In 1963 Steve started magic at the age of 13
when his father bought him a magic set. After mastering
all of the tricks in the set, Steve started to take out
magic books from the school and public libraries. When he
was about 14 he discovered a magic shop in Hempstead, New
York called the Fun and Gift shop. He would buy magic
tricks and books every chance he got. Steve started to
perform free shows at charity events to gain experience.
He got his first "professional" gig at the age
of 15 for a grand fee of $5.00. By the time he was 16
Steve was working part time at the Fun and Gift shop as
well as performing at birthday parties and Bar Mitzvahs.
Steve's grandfather and brother used to drive him to jobs
until he got his license.
Fast forward to the 1970's. Steve worked in some of the
Long Island magic shops before opening his own, the Hocus
Pocus Place in 1974.Besides running the magic shop, Steve
continued to perform part time at parties. Steve was also
opening act for such musical performers as the Brooklyn
Bridge, Gary US Bonds, The Platters and Bobby Rydell.
Steve was selected to be the magic consultant for the hit
Broadway musical "the Wiz" as well as magic
consultant for the Long Island Railroad magic safety
program, where he designed the props and created the
show.
In 1977 after closing his magic shop Steve decided to
pursue performing full time. He started performing on
cruise ships and colleges around the country. Steve
performed as the wizard Merlin at many medieval and
renaissance festivals.
In the 1980's Steve continued his performing at colleges
as well as doing overseas jobs in Hong Kong, Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba [for the US Navy], the Caribbean and other
locations.It was in the 1980's Steve started his new
business, Zenith Party Productions, a company that
specializes in wholesale entertainment to event planners,
DJ companies and Music companies. With his best friend
Mario Gonzalez Steve also produced 6 magic conventions
held in upstate New York. The conventions were held over
a 3 day weekend and boasted magical and variety
performers from across the country.
Move ahead to the 1990's Steve performed for Muhammed
Ali, Harry Connick Jr. and Robin Williams during the
shooting of his movie "Cadillac Man". Steve was
a featured performer in a year long exhibition at the
Whitney Museum in New York City.
In the late 1990's until 2002, Steve along with his wife
Carol and partner John Harrison produced Magic On
Manhattan, the largest 1 day magic convention in New York
City. Bringing acts from all over the world, it was one
of the finest one day magic conventions found anywhere.
When the Harry Potter books and movies became widely
popular Steve made an easy transition from performing as
Merlin to portraying Dumbledore.
Now in his 5th decade of performing magic and even though
he does not travel too far, Steve shows no signs of
slowing down as he performs more than 200 shows a year
mostly in the New York tri state area.
