Biography...

     At the ripe age of nine, Barry Valentine, neophyte magician, first performed for an audience of one, his mother, making a half dollar climb up inside a 16 oz glass, over the lip and into his hand.   His mother was astounded.  He was hooked!

     A tall jocular man with laughing eyes, he came to the world of magic from Anderson, Indiana.  His show business roots extend back to his father, a singer-songwriter who at one time sang in a trio with Roy Rogers and Smiley Burnette and had his own radio show.

     Valentine's family eventually moved to Indianapolis, where Barry attended high school.  After graduating, the budding magician decided to head for California.

     Although he'd been practicing magic since the age of nine - later incorporating it with comedy - he did not consider becoming a professional magician.  Performing at parties for the sheer enjoyment of it.

     Valentine became, among other things, a test driver for Chevrolet, a herd rider whose job it was to keep horses from straying onto the San Diego freeway, and a house detective at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

    He emerged from a four year stint in the Air Force, (which he claims to have joined because he wanted the regulation raincoat) a specialist in top secret cryptographic communications.  Valentine through a fortunate twist of fate, found himself performing and quickly becoming much in demand - playing the Tropicana and the Sahara in Las Vegas.  However, fifteen months later the versatile performer decided to leave the business altogether in order to attend college and pursue a career in journalism.

     While in college, Valentine became sidetracked by his involvement in the actors' workshop.  And for the next three years, he lived the difficult life of a struggling actor.

     Happily the experience caused the magician-at-heart to make yet another choice - return to his childhood dream.  Making Magic.    Blending an easy down-home humor with his sleight-of-hand dazzle.  Barry Valentine has since enthralled audiences in every major city throughout the country.

     Along with his success, Valentine's return to his first passion has brought him the deserved acclaim for his gifts.  In recognition of those talents, the magician was invited to audition and subsequently join the Magic Castle, a highly select group of world-class magicians whose membership boasts the finest of the profession.

     Aside from the prestige of being honored by his peers, Valentine has enjoyed putting together shows at the Magic Castle for celebrities in other performing arts such as Cary Grant, Richard Widmark, Karl Malden, and Paul Williams.

     Succeeding and prospering at what perhaps only a few people in the United States have been able to do, this magician is not merely a man who does tricks, rather he is a man who performs "miracles."  His delight comes from seeing the wonderment on the faces of his audiences.

     He has honed his skills by studying other magicians, by doing and creating himself.  Barry Valentine shows the child-like love and fascination with magic's underlying appeal - the defying of logic.

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Updated:  04/03/2008