LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — After suspension from one of the most exclusive magic clubs in America, a Las Vegas-based magician says his membership will “disappear” come next week.
The frazzled blonde hair and comedic illusions of Murray SawChuck have enamored Las Vegas Strip audiences for decades, some 22 years. But, it was his online videos that have garnered no applause from the magic community as of late.
In January, he and his wife created videos in their living room with magic props purchased online. This included a disappearing bouquet of flowers, a swallowing sword that raveled up when placed in SawChuck’s mouth and a prosthetic thumb that a tissue was stuffed in to appear as if it vanished.
“I do the tricks cheesy, as I am. Then my wife just busts at me, not impressed, like a wife would be, very similar way that Lucille Ball would do to Desi (Arnaz),” SawChuck said inside his Vegas Valley home, surrounded by magic props of magicians’ past. “I bought some stuff on Amazon, just stuff you can buy literally for five or 10 bucks, and purposefully did it because that means it’s attainable to anybody in the world.”
Videos of SawChuck’s magic have reached viral status since 2015. It wasn’t until these 2024 videos, and nearly 70 million views on Facebook later, that he says the magic community took notice.
In February, the International Brotherhood of Magicians – the self-described “world’s largest organization dedicated to the art of magic” – filed grievances against his “exposure of magic secrets for profit,” per a letter SawChuck provided to NewsNation affiliate KLAS. The petition to the organization’s grievance committee cited violations of its ethics statement and was signed by 27 members.
This triggered the Academy of Magical Arts – a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that a representative said “protects and enhances the art of magic” – to take notice. It’s located inside the Magic Castle in Hollywood, the invite-only clubhouse erected in 1963 that SawChuck has been a member of since the 90s.
“Basically, it’s the Carnegie Hall for magicians,” SawChuck said. “It’s one of those kind of Hollywood evenings you’d see about in the newspaper of the old days.
“You’re looking at being accepted as a professional, and anything that you can add to your resume that makes you look better, it’ll give you better jobs,” he added.
In March, the academy’s board of directors alerted him of his suspension “pending an investigation by the Committee of Member Conduct.” That committee then recommended in May to allow his membership to be unsuspended if he took the videos down within 30 days or face expulsion.
“A lot of people are arguing, going, ‘Well, you did it for money.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I do magic for money.’ That’s how I live in this house. That’s how I pay the bills,” SawChuck said. “I didn’t do it vindictively. I did it for entertainment purposes only.”
In a response letter exclusively shared with KLAS, SawChuck alludes to other “famous performers” with membership to the Magic Castle that have not been reprimanded despite their acts “revealing key magical principals” as his videos do. It goes on to call the academy’s stance “inconsistent” and states “our values no longer align.”
“These companies do need, and clubs, need to look at the world in 2024, because these clubs were invented 50 to 100 years ago, and things have changed but a lot of the rules haven’t,” SawChuck said. “When you’re at my age now, whether I’m a member of the Magic Castle or not, that doesn’t really change my bookings at all. That doesn’t do much anymore. It’s my quality of work.”
When asked for an interview with members of the board of directors, a representative of the Magic Castle instead sent this statement to 8 News Now:
“While we don’t “police” the entire magic community, Mr. Sawchuck is a member of the AMA and, like all AMA members, when he joined, he pledged (among other things) to “oppose the willful and needless public exposure of any principles or methods in the art of magic.” Such public exposure is a violation of the club’s Standing Rules and violations of any of the Standing Rules may result in the offending member being disciplined as set forth in the AMA’s Bylaws.
Due to some of his relatively recent online activity, Mr. Sawchuck was asked to appear before the AMA’s Committee on Member Conduct and has been given the opportunity to take down the video footage in question. The choice to abide by rules agreed upon when becoming a member of the AMA is Mr. Sawchuck’s choice.“
SawChuck has until Sunday to remove the videos or be expelled. He does not plan to do so and is accepting his expulsion.
The Magic Castle declined to provide a list of other notable Las Vegas performers suspended or banned. Another notable Las Vegas act, Penn & Teller, tells 8 News Now that they were expelled in the 80s before an invitation was extended back in the mid-90s.