I am deeply honored to announce that The Academy of Magical Arts, better known as the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California, has awarded me with the 2024 Performing Fellowship.

The Performing Fellowship is presented annually to a magician who has made an outstanding contribution, through performance and a lifetime of dedication, to the art of magic. I was genuinely surprised when the director of the Academy of Magical Arts contacted me with the news, especially when viewing the list of prior Performing Fellowship recipients: Cardini, Jimmy Grippo, Slydini, Channing Pollock, Richiardi, René Lavand, Juan Tamariz, Johnny Thompson, Eugene Burger, Harry Lorayne, Doug Henning, Blackstone Jr, and Penn & Teller. The list is basically all of my heroes in magic! (A complete list of recipients, dating back to 1968, is included below.)

On May 17, 2024 I accepted the award at the United Theatre in downtown Los Angeles in front of 1,600 people at a black-tie award ceremony, considered the Academy Awards of magic.

Simon Helberg, from Big Bang Theory, introduced me on stage as follows: “Steve Cohen took his love of magic and intimate performance and created an astonishing success story. His show Chamber Magic has been an off-Broadway staple for over twenty years, first at the Waldorf Astoria hotel and currently at the Lotte New York Palace. A fan of the legendary Max Malini he has single-handedly carried the Malini tradition into today. The Academy of Magical Arts awards this year’s parlour Performing Fellowship to Steve Cohen!”

Here is the text of my acceptance speech:

Thank you very much for this incredible honor. I’m grateful for the recognition.

I’ve performed my show Chamber Magic at luxury hotels in New York City for over two decades. I’ve given over six thousand performances in the most competitive theater city in the world. Over half a million people have come to visit, which is a lot when you consider my audiences average about 50 people.

One man has been the show seventeen times, each time with a different girlfriend.

It’s gratifying to know that something about Chamber Magic has resonated with so many people that, no matter the price, they want to return and share it with their friends and family.

In this modern world of spectacles, fueled by algorithms and CGI, what catches people’s attention is the spectacular. Right? “The bigger the better.”

My agenda has always been the opposite: Go smaller. Slow down. Attempt to impact people personally, one on one. To my mind, this smaller scale brings a directness and simplicity to both our relationships and our life experience.

This award confirms other people in our field feel the same way. As its proud recipient, I will earnestly continue my work with renewed passion.

I want to thank Mark Levy, my best friend and the co-creator of the show Chamber Magic, for his boundless support.

And thank you to the Academy of Magical Arts for recognizing me with this award of a lifetime.

There are two categories of awards presented annually by the Academy of Magical Arts: Fellowships chosen by the Board of Trustees, and Showroom awards voted by the members.

The Showroom Awards are akin to the Oscars, Grammys, and Tonys. They are voted on by a large body of members. The Fellowships, on the other hand, are more like the Governors Awards given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. For this reason, the Fellowships are considered by many the most credible awards in magic.

The plaque reads:

The Academy wishes to acknowledge the extraordinary artistic achievements of Steve Cohen, whose long-running theatrical program, Chamber Magic, represents the very best in intimate magical entertainment presented in an elegant, sophisticated style. Inspired by historical heroes in the craft of conjuring such as Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser and Max Malini, Mr. Cohen has drawn upon a rarefied tradition of exquisite jewel-box magic shows served up with grace and good humor. The Academy of Magical Arts hereby commends Chamber Magic for becoming a venerable institution on the New York theater scene and a world-class celebration of the art of enchantment.

It is a great honor to be recognized by The Academy of Magical Arts, an organization I so greatly admire. I first became a Magic Castle member in 1994. Thank you to all in the magic community who have shown me incredible kindness over the years.

Recipients of the Performing Fellowship (1968 to 2024)

Cardini, Harry Willard the Wizard, Slydini, Frakson, Kuda Bux, Richiardi, Les Levante, Maurice Rooklyn, Marvyn Roy & Carol, Channing Pollock, Neil Foster, Roy Benson, Tihany, Leon Mandrake, Russell Swann, Johnny Platt, Jimmy Grippo, Wandas Bennett, Ali Bongo, Andre Kole, John Calvert, The Morettis, Billy McComb, Bert Easley, Carl Ballantine, Johnny Thompson, Mardoni & Louise, Eddie Tullock, Will Rock, Tom & Liz Tucker, Siegfried & Roy, Shimada, Milo & Roger, Topper Martyn, Del Ray, Don Alan, Terry Seabrooke, Harry Blackstone Jr., Norm Nielsen, Chuck & Jan Jones, Jack Kodell, Doug Henning, Tommy Wonder, Mike Skinner, Peter Reveen, Rene Lavand, Martin Nash, Goldfinger & Dove, Bruce Cervon, Ed & Nancy Keener, Juan Tamariz, Richard Ross, The Pendragons, Earl Nelson, Harry Lorayne, Walter “Zaney” Blaney, Magic Christian, Flip Hallema, Bobby Baxter, Chen Kai, Eugene Burger, Dr. Sawa, Penn & Teller, Howie Schwarzman, Celeste Evans, Pam Thompson, J.C. Wagner, Franz Harary, Bob White, Finn Jon, David Williamson, David Kaye, John Carney, Greg Frewin, Luis Piedrahita, Fielding West, Ray Anderson, Bill Malone, Eric Mead, Raymond Crowe, Charlie & Sherry Frye, Armando Lucero, Juliana Chen, Jorge Blass, Steve Cohen