# Magician/comedian The Amazing Johnathan is dying \[Update: He got better\] {RIP 2/23/2022} **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [January 29, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258 "2015-01-29T19:00:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/41 "2017-03-13T20:09:34Z")
… I thought this thread had popped up because he’d passed on…happy he’s still working… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/42 "2017-03-13T21:55:52Z")
Huh, I thought for sure that I had read that he’d died, too. Well, good that he hasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/43 "2017-03-13T21:56:33Z")
Hooray for stem cell treatment! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/44 "2017-03-14T00:18:39Z")
Oh, and to spare any more confusion like **Kamino Neko** ’s, I’ve edited the title. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/45 "2017-03-14T12:34:18Z")
“TaDa!!” ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/46 "2022-02-23T16:04:13Z")
Well, he passed away. RIP. > **[The Amazing Johnathan, the ‘Freddy Krueger of comedy,’ dead at 63](https://nypost.com/2022/02/23/the-amazing-johnathan-standup-comic-and-magician-dead-at-63/)** > > Vegas headliner John Edward Szeles delighted in shocking audiences with faux-gore and pranks. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/47 "2022-02-23T16:23:03Z")
Hw was a great magician, but so funny that he could actually do an entire set without completing a single magic trick and still get applause at the finish. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/48 "2022-02-23T16:29:57Z")
I saw him live in Vegas and never laughed so much. He did not complete the magic trick he was supposed to do, but riffed on things the entire time. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/49 "2022-02-23T16:40:47Z")
I first (only?) saw him as a frequent performer on a TV standup show. As funny as anything/one I’ve ever seen. What a treat. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/50 "2022-02-23T16:52:12Z")
I don’t usually like prop comedy, but he was great. I especially enjoyed his jack-in-the-box bit. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/51 "2022-02-23T18:50:57Z")
Well, he passed away. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/52 "2022-02-23T21:15:28Z")
Alas, his heart condition was indeed real and not a prank in any way. I saw the documentary on Hulu a few year ago, but I mainly remember his Comedy Central Presents special. Very funny. [He was 63 years old.](https://www.avclub.com/rip-amazing-johnathan-magician-standup-comedian-1848583983) ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/53 "2022-02-23T21:28:00Z")
“Sometimes magic sounds like tape” I saw him in Las Vegas in the early 2000s, his show was frantic and very funny ETA: I see in the AV Club article someone else remembered the same punchline as me. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/54 "2022-02-23T21:28:12Z")
He will be missed. I got to see him live once. Amazing show. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/55 "2022-02-23T21:52:22Z")
[Moderating] I’ve merged in a thread. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258/56 "2022-02-23T21:54:23Z")
My favorite act I saw from him, he was “object reading” a wristwatch from a random audience member. “I sense that this watch was a gift? Given to you by someone very special to you”, and suchlike cold-reading… leading up to the reveal that the “someone special” was Johnathan himself, and the random audience member was his wife. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magician-comedian-the-amazing-johnathan-is-dying-update-he-got-better-rip-2-23-2022/711258.md?page=2)