Justin Willman

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Justin Willman

TV host by day, Magician by night. http://www.justinwillman.com/
Born Justin Willman
St. Louis, Missouri
Other names Justin Kredible
Alma mater Emerson College
Occupation Magician, Actor, Entertainer, TV Host

Justin Willman (born July 11, 1980) is an American magician, actor, comedian, and TV personality. The Guardian dubbed him as “some kind of variety Voltron with a comic flair that marks him out as the leader of the pack”. He’s a regular guest on The Tonight Show and Ellen, and he hosts the shows Cupcake Wars on the Food Network and Win, Lose or Draw on the Disney Channel. He also tours regularly with a magic/comedy live show that Time Out says, “has to be seen to be disbelieved.”

Early life

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Justin Willman began entertaining at the age of 12, after breaking both of his arms trying to ride a bicycle while wearing rollerblades. His orthopedic surgeon recommended he learn card tricks as an alternative to physical therapy and to get the dexterity back in his hands. Soon he was performing for friends and family then eventually at birthday parties under the stage name "Justin Kredible" a name given to him by his mother.[1] He has since dropped the stage name, using his given name Justin Willman in all of his professional work.

Education

Willman graduated from Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis then graduated from Emerson College in Boston where he majored in Journalism.

Career

Willman's career has included hosting duties, as well as acting and magic performed around the country on his own national tours and as a performer for others. His list of credits can be found below.

Magician

Willman has performed at the World Famous Magic Castle in Los Angeles, California several times. He performs magic at Meltdown Comics and tours throughout the county with his current "Tricked Out Tour". He has also toured with Musician Jason Mraz performing magic during Mraz's Music, Magic & Make Peace Tour. He appeared in the documentary Make Believe as Justin Kredible Willman. In 2007 he performed his tricks on "Turning Tricks" and gave viewers a behind the magic demonstration so that they too might be able to master the tricks of his trade. In 2004 he appeared as one of the Magicians on T.H.E.M. (Totally Hidden Extreme Magic) which was a hidden camera show that used magic to surprise and amaze people in public. He made a big name for himself touring colleges and stadiums earning him several “Entertainer of the Year” wins from Campus Magazine.[2]

Recently Willman has performed his magic on "Magic Meltdown" on YouTube,[3] which became a webseries for the Nerdist Channel[4] and incorporated some of the tricks from his magic tours. In Magic Meltdown Justin performed tricks based on a chosen topic such as technology, children, and food.

In 2011 he performed at the White House as a guest of Barack Obama and the first family for the White House Halloween party.[5]

TV host

Willman also serves as host for several game shows/competition series on a variety of networks. On Food Network[6] he hosts Cupcake Wars [7] which just started season 9 after moving to Saturday nights and also Halloween Wars[8] which premiers season 3 in October 2013.

Disney's Win, Lose, or Draw,[9] a revival of the teen version of the Burt Reynolds and Bert Convy classic game show to air on Disney Channel, has already filmed. The series debut will be in March 2014. In addition Willman hosted the variety show Hubworld and the game show Scrabble Showdown on the Hub Network.[10]

As host

SHOW YEAR'S RUNNING TYPE OF SHOW NETWORK
Win, Lose, or Draw 2013 Competition/Game Show Disney Channel
Cupcake Wars 2010-2013 Competition/Game Show Food Network
Halloween Wars 2011-2013 Competition/Game Show Food Network
Scrabble Showdown 2011 Competition/Game Show Disney Channel
Las Cake Standing 2011 Competition/Game Show Food Network
Hubworld 2010-2011 Variety Show Hub Network

Acting

Willman has guest starred on the hit CBS show Defenders, and made a cameo on the long-running Disney sitcom the Suite Life on Deck where he played Armando.[11]

Acting credits

YEAR SHOW NAME CHARACTER (Credit) SERIES TYPE
2012 A Taste Of Magic Carter Short
2010 The Defenders Colin Pettigrew TV Series
2009 The Suite Life On Deck Armando The Great TV Series
2009 My Long Distance Relationship Magician TV Series
2007 Room 401 Magician TV Series
2004 T.H.E.M. (Totally Hidden Extreme Magic) Justin Kredible TV Series
2003 Gilmore Girls T.A. TV Series
2002 30 Seconds to Fame Justin Kredible TV Series

Other appearances

Willman has appeared on numerous talk shows including daily news, and daytime talk shows [12] as well as late night talk shows to promote his various projects and his magic. Most notably The Ellen Degeneres show,[13] The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (where he performed magic with Hugh Jackman and Kristin Chenoweth)[14] and numerous times on the Rachel Ray show.[15]

Talk show appearances

YEAR SHOW NAME
2013 Home and Family
2013 Big Morning Buzz live with Carrie Keagan
2013 Katie
2013 Good Day L.A.
2013 Kris (The Kris Jenner Show)
2013 & 2012 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2013 & 2012 Tonight Show with Jay Leno
2012 Hollywood Uncensored with Sam Rubin
2007 Turning Tricks
2009-2006 The Rachel Ray Show
2002 30 Seconds to Fame

Podcasts

Willman has participated in the following podcasts, many of which can be found for free on iTunes.

PODCAST NAME EPISODE NAME LENGTH
Tood Glass Show Justin Willman 2:37:42
The Melting Pot Justin Willman – Oct. 29, 2013
The Nerdist Podcast Justin Willman 1:10:49
The Mutant Season Justin Willman 45:20
Celebrity Access Interviews Justin Willman 10:00
Go Bayside! Ep 030- Screech’s Birthday with Justin Willman 51:58
What’s Trending Week 24-10/25/11 49:08
The Mutant Season Justin Willman Returns! 36:01
Stream, Lose or Draw Justin Willman from Cupcake Wars 20:08
Flavor HD Flavor HD On the Front Lines Halloween Wars 8:21
Matthew Aaron Show (2/10/12) Justin Willman 2:24:00
Jefferson Graham Justin Willman on USA Today’s Talking Your Tech 16:51
Behind the Mic Radio Justin Willman – May 22, 2013 27:00

References

  1. ↑ Early start as a magician helped by Dr, www.all-about-magicians.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  2. ↑ Entertainer of the year – Campus Activities Magazine, www.laughfestgr.org, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  3. ↑ LA times article – Magic Meltdown show, www.latimes.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  4. ↑ Magic Meltdown webseries for Nerdist, www.nerdist.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  5. ↑ Performance at the White House, www.daytondailynews.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  6. ↑ Food Network Bio, www.foodnetwork.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  7. ↑ Cupcake Wars Show Page, www.foodnetwork.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  8. ↑ Halloween Wars Show Page, www.foodnetwork.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  9. ↑ Disney Channel brings back games show Win, Lose or Draw, www.huffingtonpost.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  10. ↑ Hubworld Article, www2.variety.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  11. ↑ Behind the Scenes Suite Life Deets, www.m-magazine.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  12. ↑ KTLA reporter freaks over Magic Trick, www.huffingtonpost.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  13. ↑ Justin on Ellen, www.ellentv.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  14. ↑ Justin on the Tonight Show, www.nbc.com, retrieved 2013-09-27 
  15. ↑ Justin on Rachel Ray, http://clubfood.org, retrieved 2013-09-27 

External links

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