Jay Alexander (born April 10, 1968) is an American

magician Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...

and comedian known as a corporate and society entertainer. He has appeared on ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'', ''

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'' and MTV, and also on many local morning shows. In the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'',

David Lazarus David Lazarus is an American business and consumer columnist who works for ''KTLA'' and worked for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from August 2007 to January 2022. His last column was published on January 28, 2022. Early life and education He attende ...

wrote, "One of the highest-paid, and busiest, performers on the Bay Area corporate circuit is magician Jay Alexander . . ."Lazarus, David (December 4, 1999)
Corporate Entertainers - The New Vaudeville Circuit
''

'' Alexander creates customized shows for

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...

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.Barnabel, Josh (August 4, 1996). Nothing Up My Sleeve! The Magic of Teaching. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' At the age of fourteen, he became the youngest recipient of the

Society of American Magicians The Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.) is the oldest fraternal magic organization in the world. Its purpose is "to advance, elevate, and preserve magic as a performing art, to promote harmonious fellowship throughout the world of magic, and t ...

' Gold Medal of Honor. His clients have included

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

Steve Wozniak Stephen Gary Wozniak (; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nickname "Woz", is an American electronics engineer, computer programmer, philanthropist, inventor, and technology entrepreneur. In 1976, with business partner Steve Jobs, he c ...

and the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

. Jay Alexander directed the notable children's DVD "Here Comes Boswick the Clown with Phoebe the Duck!", produced by David Magidson. Alexander was born in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

veteran who served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

who went on to become a

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

artist and poet.Joseph Billy Pfeffer
''

Jewish Herald-Voice The ''Jewish Herald-Voice'' is a weekly community newspaper serving the Jewish community of Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast for more than 100 years. The newspaper is the longest-running Jewish paper in the Southwest. Commonly known as the ''JHV'' ...

'',

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, August 14, 2014 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 Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Kinder HSPVA, HSPVA or PVA) is a secondary school located at 790 Austin Street in the downtown district of Houston, Texas. The school is a part of the Houston Independent School District. ...

in Houston. After high school, Alexander moved to San Francisco to attend the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

, perform, and be part of the art and music scene of the

Haight-Ashbury Haight-Ashbury () is a district of San Francisco, California, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. It is also called The Haight and The Upper Haight. The neighborhood is known as one of the main centers of the counterculture ...

.Newton, Dick (May 2009). Swinging Success in San Francisco ''

Magic Magazine ''MAGIC'', also known as ''The Magazine for Magicians'', was an independent magazine for magicians that was based in Las Vegas, Nevada. A creation of Stan Allen, it debuted in September 1991, with its first issue featuring Lance Burton on the cove ...

References

External links

Jay Alexander official site
1968 births Living people Entertainers from Houston American magicians High School for the Performing and Visual Arts alumni {{US-entertainer-stub