Vale: ‘The Amazing Johnathan’
Magician and comedian John Edward Szeles, better known as The Amazing Johnathan, has died.
- Published by David Knox
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Magician and comedian John Edward Szeles, better known as ‘The Amazing Johnathan’, has died aged 63.
He died as a result of a critical heart condition, a diagnosis he struggled with since 2007.
“The last thing I said to him was, ‘I love you, honey, I’ll be with you when you get up from your nap,’” wife Anastasia Synn said. “We were feeding him oranges and strawberries. He was so peaceful. He said, ‘Yay!’ He had the most pure and sweetest look on his face.”
‘The Amazing Johnathan’ was a regular visitor to Australia appearing on Hey Hey it’s Saturday, Tonight Live, Good News Week, The Project, and on North American shows Just for Laughs, Jimmy Kimmel, Criss Angel Mindfreak and The Late Show with David Letterman.
His manic stage act work was riotous, violent, and frenetic. With machine-gun precision, he rattled off bits, tricks, and jokes that left stages covered in faux body parts and audiences in stitches.
He began as a teen magician at a birthday party where he ended up locked in the trunk of a car and a chorus of boos.
Three years later, he befriended fellow amateur magician and future Night Court star Harry Anderson, on the cutting edge between magic and comedy.
In the 1980s, he toured colleges and comedy clubs, ending up on Letterman, and The Weird Al Show.
Throughout the 2000s, The Amazing Johnathan made a home in Las Vegas, selling out 500 seats a night.
“Every single night we sold out and then for the next 13 years I had a great time,” he said during a Las Vegas talk in 2014. “The greatest time of my entire life has been here, and I’ve made millions of dollars. I have two beautiful houses, and every thing came crashing down when I was told I had a year to live.”
In 2007, doctors diagnosed Szeles with cardiomyopathy, a degenerative heart condition that affects the tissue surrounding the heart. 2019’s The Amazing Johnathan documentary, followed the final tour of a dying magician becomes an unexpected and increasingly bizarre journey as the filmmaker struggles to separate truth from illusion. Director and friend Ben Berman attempted to get to the truth of Szeles’ condition … unfortunately, the big reveal was that Johnathan was telling the truth.
An upcoming Hey Hey special on Seven is understood to be planning a tribute to a friend of the show.
Source: The AV Club
6 Responses
That is a sad loss. RIP, Legend.
Wow yes he was amazing and popular here, sad.
Must have been hard living with that…originally given a year to live…loved his work…Respect.
RIP Amazing Johnathan. Pen & Teller announced an Australian tour yesterday. I thought to myself “The Amazing Johnathan should be their opening act”
He was always great on Hey Hey, Denton, Tonight Live, etc (I’m guessing that he never appeared on The Midday Show. The Grannies in the audience would pass out!) I wish that the clip of him on Denton was on YouTube. Both his interview on that show and Bobcat Goldthwait’s were crazy
RIP The Amazing Johnathan. Pen & Teller announced an Australian tour yesterday. I thought to myself “Amazing Johnathan should be their opening act”
He was always great on Hey Hey, Denton, Tonight Live, etc (I’m guessing that he never appeared on The Midday Show. The Grannies in the audience would pass out!) I wish that the clip of him on Denton was on YouTube. Both his interview on that show and Bobcat Goldthwait’s were crazy
Very sad. I was invited up on stage at one of his shows in Sydney many years ago. He’ll forever be associated with Hey Hey.