Vegas magician is canceled by his furious colleagues for making hugely-popular viral videos exposing secrets of the business

A Vegas magician has been canceled by his colleagues who are furious with him for creating viral videos revealing trick secrets.

Illusionist and magician Murray SawChuck, 50, has captivated audiences, especially in the areas of Vegas Comic for over 20 years, but now the magic community isn’t impressed with him.

Tensions began to rise in January when SawChuck and his wife, dancer Dani Elizabeth SawChuck, began uploading magical home videos to his home. Facebook page of classic tricks, including swallowing a torn sword and using a prosthetic thumb with a tissue stuffed in it to make it look like it has disappeared.

His hugely popular videos were quickly noticed by Magic Castle, an exclusive membership club for magicians kicked him out in March, “pending an investigation by the Member Conduct Committee.”

Now fellow magicians are angry at SawChuck because his revealing online videos, which have been popular since 2015, have reached a wider audience of around 70 million people this year.

“I bought some stuff on Amazon, just stuff that you can literally buy for five or ten dollars, and I did that on purpose because that means it’s attainable for anyone in the world,” SawChuck said. 8 News Now.

Murray SawChuck, 50, has faced harsh backlash from the magic community over a series of videos he made with his wife that revealed secrets of classic magic tricks online

Murray showed how the classic ‘sword swallowing’ trick works in one of his viral videos (left). He announced that the sword collapses under pressure (right)

‘I do the tricks cheesy, as I am. Then my wife just attacks me, unimpressed, like a woman would be, very similar to what Lucille Ball would do to Desi (Arnaz),” he added.

Along with the members-only magic club, the Academy of Magical Arts, a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles that “protects and enhances the art of magic,” has also taken note of his videos.

In a recent email shared with 8 News Now, the academy’s board of directors told SawChuck that he is expected to remove videos within 30 days or he will be “removed from the Academy of Magical Arts without further process.” ‘.

In response, SawChuck told the academy that there are other “famous artists” who belong to the exclusive club who have not been treated in the same way as him, even though they also post “revealing important magical principles.”

“Magical exposure is an unavoidable reality in our world, predating the Internet and becoming increasingly intense with its advent,” he added.

SawChuck has been captivating audiences, especially on the Las Vegas Strip, for over twenty years

He said the academy and its values ​​are “no longer aligned” and that the organization’s attitude is “inconsistent.”

‘My career, which has spanned over forty years, should not be judged solely on a handful of videos. Thank you for the past 27 years. I wish the Academy of Magical Arts much success,” he said in his letter.

“Anyone associated with the Academy or The Magic Castle is always welcome at my shows in Las Vegas or on tour.”

The America’s Got Talent star added that people claim he does magic for money, and he agrees with their opinion.

‘Yes, I do magic for money. That’s how I live in this house. This is how I pay the bills. I didn’t do it with a vengeance. I just did it for entertainment purposes.”

In March, SawChuck exclusively told DailyMail.com that the tricks he performed in his video have previously been debunked online, and that if his video hadn’t gone viral, he wouldn’t have been suspended.

“I think I’m being unfairly targeted, in the sense that the things I’m revealing, I’ve shown in videos before,” he said. “So my question is: why now? “I now know why because the video did really well and got a lot of views,” he said.

SawChuck sent a letter back to the Academy of Magical Arts after the nonprofit informed him that he would be expelled if he did not remove his revealing videos.

Tensions began to rise in January when SawChuck and his wife, dancer Dani Elizabeth SawChuck, began uploading magical home videos to his Facebook page. (Photo: the couple on their wedding day in Las Vegas)

“I really believe that if the video had only gotten 100 or 200 views, a lot of people wouldn’t have seen it,” he said.

‘I’ve been giving tricks for a long time. What I think is a bit unfair is the fact that exposing magic is exposing magic. You show how a trick is performed. Right?’

‘And [with] magic, you are supposed to create mystery. You’re not supposed to expose a trick.”

“But if I say so, I want to teach you a trick. Well, teaching is accepted. But teaching a trick is still unmasking. It’s just a nicer way of saying you’re showing a trick to someone who hopefully wants to learn it.”

Noting the irony, Murray noted, “Many of these magicians have learned tricks online or in courses to get people involved in magic. We want to keep this ancient art alive.’

In other videos, SawChuck performed tricks including disappearing flowers, the never-ending handkerchief and a floating orange.

Magician Murray SawChuck believes he was ‘unfairly’ attacked after being banished from the Magic Castle. He has no plans to delete his videos and has accepted his deportation

Murray was a member of Magic Castle and the Academy of Magical Arts for more than 26 years.

A spokesperson for Magic Castle told 8 News Now that they do not “police” the magical community, but as a member SawChuck pledged anyway to “oppose the deliberate and unnecessary public exposure of any principles or methods in the art of magic.”

“Due to some of his relatively recent online activity, Mr. SawChuck was asked to appear before the AMA’s Committee on Member Conduct and was given the opportunity to remove the video footage in question,” she added.

Along with SawChuck, Penn & Teller, other well-known Las Vegas magicians, said they were also kicked out of the club in the 1980s, but were eventually welcomed back more than a decade later.

Magic Castle has not provided a list of other members who have been suspended or banned from the group.

SawChuck now has until Sunday to delete his videos or face expulsion, but he said he has accepted his fate and will not delete them.