Peter West is no stranger to magic. It all began at the age of 5 when he received a magic set for Christmas. It wasn't long before he outgrew the set and began frequenting the local magic shops. Shortly before he turned 10, this young Merlin made his big stage debut as a performing magician at the Roxbury School Spring Concert. He was a hit from the beginning and quickly became in demand for birthday parties, church fairs, Girl Scout/Boy Scout events, store openings, corporate functions and numerous others. Peter has been featured locally on News 12's The Exchange on numerous occasions including several appearances at the annual Norwalk Oyster Festival, where he has received critical acclaim.
After performing locally for several years it was time to go national. Peter joined a local assembly of the Society of Young Magicians (S.Y.M.). There he met Bill Andrews, Past National President of the prestigious Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.) and renowned creator of award winning magic acts, who began coaching Peter in magic.
At only 12 years old, Peter competed in the World Class Stage Magic Competition sponsored by the S.A.M. at their national convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. After witnessing his performance, the judges awarded Peter the Klienman Award as the "Most Promising Young Magician in Stage Magic." As a result of this accomplishment, Peter was invited in August 1992, by Cesareo Palaez to appear as a guest performer at the Cabot Street Theatre in Beverly, Massachusetts, in "Marco the Magi's Production of Le Grand David and his Own Spectacular Magic Company." Peter performed his award winning stage act every evening with the company's production for seven consecutive performances.
Peter has also performed at the S.A.M national conventions in New Orleans (July, 1993) and Boston (July, 1995). In March 1994, Peter was chosen as the cover magician featured in the national brochure published by the S.Y.M. Later that month Peter was selected as the youngest of 10 teenagers from across the U.S. to appear in a Las Vegas showcase competition. The event was held at the Desert Magic Seminar held at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino. Peter was invited to return to the showcase again in April of 1996.
In April 1995, Peter was one of 15 finalists selected for the 1995 Teen Talent contest sponsored by the Stamford Rotary Club held at Stamford's Center for the Arts where he received the highest honors of "1st Place." He went on to receive "1st Place" at the Junior Stage Contest at Abbotts Magic Get-Together in Michigan in August, 1995; and in May 1996, Peter competed in the Junior Stage Competition at the Florida State Magic Convention in Fort Lauderdale where he received another "1st Place."
In 1997 Peter graduated from Westhill High School in Stamford. Before even graduating high school, he began producing and performing his own full-length illusion show featuring illusions such as floating lady, and the classic sawing a woman in half. During his time at Westhill, Peter created and produced the schools first ever television news program, which aired on local television.
In May 2001, Peter graduated from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut with a Bachelors Degree in Mass Communications. During his time at Quinnipiac, he took a brief hiatus from the stage to focus on his studies. Although not performing regularly, Peter was hired by residential life to teach magic classes for other students.
In July of 2007, Peter was awarded the Milbourne Christoper Award for "Notable Contributions to the Art of Magic" at a S.A.M convention in Dallas, TX.
These days Peter does a lot more than just performing magic. He is sought after for his wealth of knowledge in magic and theatre. He works as a consultant for theatre's looking to add magic to a production. He often works with the actors teaching them how to perform an effect while other times he works with the set design team for times when they need specially fabricated equipment or when the plan calls for someone to vanish onstage. Peter also spends much of his time developing magic both for him and other magicians. Peter's reputation for bringing peoples ideas to life has earned him a lot of praise.
Copyright © 2012 Peter West Magic.