Years active 1988 to present Website Official website Role Television Actor TV shows THEM | Spouse(s) Stacey Cole Name Danny Cole Alma mater The Magic Castle | |
Born 1978 Los Angeles Occupation Illusionist and magician Awards Academy of Magical Arts Stage Magician of the Year (2004 and 2005) | ||
Danny Cole (May 1978) is an American stage magician and illusionist. He was twice voted the Magician of the Year by the Academy of Magical Arts in 2004 and 2005. Cole has toured internationally as a stage magician and has appeared on network television to perform. In 2004 Cole was featured on the television series THEM (Totally Hidden Extreme Magic).
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Early life
Danny Cole was born in Los Angeles, California to parents Claudette and Gary Cole. He became interested in magic at the age of seven, and became a professional at the age of ten. As of age twelve, the Los Angeles Times covered Cole's work as a magician doing close-up and sleight-of-hand magic. In 1990 he was the winner of the California Exchange Club's Search for Talent as well as other talent competitions. At the time, Cole stated that he practiced upwards of four hours per day, while attending Sowers Middle School in Huntington Beach. Cole attended the Academy of Magical Arts at The Magic Castle, becoming a member of The Magic Castle after auditioning to become a junior member. In 1996, while attending Edison High School in Huntington Beach, he was the winner of the Lance Burton Teenage Stage Contest in Las Vegas, Nevada, and afterwards he was featured as a guest performer on the NBC special Lance Burton, Master Magician: The Encounter, at the age of seventeen.
Career
Danny Cole is a professional illusionist and has stated that, "I do all visual magic. My clothes change color instantly. I float in the air without a chair. I make things disappear and appear right before people's eyes. It's visceral. It's immediate and you can see it." He was the recipient of the Platinum Award for Outstanding Junior Achievement from The Magic Castle in 1999 and in 2000 the World Magic Awards Committee named Cole that year's Rising Star of Magic. In 2003 Cole placed third in the General Magic category of the International Federation of Magic Societies magic convention competition. Cole was then twice voted the Stage Magician of the Year by The Academy of Magical Arts, in 2004 and 2005. The second win in 2005 made Cole ineligible to win the award again according to the Academy's rules.
In 2004 Cole starred in the television series THEM (Totally Hidden Extreme Magic), which aired on NBC. In 2005 the Gettysburg Times noted that Cole was considered "one of the world's premiere magic acts". Cole has toured internationally as a performing magician as well as with the group Magic X, including performances in more than 30 countries. His act was also featured on the MyNetworkTV show Masters of Illusion in 2009.
One of Cole's projects is the creation of videos released on Facebook and the web, which feature illusions that do not use CGI or other effects in order to make items float, shrink, appear, disappear, in apparent defiance of the laws of physics. By early 2013 he had produced nine videos, the first of which was entitled Magic Floating Cube. His videos have featured on CBS News, who noted that Cole had also been interviewed as a passenger over the phone by The Early Show in 2010 during the Carnival Splendor fire. In all, Cole has more than 25 appearances on film and television.
Personal life
Danny Cole married his wife Stacey in 2009, a classically trained dancer and magician's assistant whom he met in 2002. Stacey Cole now serves as an on-stage assistant for Danny Cole as well as his producer and manager.