Alex Kazam - The Irish Magician

Step 1: Get in touch with information about your event.

Step 2: I check my availability. If I'm not already booked on the day of your event, we'll proceed to Step 3.

Step 3: I'll send you a quote here on GigSalad. THE QUOTE IS AN ESTIMATE. Do not disregard it if I'm a little outside your budget! We can usually figure something out. PRO-TIP: people who provide phone numbers typically get better rates!

Step 4: Other magicians will send quotes. I know many of them personally, and I can vouch for their talent and professionalism. And yet, something just keeps calling you back to that lovable Irish scamp Alex Kazam's page.

Step 5: We chat on the phone about your event to work out the specifics. You hear my exotic Irish accent and think to yourself, "man, my friends/guests/customers will get a kick out of seeing this potato eating mick perform his crazy tricks."

Step 6: You start getting nervous. "Do I really need a magician? Are my guests really worth spending all this money on?" You're on the verge of calling the whole thing off.

Step 7: Your common sense comes surging back. "Of course I need a magician! I need unique entertainment at my event. People will credit my good taste for years to come!"

Step 8: You call me again. Distance and time permitting, we can arrange a live demonstration. We sort out the deposit and start counting down the minutes until your highly anticipated event!

Most biographies on this website sound like they've been written by AI. They're designed to make it sound like each performer emerged from their mother's womb wearing a top hat and carrying a deck of cards. Truly natural-born magicians!

So brace yourself, dear reader. You're about to read an ACTUAL biography of a magician immigrant in Los Angeles!

I grew up in the 90s in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was a crazy time back then - VHS tapes, pogo-sticks, no internet and the occasional car bomb. I was a fan of magic from a young age but a useless magician.

That all changed in the early 2000s when I was trying to show a friend a coin trick outside a pub. A lad standing nearby asked, ‘are you a magician? He was utterly smashed on red wine.

“I’m trying to be,” I replied.

He introduced himself as Caolan, then proceeded to wow everyone in my group with some astonishing sleight of hand. All while pretty drunk! I begged him for help to improve my own pitiful abilities and he guided me to several books and props to buy. From then, I was hooked.

It became a side hustle pretty quickly when a girl at a party offered me a whopping £30 to perform in between rock bands at a gig she was promoting. It was at a great bar called The Empire, which had been converted from an old church hall. The Empire is an institution at this point - one of the oldest pubs in the Queen's University area.

Over the next 9 years I juggled my magic side hustle, playing guitar in a comedy heavy metal band, producing a low-budget zombie movie and a variety of mind-numbing jobs to pay the bills.

In 2014, slowly losing the will to live in a cramped office, I decided to go full time with the magic. I nailed down two residencies at student nightclubs: The Limelight in Belfast and The Academy in Dublin. This is when I began to truly excel. If you can perform for drunken Irish 18-year old lightweights for an entire evening, you can perform for anyone.

During this time I also honed my craft at countless weddings, corporate events, birthday parties and restaurants. I performed at high-end locations, like the Parliament Building in Belfast - where the local government do business, as well as luxury hotels and resorts such as The Galgorm, The Culloden and The Europa. Irish celebrities and politicians witnessed my skills, but I much preferred performing at weddings and birthday parties of my fellow regular folk. I traveled all over the world and enjoyed performing for locals and fellow tourists.

In 2017 I met a really cool American girl at The Empire - the venue where I first got paid for my magic tricks. We became inseparable. For the next few years we’d meet up around the world in 10 different countries. She moved to Ireland during the pandemic, and we decided we had to be together forever.

In 2021 I arrived in her hometown of Los Angeles to become her husband.

When my employment permit arrived, I got to work restarting my career in a new country the only way I knew how: naively walking into venues in Hollywood, asking for the manager and saying, “Hi there, I’m a magician, can I have a job please?”

By some miracle, I managed to get a 5 minute meeting with the owner of an amazing 1920s style restaurant called Room Number 13, right on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The manager: “OH MY GOD I LOVE MAGIC! YES YOU CAN PERFORM HERE! LET’S MAKE A SHOW! I WILL BUILD THE STAGE PROPS!”

Is this how it works in America? I just walk into buildings and people offer to help me create magic shows? There was no time to dwell on the impossibility of it all, because I had to deliver the goods. I became the resident close-up magician, and have performed for many American celebrity customers that I'm still too fresh off the boat to understand who they are (the serving staff inform me of when we have a celeb). The owners and I built my first ever stage illusion show, alongside a great performing team. We perform to sell-out crowds regularly.

Since then I’ve expanded back into private parties and corporate events, become a regular performer at other LA venues such as Rideau and Black Rabbit Rose, and fulfilled a long-held ambition to become a member of the prestigious Magic Castle, home of the Academy of Magical Arts.

That’s my bio. If you want more details about my wild life, hire me for your event and I’ll be happy to share!

BONUS: As a reward for reading this far in my riveting biography, I have a secret to share with you. When you request a quote from me on Gig Salad, use the code word GUINNESS in your message and I'll give you a 10% discount on your quote!