Chef Anton
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Chef Anton is the stage name of Anthony S. Riniti (born 1969), a trained chef from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He is an award-winning expert with the pool cue, and a noted magician whose performance includes a unique mixture of magic, hustling tricks and billiard trick shots. Because of his unique style, he was the first ever billiard trick shot artist invited to a special evening performance at the noted Magic Castle venue in Hollywood, California. At the Commerce Casino's Legends of 9-Ball Tournament, Chef Anton defeated formal world champions and became the first two-time United States Trick Shot Champion of Pool.
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[edit] Biography
Riniti was born in the Bronx, New York on January 29, 1969 to Anthony and Josephine Riniti. in 1982, when his father received his 20 year pension from the New York City Fire Department, they moved to Southern California.
At the age of 13, Riniti started body building, and five years later, won the 1987 Natural Nationals and then took 2nd place in the Natural Internationals.
Chef Anton has appeared on television in the TNN programs "Crook & Chase", "Prime Time Country", Talk Soup, and ABC's Monday Night Live, and worked as a technical consultant on billiards and magic for ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX Video.
With Whit Haydn, Chef began the School for Scoundrels in 1996, as an eight-hour course on street scams and as a web-based retail business. School for Scoundrels is taught over a four week period each November at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. It focuses on the subject of short cons (Three-Card Monte, Shell game, Fast and Loose), with students from the fields of magic, law enforcement, gambling, and history. They teach the history, psychology, techniques, and application to magic of these ancient scams. School for Scoundrels is taken from the 1960 Terry-Thomas movie of the same name.
They have also created a major web resource for their School for Scoundrels students and others interested in the history and methods of short cons, including a store, forum, video and photo gallery, and Scoundrels Wiki site.
Chef Anton married on July 5, 1997. He presently lives with his wife Bonnie and their two daughters in Canyon Lake, California.
[edit] Awards
- Two-time United States Trick Shot Champion of Pool
- 1987 Natural Nationals weight-training award championship. 1st place in the U.S., and 2nd place in the Natural Internationals
- Twice been nominated for the Magic Castle's "W.C. Fields Bar Magician of the Year" award
[edit] Works
- Pool Hustler's Handbook, Chef Anton, 2002
- Pool Hustler's Cookbook, Chef Anton, 2004
- Chef Anton's Magical Menu of Pool Ball Wizardry, Chef Anton, 1994 VHS
[edit] With Whit Haydn
- School for Scoundrels Notes on Three-Card Monte, also VHS and DVD
- School for Scoundrels Notes on the Shell Game--Introduction to the Shell Game, also DVD
- School for Scoundrels Notes on Fast and Loose, also VHS and DVD
