Charles Bach

Charles Bach is an international illusionist, magician and escape artist. He has appeared all over the world, including performances at the Magic Castle in Hollywood and Branson. He has also been seen on the E! Entertainment Channel, The Discovery Channel and The Food Network, and has made many other appearances on international TV around the world including England, the Netherlands, Norway, North Korea and Taiwan. Bach is currently the only magician in the world performing an incredible death-defying Underwater Escape locked in 100 pounds of chains, locks and shackles.^[1] Bach is also the creator of the Magic App called Magic Tunes that allows you to perform an amazing magic trick with the music on your phone.^[2]

Early life

Bach was born to parents Karen and Wayne Bach in , Illinois. Bach started doing magic when he was 8 years old after his uncle showed him a card trick. He figured out how to do it and performed the trick the next day for his family. He built stages and props out of cardboard boxes, floated balls around his room, made puppets from socks, and trained a white dove and rabbit to travel and perform at thousands of birthday and Christmas parties. At 12, Bach started taking dance and acting to help him on stage. Throughout all his theatrical training and dance performing experiences, Bach continued to perform magic shows, study magic books and create his own original illusions. He began performing at Caesar’s Magical Empire in Las Vegas. Following his four-year-long Las Vegas residency, Bach was approached by theme parks, resorts, casinos and luxury cruise lines to perform his own show.^[3][4]

Education

Bach attended the University of Iowa and graduated in 1993 with a bachelor of fine arts. He studied and performed ballet, modern dance, and choreography with some of the top teachers from major dance companies including Joffrey Ballet, David Parson Dance, Shapiro and Smith Dance. After he graduated, he continued his studies with Joffrey Ballet in New York City and was offered a number of jobs with dance companies and shows including Connecticut Ballet, Cleveland/San Jose Ballet, Carousel Dinner Theater, and Galvaston Island.

Career

In 1994, Bach performed as a singer and dancer in 12–14 shows per week for the Shoji Tabuchi Show, a two-hour music and dance production featuring violinist Shoji Tabuchi and a 30-member cast of musicians, dancers, and singers.

In 1996, Bach was brought on by Paul Stone to oversee the products, demonstrators, videos, and scheduling at the magic shop at the Lance Burton Theatre at the Monte Carlo Resort in Las Vegas. This one-year project involved creating a special line of magic products, ordering and keeping stock, scheduling, payroll, hiring and training demonstrators for the magic, and producing a pre-show entertainment involving a disembodied head that interacted with guests in the theater lobby. Later that year Bach signed on as an original cast member in an $80 million magical themed entertainment dinner and show experience, Wizard at Caesars Magical Empire. He was cast as a lead performer in the show and one of the few magicians brought on board as actor, singer, magician. He was also involved in the process of testing and editing the script, choreography, magic, lighting, and effects.^[5]

In the year 2000, Bach founded Charles Bach Wonders which was a combination of original magic, theatrical staging, and choreography. Bach toured in Asia performing in two production shows touring Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, and China.^[6]

In 2010 and early 2011, Bach starred with his grand illusions and escapes in the resident show GLITZ at Resorts World Genting in Malaysia. The show was extended to Sept 11, 2011 by popular demand.^[7]

Since 2014, Charles Bach has been the resident illusionist on NCL Pride of America cruise ship in Hawaii. He performs his Wonders! Show, Pure sleight of hand close-up show, a magic workshop and an Underwater Escape in the pool onboard.^[8]

In 2016, Charles was a guest artist on Penn & Teller's Fool Us! performing an original illusion he created just for the show.^[9]

Personal life

Bach currently lives in Las Vegas and continues to tour his illusion show Wonders on a regular basis.

References