Villa Amodei has few earmarks of Ivan’s craft. Italianstyle architecture and a tasteful interior designed by his wife, Jenny, lend the property its own magic. (above) Jenny, Julia, Christiano, and Ivan Amodei.
“When I was a little boy—I started magic at age five—I always thought it would be cool to have a secret door in my house,” he says with a smile. Abracadabra! 37 years later, Ivan’s secret door materialized.
junior and senior years of high school. While working as a waiter at the Velvet Turtle, he performed magic for his customers and filled in for the piano player during his breaks. Everybody loved him, especially the customers, many of whom would ask specifically to sit in the “magic guy’s” section. Ivan continued his magic while studying marketing at Cal State University. After college, he focused on his art, performing at corporate events for companies such as Amgen, Coca Cola, and Disney, and at private events for a variety of clients including celebrities Alec Baldwin, Heather Locklear, and Wayne Gretsky. Regardless of the audience, magic is hard work: Ivan has to make things disappear and reappear; he reads people’s minds, destroys things then reassembles them in the blink of an eye; he makes people laugh and puts the audience at ease so they can sit back and enjoy the show without worrying about a possible mishap. The challenge calls to Ivan. The more impossible the feat, the more motivated he is to accomplish it. He tells me about a technique he saw several months ago, and a friend’s comment that it would be “very, very hard to do.” Ivan has been working on the technique ever since. “It takes years to refine just one thing,” he confides. The muscles in his hands cramp from practice, but he won’t stop until the magic is his. And no one will ever see it until his technique and delivery are flawless. Amodei’s passion paid off when he realized his boyhood dream of performing at the Magic Castle in Hollywood—which is the pinnacle of magic the world over. By the time he was invited (sans audition), he was beyond ready. His closeup act, considered one of the best in the business, had been over 10 years in the making; he’d practiced it thousands of times. “I’ve known him for 13 years and I still leave his shows having had the best time. You just laugh through the whole thing,” says Jenny, who has been by Ivan’s side since the moment they welcomed
me into their home. The twins, Julia and Christiano, awake from their nap, are now laughing and clapping—natural entertainers just like their dad. After doing magic for 37 years, Ivan has stories galore. One night he received an unexpected call from a man requesting his services for a private event in Bel Air. For security purposes, the man asked for a full description of his car and his driver’s license number. Ivan accepted the job and two hours later arrived at a lavish home in the hills of Bel Air. He performed his magic for a man in a baseball cap and jeans surrounded by a group of women garbed in exotic fabrics. Ivan didn’t recognize his client until he asked one of the women to pick a card. Her response was a revealing, “If the Prince allows it.” Ivan did another impromptu performance for the guards, then went home and told Jenny, “I just did magic for the Prince of Saudi Arabia.” But this is a man who walks into a room and pulls a full-size pool cue out of thin air. He’s not easily impressed, even by royalty. That’s not to say, however, that he’s never mystified. As we stand on the lawn in front of his ethereal villa, Ivan closes his eyes against the afternoon sun. “I love being outside,” he says. “I never thought I would love grass as much as I do.” Apparently, there are some things that even this magician can’t figure out. v
Ivan Amodei performs world-wide, with frequent appearances at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. He is available for private and corporate events. For more information and to see his show schedule, visit www.ivanamodei.com. Ivan’s wife, Jenny, is the owner of Amodei Designs, a full-service interior design firm at 207 W. Los Angeles Avenue, Suite 324, Moorpark. She is responsible for the elegant design inside Villa Amodei. For more information about her services, call 805.341.2522 or email jenniferamodei@earthlink.net.
APRIL 2008
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