You're not wrong: The only time we've covered anything in the way of biographical details in this column about comedy magician Mac King was almost precisely a year ago, when we answered a Question of the Day regarding who is the current Strip performer who's headlined in Vegas the longest. (We deemed it pretty much a tie between Mac and fellow comedian Carrot Top --see the QoD Archives 7/14/14.) So, allow us now to expand somewhat on a few points we touched on in that answer.
Originally hailing from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, the 56-year-old King was like many kids in becoming interested in magic tricks at a young age but in his case, this was thanks to both of his grandfathers being keen amateur practitioners, which seems to have fostered a deeper love of prestidigitation in the young Mac. He started out putting on little shows to entertain friends and family and got his first paid gig -- for which he earned the princely sum of $10 (and some cake) -- performing at a birthday party at the tender age of 10.
Fellow magician Lance Burton also hails from Kentucky and the two have been friends since those early days, when they'd hang out during summer vacations and cut their teeth with a two-man act performing three times a day, seven days a week, at a western-themed park in Cumberland Falls.
King went on to attend Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on a National Merit Scholarship and graduated with Highest Honors in 1981 with a double major in Anthropology and Magic, which we figure probably makes him a bona fide wizard. From there, he took his solo show on the road and one night met the woman who would go on to become his wife, when she was an audience volunteer at one of his shows. Mac King and Jennifer Sils were married in Louisville in 1985 and remain husband and wife to this day.
Mac's particular brand of funny, family-friendly (aside from his insistence on eating live goldfish, obviously), and often visually based comedy magic has proven to be a strength over the years that's made him a popular hire for corporate events, not just in the US but all over the world, since his act transcends language barriers. He's also landed multiple TV gigs, starting with shows like "An Evening at the IMPROV" and "Comic Strip Live" back in the '80s and graduating to big network specials, with King becoming a staple fixture on NBC's multiple "The Worlds Greatest Magic" and "The World's Wildest Magic" shows.
Parallel to his performing, Mac King also began establishing a reputation as a creative inventor of tricks and illusions, with David Copperfield and Penn & Teller ranking among some of his early clients. In '87 he and his wife had moved to Los Angeles, but the NBC tapings all took place at Caesars Palace, so the magician started to get noticed, and develop a rapport, with Las Vegas. He and Jennifer finally relocated here in 1997.
There followed a string of gigs for King as the de rigueur "magic act" in Strip production shows, including Spellbound at Harrah’s and The Great Radio City Music Hall Spectacular at what was then The Flamingo Hilton (now just the Flamingo). He was the opening act for comedian Rita Rudner at The Desert Inn and was among the featured acts in Splash! at the Riviera, but it wasn't until January 2000 that King finally landed his own one-man gig, The Mac King Comedy Magic Show, at Harrah's. (Well, actually he first landed a solo gig at the Maxim, but the place went belly up, through no fault of King's, just two months after he debuted. Fortunately, his talent and connections won through and he landed his ongoing residency after Harrah's decision makers saw him in his final days at the Maxim.) What started out as a two-year engagement at the center-Strip property is still going strong today and is currently contracted through the end of this year. Other professional accolades he can boast of include having broken a Guinness World Record, along with being named "Magician of the Year" by Hollywood's famous Magic Castle.
Evidently a man who doesn't like too much spare time on his hands, in addition to performing and inventing Mac, along with his cousin Bill (who supplies the illustrations), discovered a talent for creating cartoon strips and gained national syndication for his multi award-winning "Mac King's Magic in a Minute", which aims to spread his enthusiasm and talent for performing tricks throughout the entire population. He still takes his show on the road, too. And he writes how-to magic books.
On the more personal front, Mac and Jennifer are active members of the Las Vegas community and he's an avid promoter of childhood literacy, via his annual Magical Literacy Tour, which has been active for as long as the current writer can recall. It's an annual drive to encourage donations of children's books, which King then delivers in person to kids in at-risk schools. The couple are also stalwart supporters of the local NPR station, 88.9 KNPR, and actively take part in (and donate to financially) every on-air pledge drive.
Many years ago, having just filmed a documentary series about magic here in Las Vegas (among other places), this writer wound up being a guest at Mac's annual New Year's Eve party at his home. Somehow I also ended up being designated as the host's partner in a star-studded game of Pictionary (we killed it, by the way) so I can confirm from personal experience that he's as funny and easy-going in real life as he appears to be on stage or television. Mac King has long been a friend to LVA and our Member Rewards program, which currently features an offer for two free tickets to his show at Harrah's with the purchase of one adult beverage.
To demonstrate what an easy-going and approachable guy Mac is, we're posting a screen shot of a Twitter exchange from last summer, when we'd stepped away from our desk and returned to find -- completely coincidentally -- two almost identical cropped celebrity photos adjacent to each other in our timeline: One was a photo of Mac King, flaunting evidence of his precocious love affair with the most vulgar of plaid suits; this was juxtaposed with a selfie of rapper Scott Mescudi (who also seems like a decent bloke), and it made us smile. Mac agreed; sadly, we don't think Kid Cudi noticed our tweet, but he probably would've liked it too if he had.
We hope this satisfies your curiosity and Mac, if we missed something or goofed on any of the facts, do please drop us a line -- you're officially LVA's favorite magician!
