Jamy Ian Swiss

An acclaimed master of the challenging art of sleight of hand, Jamy Ian Swiss has performed magic throughout the United States for presenters ranging from Fortune 500 companies to the Smithsonian Institution. He has lectured to magicians in 13 countries and made numerous television appearances in the United States, Europe and Japan, including U.S. appearances on CBS “48 Hours,” PBS “Nova” and the PBS documentary “The Art of Magic,” Comedy Central, and repeat appearances on “The Today Show.”

A gifted sleight-of-hand artist who possesses, as the “Washington Post” once wrote, "a finely tuned sense of the absurd," Swiss was born in Brooklyn, New York and today makes his home in nearby Manhattan, having appeared along the way in performances from Hollywood's Magic Castle to Caesar's Palace on the Las Vegas Strip to the Ginza District of downtown Tokyo. His wildly eclectic resume includes stints as a marketing consultant, telecommunications firm owner, and wild animal handler. His greatest passion, though, is sleight-of-hand magic, and there are few practitioners who can match his skill and enthusiasm. With a bravado that reflects his early days performing in biker bars, Swiss blends contemporary comedy with bravura technical mastery to create a truly unique show that appeals to almost any audience. He has been called magician, comedian, artist; Swiss himself prefers the phrase "Honest Liar"—the title, in fact, of his one-man show in the New York International Fringe Festival.