhar and, by the age of 16, had his own Yellow Pages ad and a business phone in his bedroom.

In those early years, many of the business groups who hired Sawchuck were later shocked to learn that a teenaged kid had convinced them to pay upwards of $500 for an afternoon's entertainment.

After honing his craft in both Hollywood and Disneyworld, Sawchuck moved to the Las Vegas area about four years ago and now bases his international business from the entertainment capital of the world.

"It's really not much different from anywhere else in the world, except for all the neon lights," Sawchuck said of his new hometown. "TV makes it more exciting. Once you've lived and worked there, it's like anyplace else."

So if you're planning a trip south, catch Murray in the French-style review show La Femme at the MGM Grand in Vegas this week, or head a little further south to Laughlin between Feb. 19 and April 16 as Burnaby's own blue-eyed magician plies his trade on the big stage at the Flamingo Hotel.