At 1.00 pm today Melbourne Magician was crowned the new World Champion of Magic after being awarded the Grand Prix in Quebec, Canada.
Every three years thousands of magicians gather in a different city for their equivalent of the Olympic Games. They compete to see who is the best in a number of different events including Close-Up Magic, Grand Illusions, Manipulation, Mentalism and more.
Earlier this morning, Simon Coronel was declared the winner in the Close-Up Magic championship, which meant that he then went on to compete with the other winners in a battle royale.
After almost two hours of officiating, the judges returned with the decision and the room of over 2,000 magicians exploded with delight to hear that Simon Coronel is now officially, ‘Best of the Best’.
Here in Melbourne, this comes as no surprise. After presenting his first show at The Melbourne Magic Festival, we knew he had something special. Festival Director Tim Ellis said “Simon has an air of genuine mystery about him. A playful curiosity that enables him to share his original creations with the audience as he seems just as amazed by the magic as they are.”
Simon went on to fool Penn & Teller not once, but three times!
At the conclusion of his performance yesterday where he linked a spectator’s ring to a playing card and then gave it to her, they had to pause the competition because over 100 magicians rushed the stage to get a close look at it. This has NEVER happened at a World Championship before and social media erupted with seasoned magicians saying “I have never seen anything as magical as this in my life!” and “I have zero idea how he did that!!!”
In his performance this morning for the Grand Prix, it was just as strong, with FISM commentator Donal Chance writing, ”You cannot believe the reaction his performance caused. It was so strong that at the conclusion of his performance for the Grand Prix a few hours ago he had to ask the audience volunteer who lent him the ring to go backstage rather than return to their seat because of the tremendous commotion that would have caused in the auditorium as everyone clamoured to get a look at his “souvenir”!
Australia was only permitted to send two other competitors and both received unprecedented standing ovations.
Dom Chambers, whose hilarious act with a condom immediately went viral.
Vincent Kuo, who solved a Rubik Cube with one hand while playing a virtuoso piano piece with the other, won the Second Place Award in the Parlour Magic Competition.
