Justin Willman

Justin Willman
Willman at WonderCon 2015
Born (1980-07-11) July 11, 1980
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Other names Justin Kredible
Alma mater Emerson College
Occupation Magician, entertainer, television personality, actor, comedian
Spouse(s)
Jillian Sipkins (m. 2015)
[1]

Justin Willman (born July 11, 1980) is an American magician, actor, entertainer, comedian, and television personality. He hosts the shows Cupcake Wars and King of Cones on the Food Network and Win, Lose or Draw on Disney Channel.

Early life

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Justin Willman began entertaining at the age of 12, after breaking both of his arms. His orthopedic surgeon recommended he learn card tricks as an alternative to physical therapy and to get the dexterity back in his hands. Soon he was performing for friends and family then eventually at birthday parties under the stage name "Justin Kredible", a name given to him by his mother.[2] He has since dropped the stage name, using his given name Justin Willman in all of his professional work.

Willman graduated from Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis, then graduated from Emerson College in Boston,[3] where he majored in Broadcast Journalism.

Career

Willman has performed his magic on "Magic Meltdown" on YouTube,[4] which became a webseries for the Nerdist Channel[5] and incorporated some of the tricks from his magic tours. In Magic Meltdown Justin performed tricks based on a chosen topic such as technology, children, and food.

In 2011, he performed for the first family for the White House Halloween party.[6] In 2014, James Galea called on Willman along with Justin Flom and Nate Staniforth to form Band of Magicians.[7]

TV host

From 2009 to 2013, Willman hosted Cupcake Wars on Food Network.[8][9] He also hosted Halloween Wars[10] and Last Cake Standing on Food Network, and the variety show Hubworld and the game show Scrabble Showdown on the Hub Network.[11]

In 2014, Willman began hosting Win, Lose or Draw on Disney Channel, a revival of the teen version of the Burt Reynolds and Bert Convy classic game show.[12] The series debuted on March 3, 2014. In July, Comedy Central ordered a pilot for Sleight of Mouth, a weekly magic-based variety show hosted by Willman. The show was not picked up, but Comedy Central aired the pilot in April 2015 as a special.[13]

Willman is the host and executive producer of the show Magic for Humans, which was released on Netflix on August 17, 2018.[14]

Acting

Willman has guest starred on the CBS show Defenders, and made a cameo on the Disney sitcom The Suite Life on Deck where he played Armando.[15]

In 2014, he appeared in a short called All's Fair, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Comedian Justin Willman and His Bride Follow Drunk History Parody with Magical First Dance". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  2. ↑ Early start as a magician helped by Dr, www.all-about-magicians.com, retrieved 2013-09-27
  3. ↑ "JUSTIN WILLMAN | First Avenue". first-avenue.com. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  4. ↑ Vankin, Deborah (2011-12-09), LA times article – Magic Meltdown show, www.latimes.com, retrieved 2013-09-27
  5. ↑ Magic Meltdown webseries for Nerdist, www.nerdist.com, retrieved 2013-09-27
  6. ↑ Performance at the White House, www.daytondailynews.com, retrieved 2013-09-27
  7. ↑ "Welcome to Time Out".
  8. ↑ Food Network Bio, www.foodnetwork.com, archived from the original on 2013-10-04, retrieved 2013-09-27
  9. ↑ Cupcake Wars Show Page, www.foodnetwork.com, retrieved 2013-09-27
  10. ↑ Halloween Wars Show Page, www.foodnetwork.com, retrieved 2013-09-27
  11. ↑ Hubworld Article, www2.variety.com, retrieved 2013-09-27
  12. ↑ Laura Prudom (2013-04-17), Disney Channel brings back games show Win, Lose or Draw, www.huffingtonpost.com, retrieved 2013-09-27
  13. ↑ Justin Willman Lands Comedy Central Special from Chris Hardwick, www.variety.com, retrieved 2016-06-16
  14. ↑ "Magic for Humans with Justin Willman on Netflix August 17, 2018". Brian Harrington. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  15. ↑ Behind the Scenes Suite Life Deets, www.m-magazine.com, retrieved 2013-09-27
  16. ↑ "All's Fair - Short Film". www.shortoftheweek.com.
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