Jay Alexander

Jay Alexander on November 8, 2014

Jay Alexander (born April 10, 1968) is an American magician and comic known as a corporate and society entertainer. He has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America and MTV, and also on many local morning shows.

In the San Francisco Chronicle, David Lazarus wrote, "One of the highest-paid, and busiest, performers on the Bay Area corporate circuit is magician Jay Alexander . . ."[1]

Alexander creates customized shows for Fortune 500 companies and is a consultant and co-author of several magic books. Alexander is also the host of Learn the Art of Magic, a CD-ROM that introduces 26 different magic tricks.[2] At the age of fourteen, he became the youngest recipient of the Society of American Magicians' Gold Medal of Honor.

His clients have included Robin Williams, Steve Wozniak and the Rolling Stones.[3]

Alexander was born in Houston, Texas. He is the great grandson of the vaudeville performer, Gentleman Ben Darwin. As a child, Alexander found a trunk in his grandparents' attic filled with gear for magic and escapes. His interest in magic took off from there. His grandfather, Joseph Pfeffer (1917-2014), was a World War II veteran who served in the United States Marine Corps who went on to become a Holocaust artist and poet.[4] At the age of fourteen, Alexander was honored to be the youngest recipient of the Society of American Magicians Gold Medal of Honor. He attended Westbury High School then the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston.

After high school, Alexander moved to San Francisco to attend the San Francisco Art Institute, perform, and be part of the art and music scene of the Haight-Ashbury. [5]

References

  1. ↑ Lazarus, David (December 4, 1999). Corporate Entertainers - The New Vaudeville Circuit, San Francisco Chronicle
  2. ↑ Barnabel, Josh (August 4, 1996). Nothing Up My Sleeve! The Magic of Teaching. New York Times
  3. ↑ Liberatore, Paul, Jay Alexander, rock's favorite magician, takes show to Novato school benefit, Marin Independent Journal
  4. ↑ Joseph Billy Pfeffer, Jewish Herald-Voice, Houston, August 14, 2014
  5. ↑ Newton, Dick (May, 2009). Swinging Success in San Francisco Magic Magazine

External links