Nathan William Staniforth 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 ...

. He is best known as one of the magicians in season 2 of the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

show ''Breaking Magic''.

Early life

Staniforth was born in 1982 to Arthur and Jayne Staniforth. His Staniforth family has links to

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, and are originally from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Growing up in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

, he attended

Ames High School Ames High School is the sole public high school in Ames, Iowa, United States. It is in the Ames Community School District. Academics This school is the only public high school in the city of Ames. In August 2019, Ames High School was named ...

, graduating in 2001. He graduated with a B.A in History and Religion from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

and then began working as a magician in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

before touring the country.

Career

He grew up performing in local venues around

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, and soon caught media attention. In 2016, he appeared on the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

series ''The Next Great Magician'' where he performed with the cast from the ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' musical That same year he appeared on

Harry Connick Jr Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and television host. He has sold over 28million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 best-selling male artists in the Uni ...

's television talk show ''

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

''. The following year he was chosen to co-host Season 2 of the

show ''Breaking Magic'' which sees him traveling the U.S and Europe performing street magic. In the show he is most commonly performing solo

card tricks Card manipulation is the branch of magic that deals with creating effects using sleight of hand techniques involving playing cards. Card manipulation is often used in magical performances, especially in close-up, parlor, and street magic. Some ...

as well as

illusions An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may oc ...

. The show has gained him international recognition. On January 16, 2018, he released his autobiography titled ''Here Is Real Magic: A Magician's Search for Wonder in the Modern World''. On February 15, 2018, Staniforth 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 ...

where he performed a trick for journalist

Megyn Kelly Megyn Marie Kelly (; born November 18, 1970) is an American journalist and media personality. She currently hosts a talk show and podcast, ''The Megyn Kelly Show'', that airs live daily on SiriusXM. She was a talk show host at Fox News from 200 ...

. He has also hosted

TED Talks TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

at the University of Iowa related to his profession, as well as the emotions of those impacted by magic tricks. Staniforth toured with fellow magicians

James Galea James Galea is an Australian illusionist, magician and actor based in Sydney and Los Angeles. Early life and education Galea was introduced to the art of magic (illusion), magic at the age of 14. He spent most of his youth studying sleight of ...

Justin Flom Justin Flom (born April 29, 1986)Linking Ring Magazine Volume 87 Number 5 May 2007 is an American magician. He is best known for his YouTube series and television show Wizard Wars in which he performs magic with ordinary objects. Along with his vi ...

Justin Willman Justin Willman (born July 11, 1980) is an American magician, comedian, producer, and television personality. He is the creator and star of '' Magic for Humans'' on Netflix. The third season of Magic for Humans was released on May 15, 2020. He ...

under the group name

Band of Magicians Band of Magicians is a touring illusion show featuring a group of magicians billed as “The World’s First Magic Supergroup”. The original group featured magicians James Galea, Justin Flom, Justin Willman, and Nate Staniforth. The current grou ...

which formed in 2014.

Works cited

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staniforth, Nate American magicians American performance artists Living people 1982 births American people of English descent People from Ames, Iowa