Gregory Wilson (magician)
Gregory Wilson is an American magician[1] and two-time FISM award winner.[2] Known as "The Honest Conman," Wilson specializes primarily in close-up magic, sleight-of-hand, and confidence trickery. He is the subject of a chapter in magician Paul Harris's book, Art of Astonishment, Vol. 1.
Wilson is a regular performer at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, but also performs at large corporate events, trade shows and private functions all over the world. He has been featured in numerous televised specials, including a featured role as a "resident wizard" on Syfy's magic series Wizard Wars with Penn & Teller.
Career
Billing himself as a "deception artist," Wilson began development in the mid-1980's on what would eventually become his signature "Criminal Act," with a focus on pick-pocketing, card-sharking, short-changing, street-swindling and mental manipulation. His work in these fields has been so extensive that he has given his Deception Detection lecture to U.S. federal law enforcement agencies (FBI, CIA, ATF, Secret Service, Homeland Security), as well as numerous state and local police departments who have all consulted him on matters related to his areas of expertise.[3]
Publications
Having created nearly 500 original effects as of 2020, Wilson has published numerous books, notes, and videos teaching different types of sleight of hand, mind reading, and pickpocketing. He has also contributed to numerous journals, magazines, and books on the topic of performing magic, including a column for now-defunct The Magic Menu called "Gregory's Greetings."[4]
Wilson's extensive body of work is available for sale all over the world to magicians of intermediate to advanced skill. Although in the earlier years of his career Wilson relied on major magic retailers to make his works available, much of his published content is now available at The Secret Source, a magic learning platform founded by Wilson in 1996.[5]
Wilson has contributed his works to the following (incomplete) list of publications:
- Magic Magazine
- Genii Magazine
- The Linking Ring
- M-U-M (published by The Society of American Magicians)
- Arcane (a French periodical)[6]
- The Penumbra Magazine[7]
- The Magic Menu[8]
- Channel One Magazine
- VANISH Magazine[9]
- Labyrinth (A Journal of Close-Up Magic)[10]
- Magicseen[11]
- ELIXIR Magazine[12]
Awards and Accolades
Wilson has received numerous accolades for his various magic innovations, as well as awards for competitive performances:
- Third Place, FISM 2000, Close-up Card magic [2]
- Second Place, FISM 2003, Close-up Card magic [2]
- Most Creative Magician of the Year, the International Brotherhood of Magicians, 1998
References
- Schwartzwald, Gary (October 1996), "San Diego Ring 76 Installs", The Linking Ring, 76 (10): 129–130
- "FISM Winners 2000 - 2009". Federation ISM. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
- "Evidence - Gregory Wilson, Deception Artist".
- Wilson, Gregory (March–April 1999). "Gregory's Greetings". The Magic Menu (52): 612.
- "Propaganda".
- "[Arcane Magazine] Greg Wilson en tournée de conférence avec Arcane".
- "Gordon Bean & Bill Goodwin: The Penumbra".
- "Magic Menu volume 10, number 57 (Jan - Feb 2000) by Jim Sisti".
- "VANISH - International Magic Magazine - VANISH MAGIC MAGAZINE Edition19 by PressPad - Issuu".
- "Labyrinth (A Journal of Close-Up Magic) by Stephen Hobbs".
- "Magicseen Issue 48 – Magicseen Magazine".
- "ELIXIR Magazine (All 4 Issues) (Limited/Out of Print)|Magic Ebook".