The Amazing Johnathan Net Worth 2024

What was The Amazing Johnathan’s Net Worth?

The Amazing Johnathan was an American stand-up comedian and magician who had a net worth of $15 million on the time of his loss of life in February 2022. He described himself because the “Freddy Krueger of Comedy,” and he launched the specials “Wrong on Every Level” (2006) and “The Amazing Johnathan Live” (2007). He additionally directed and co-produced “The Amazing Johnathan Live.”

For 13 years, he headlined in Las Vegas year-round, starting on the Golden Nugget in 2001. In 2008, he opened the members-only drive-in movie show the Amazing Underground in Las Vegas, and throughout the 2012 Halloween season, he opened the SCREAMont Experiment, a 35,000 sq. foot haunted lodge attraction. Johnathan printed “Every Trick within the Book,” a information to sensible jokes and magic tips, in 2001.

He is the topic of two documentaries, “Always Amazing: The True Story of the Life, Death and Return of The Amazing Johnathan” (2018) and “The Amazing Johnathan Documentary” (2019).

Early Life

The Amazing Johnathan was born John Edward Szeles on September 9, 1958, in Detroit, Michigan. He grew up in Fraser, Michigan, with mom Doreen, father Edward, and sisters Gail and Nancy. Edward was a draftsman who designed army gear and tanks. Johnathan attended Bethlehem Lutheran School and Fraser High, and he has mentioned that he was a “under common scholar.” He purchased his first magic trick in 1973 and commenced taking classes from novice magician/magic store proprietor Bob Moats. Johnathan’s first present happened at a neighbor’s party, and in 1975, he entered the Fraser High expertise contest and all six tips he carried out failed.

In 1976, Johnathan traveled to California with some buddies and determined to remain for awhile. He hitchhiked from Los Angeles to San Francisco together with his good friend Kathy, and so they lived in a scholar co-op in Berkeley. Johnathan determined to strive avenue performing to become profitable, and whereas engaged on his avenue present, he met avenue act/future “Night Court” star Harry Anderson, whose act impressed him so as to add comedy to his present. Johnathan then met A. Whitney Brown, a future “Saturday Night Live” author and “Daily Show” correspondent, who taught him tips on how to write comedy. By 1980, Johnathan’s exhibits on Fisherman’s Wharf attracted such massive crowds that he was arrested for obstruction a number of occasions. He later did out of doors exhibits at Pier 39, then he carried out his first comedy membership gig on the Holy City Zoo…and he killed.

Career

After acting at an business evening showcase on the Hollywood Improv, Johnathan made his tv debut in 1983, showing in “The eighth Annual Young Comedians Show” and guest-starring on “Thicke of the Night.” He quickly appeared on “Late Night with David Letterman,” and in 1986, he was one in every of 4 comedians chosen to do a personal present for President Ronald Reagan and François Mitterrand, the President of France. The three different comedians Reagan selected have been Jerry Seinfeld, Larry Miller, and Yakov Smirnoff. In 1991, Johnathan hosted the range/recreation present “Ruckus,” which he co-created with Merv Griffin. In the early ’90s, he appeared on “The Chuck Woolery Show,” “The A-List,” and “Viva Cabaret,” and he was featured in a number of episodes of “An Evening on the Improv” between 1988 and 1994. In 1997, he guest-starred on “The Weird Al Show” and appeared on “Make Me Laugh” and “The World’s Wildest Magic.” Johnathan acquired his personal episode of “Comedy Central Presents” in 2001, and he appeared within the documentary “The Aristocrats” in 2005. He appeared on Fox’s “Comic Strip Live” 24 occasions, and he grew to become common in Australia resulting from his many appearances on “Hey Hey It’s Saturday.”

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In 2001, Johnathan met actress/comedian Penny Wiggins on the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, California, and she or he quickly grew to become his onstage assistant, “Psychic Tanya,” and appeared with him in 2006’s “Wrong on Every Level” and 2007’s “The Amazing Johnathan Live.” In 2005 and 2006, Johnathan appeared in three episodes of “Criss Angel Mindfreak,” and in 2008, he was featured within the TV particular “The Mad Men of Comedy Magic.” In 2013, he started internet hosting “Burn Unit,” which is described as “a weekly video podcast for the politically incorrect.” In 2018, Johnathan appeared as himself within the horror film “The Litch,” and in 2021, he was animated within the “Rickdependence Spray” episode of “Rick and Morty.” Johnathan has held residencies at a number of Las Vegas venues, together with the Harmon Theater (on the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino) and Bally’s, and he has appeared on quite a few tv exhibits, similar to “Just for Laughs,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” and “Masters of Illusion.”

Personal Life

Johnathan married Sandra Bowing in 1995, and so they divorced in 2000. In June 7, 2014, he married efficiency artist Anastasia Synn at A Special Memory Chapel in Las Vegas. The ceremony was officiated by comedian Gallagher, and friends included David Copperfield and Penn and Teller. Johnathan is stepfather to Synn’s daughter, Haley. He has been open about his use of cocaine and meth all through his life, and he as soon as said, “My entire present was written totally on coke. I’d fake to snort ‘faux’ coke on stage – but it surely was actual. I truly even freebased backstage.”

In 2007, it was introduced that Johnathan had been recognized with a “critical coronary heart situation,” which his web site recognized as cardiomyopathy. In 2014, he revealed that he solely had 12 to fifteen months to dwell and can be retiring. At this level, his coronary heart was performing at 15% capability, and he wasn’t eligible for a coronary heart transplant resulting from Type 2 diabetes. He carried out what he thought can be his remaining present at The Magic Castle in Los Angeles on July 1, 2014. Luckily, Johnathan outlived his medical doctors’ prognosis, and in 2017, he went on tour across the U.S. He mentioned of his determination to come back out of retirement, “They gave me a 12 months and a half and that was virtually three years in the past, and I get bored with sitting and ready for it to occur. So I simply thought, I’m going to return to work…If I die, I die on stage, somewhat than in my mattress.” According to Johnathan’s web site, “a lot of the impairment brought on by the shortage of circulation has healed virtually utterly.”

Johnathan died on February 22, 2022 on the age of 63.

Awards and Nominations

Johnathan has received the “Las Vegas Review-Journal’s” Best Comedian award, and the publication named him one of many Top Ten Acts in Vegas. He earned “Nevada Magazine’s” Comedian of the Year award, and the International Magic Awards named him Best Comedy Magician 3 times. In 2020, “The Amazing Johnathan Documentary” earned Johnathan a spot on the Cinema Eye Honors Awards listing of The Unforgettables, which acknowledges “notable and vital nonfiction movie topics.”