John Lovick 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 ...

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, and director. Since the 1990s he has performed as a magician throughout the United States and

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, as well as

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, and

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. His performing alter ego, Handsome Jack, is a regular performer at the

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(the Academy of Magical Arts) in Hollywood, where he has served on the Board of Trustees, and where he won their 2016 Parlour Magician of the Year Award after 13 nominations. He is also the author of several books and many cover articles for

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 ...

and

Genii Magazine ''Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine'' is a magazine devoted to magic and magicians. It is a monthly magazine first published in September 1936, currently edited by Richard J. Kaufman and owned by Randy Pitchford. The magazine is based in Washington ...

, for both of whom he has been an associate editor. In January 2018 he was featured on Genii's cover. Lovick has invented numerous popular magic effects and regularly lectures at magic conventions. In 2006 he compiled and authored "SWITCH: Unfolding the $100 Bill Change," a comprehensive guide to the bill-switch magic trick, including its history, performance theory, and presentation ideas. He has also written “Experience: The Magic of Jon Allen” and “Mayhew: What Women Want”, and co-authored “The Paper Engine”. He produced the popular magic demonstration DVD, "Reparation," which teaches his influential method for the Torn and Restored Card. In August 2016 he released a book detailing his professional magic repertoire, "The Performance Pieces & Divertissements of the Famous Handsome Jack, etc.", published by SquashPublications.com. A best seller in the magic world, its first printing sold out in fewer than three months. He co-wrote with Asi Wind a book of Wind's creations, "Repertoire", released in the spring of 2018. On July 20, 2015, Lovick (as Handsome Jack) appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and fooled them with an original Torn and Restored handbill, combined with a presentational angle involving a "Grappler" that he purchased from

Harry Anderson Harry Laverne Anderson (October 14, 1952 – April 16, 2018) was an American actor, comedian and magician. He is best known for his role of Judge Harry Stone on the 1984–1992 television series '' Night Court''. He later starred in the ...

. On April 2, 2018, Penn & Teller featured Lovick (as Handsome Jack) as the only guest performer on their one-off special "Penn & Teller: April Fool Us". In the fall of 2022, he directed Asi Wind's "Inner Circle", currently running at the Judson Theatre in New York City. He is currently on the faculty of the

USC School of Dramatic Arts The USC School of Dramatic Arts (commonly referred to as SDA)—formerly the USC School of Theatre, is a private drama school at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is ranked one of the top 10 dramatic arts schools ...

, where he is an adjunct lecturer. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Early life and education

Lovick grew up in

Libby, Montana Libby is a city in northwestern Montana, United States and the county seat of Lincoln County. The population was 2,775 at the 2020 census. Libby suffered from the area's contamination from nearby vermiculite mines contaminated with particularl ...

. He graduated from

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

before attending the

University of Washington School of Drama The School of Drama is an undergraduate and graduate theatre school in the Arts Division of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1940, the School of Drama offers a Bachelor's degree ...

for graduate studies, where he received an MFA in theatre direction.

Publications

(contributing editor) *

(associate editor) * “The Paper Engine” (co-author) (2002, Hermetic Press) * "SWITCH: Unfolding the $100 Bill Change" (2006, Murphy's Magic Supplies) * “Experience: The Magic of Jon Allen” (2009, Vanishing Inc.) * “Mayhew: What Women Want” (2014, Hermetic Press) * "The Performance Pieces & Divertissements of the Famous Handsome Jack, etc." (2016, Squash Publications) * "Secrets" by Anthony Owen (additional material by John Lovick) (2017, Vanishing Inc.) * "Repertoire" by Asi Wind (with John Lovick) (2018) * "Get Outta My Way, I'm Going to Hell" (2021), book 9 of Vanishing Inc.'s Astonishing Essay series. * "Five from Dani DaOrtiz" (2022) * "Vallarino" (2023, Vanishing Inc.) * "All In" (co-author with Allan Ackerman)(2023, Vanishing Inc.) * "Piff the Magic Book" (edited by John Lovick) (2023, Vanishing Inc.)

Awards

* 2015 Penn & Teller: Fool Us Trophy * 2016 Parlour Magician of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts * 2016 Billy McComb/Jay Marshall Parlour Magician Award * 2016 Allan Slaight "Sharing Secrets" Award

References

External links

* http://www.handsomejack.com/ * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lovick, John American magicians Living people People from Libby, Montana Montana State University alumni University of Washington School of Drama alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Academy of Magical Arts Parlour Magician of the Year winners