Kent Cummins
“The Fantastic Kent Cummins” combines magic, juggling, comedy, and audience participation in all of his shows, from the smallest performance to the largest stage extravaganza. In his show, Kent tells the story of his life in magic through storytelling, magic, and illusion. A typical show is one hour, but having been a magician for some sixty years, Kent has the repertoire to put on a full evening show when appropriate.
Ramon Galindo, in the Austin American-Statesman, when asked to list the five top magicians of the century, cited Kent for “Stage Magic.” (Okay, it was the last century, but Kent still does between 50 and 100 shows every year!)
As Founder (in 1993) of The Kent Cummins Magic Camp, it should be no surprise that all of Kent’s shows are family-friendly…even his nightclub shows for adults.
Kent brings a lifetime of experience to every show, having performed in Canada, Germany, France, Vietnam, Korea, New Zealand, and all over the United States.
Kent loves to customize his shows for each audience. His “Magic of Books” show has opened the Texas Book Festival Children’s Entertainment Tent for nearly a decade. His Environmental Magic Kit received an award from the Environmental Protection Agency. His “Magic of Character” show, developed for a Central Texas middle school, has been seen at schools throughout the state. For several years, Kent performed as “Mr. See It, the Magician with a Vision,” for Texas State Optical.
Some of his most popular illusions are “The Book of Magic,” which was created for the Austin Public Library’s 1978 Summer Reading Program; “The Human Pincushion,” which was the feature illusion in a 1986 tour with the Mighty Thomas Shows Carnival; and “The Stocks of Zanzibar,” a Houdini Escape with a twist, originated by The Great Scott & Judy.
Kent has also been known to chop off a celebrity’s head in his six-foot French Guillotine, which was originally used to promote the 1965 Warner Brothers movie, Two on a Guillotine, starring Cesar Romero and Connie Stevens. Kent has also sawed hundreds of celebrities and audience members in half with an original illusion using a power saw!
Kent says that his favorite illusion is, “the levitation of a beautiful woman!” Kent first performed this illusion while still in high school in Baton Rouge, with his little sister as the floating lady. He has also performed the illusion on the beach in Galveston and with a beauty pageant winner in the middle of the boulevard in Las Vegas!
Kent’s first official recognition was at the 1960 Texas Association of Magicians Convention, when he received the Teenage Trophy for his magic show. The next year, at the Southeastern Association of Magicians Convention, he was awarded the A. Coke Cecil Showmanship Trophy for his juggling act.
Kent’s most recent recognition was “Magician of the Year” by the International Brotherhood of Magicians Ring 60 in 2008.
Kent has made Austin, Texas, his home since 1986, and can be reached at (512) 288-1596, or kent@magiccamp.com.