By Markos Papadatos
In 1993, McBride was crowned “Magician of the Year” by the Academy of Magical Arts, and 15 years later, in 2008, he was honored as its “Lecturer of the Year.” “The ‘Magician of the Year’ award was the Oscar of magic,” he said.
When asked about his proudest moments, he said, “It was definitely meeting and marrying my beautiful wife, Abigail. That has to be right up there.”
Regarding his plans for the future, McBride, said, “Right now we are booking a world tour with the Magic and Mystery School to share our magic in Europe, South America, China and maybe even India.”
He added, “There is a different sort of energetic when you are teaching magic to a student of magic. When the light-bulb clicks on and they are illuminated and you could see the light pouring out of their bodies and their eyes. Magic is super-empowering for people, and I work with magic students of all ages and from all over the world. Magic is such a rich, performing art because it encompasses theater, dance, lighting, costume and theatrics, and all of these other arts blend together to create a magical experience.”
McBride had nothing but kind words for America’s Got Talent winner Mat Franco, who happened to be one of his former students. “Mat Franco is very, very talented. He really deserves to be the next magician of Las Vegas. He is doing things very differently with his sleight of hand magic and intimate magic, and he is bringing that into the show by using media technology to be able to get people up-close to the magic. That was part of his brilliance onAmerica’s Got Talent. His ability to connect, not only with the judges, but with the audience in the theater and at home,” he said.
A Monticello, New York, native, McBride made a cameo on Criss Angel’s “Mindfreak” television special, where he did a segment on masks. “My signature is masks in my show. I perform a multi-cultural show with masks from around the world, and I change different characters and I combine commercial arts, magic and mime and theatrics to create a unique magical experience that really transcends cultures and language barriers,” he said.
McBride defined the word success as “Achieving an equilibrium life.” “Success is being able to handle the extremes of what life throws out at you, and being able to reach a point of tranquility, serenity and balance in life,” he said.
For more information on wold renowned magician Jeff McBride, check out his official website and on Facebook.
