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Steve Brooks Founder / Manager Northern California - United States 3780 Posts |
Sparked by interesting gadgets found in local magic shops, ten year-old Peter Loughran found himself motivated to become a renowned Master Illusionist, and perhaps one day be successful like his peers, including the famous David Copperfield.
Although not yet world famous, Peter Loughran was performing for birthday parties at the tender age of twelve, for fifty to seventy-five dollars a show. "For a twelve year old, fifty dollars was good money", Loughran grins slyly, perhaps remembering his young thoughts of knowing that his dream would flourish into something more than a one-man, low-budget performance. And flourish he has, Professional Choreographer at Theatre Dance Academy, and former Toronto Argonaut's Cheerleader, Barbara Szabunia hired fifteen year old Loughran as a two-minute magic inset in one of her choreographed dance numbers in her Las Vegas style show that toured several parts of North America. After much acquired experience, and new contacts, Loughran then hired Szabunia and her dancers to perform in his newly established stage show. Born on May 13th 1974, Peter's show is now one of Canada's most spectacular illusion tours with a light show, professional dancers, and more than 20 large scale illusions, "I have several originals", Peter Loughran captivates his audience into a spellbinding awe. "Performing magic gives me a sense of power and freedom...", Loughran remarks, and with his hypnotic charm he adds, "...and it also makes people happy." Peter does make people happy - but at a very high cost. With illusions varying from the Zig Zag Lady, his Poltergiest illusion or his grand finale The Triangle of Darkness, the cost ranges from $1000 to $30,000 to build one illusion. It is quite an expensive business. But that's the cost of fame, I guess; and Peter Loughran's reputation has certainly brought him there. He has performed his illusions on such television shows as Breakfast Television, Eye on Toronto, Star Performance, and a few other Toronto based programs. These appearances have definitely equipped Loughran with enough exposure to be hired to perform for celebrity parties, including Allan Thicke. But Loughran's fame and talents don't end there ladies and gentlemen. Because of a helping hand from Szubania, Loughran was hired as part of The Living Legends' Show. This was a stage show performed by Star Impersonators, which included Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, and most recently David Copperfield. "They bought me a Copperfield style wig, and said I'd be perfect for the part. However I performed the segment as a tribute rather than an impersonation", Loughran says pointing to an autographed photo of the original Copperfield hanging on his wall. It's amazing how things turn out. The show toured Canada, and the Legends' Performers appeared on such national television programs as Good Morning LA, The Dini Petty Show, A Current Affair, Shirley, and The Miss Canada Pageant. To reach such heights, one must be very talented, and an accomplished actor. Well, this handsome, mystical man is definitely both. He is apart of A.C.T.R.A., which is an elite actor's union, of which to become a member, one must acquire six credits by way of speaking roles on camera. This is not an easy feat. Peter has been enlisted with some of Canada's top talent agencies including Armstrong Talent (Colin Armstrong), S & S Talent (Cathy Jacobson), Diamond Talent (Richard Diamond), Showvision (Nick Georgoupolus), to name but a few. Loughran has had big and small roles in such shows and movies as Class of 96 (TV), The Truth (HBO Movie), Family Passions (Soap), Road to Avonlea (TV), Missing Treasures (TV), Catwalk (TV), and many others. Peter has since performed his spectacular illusion show for televison, venues and companies in several countries around the world including the United States, Canada, the Carribbean, and even Turkey. Peter's fame is growing all the time, appearing world wide in newspapers, magazines, televison, and being recognized by fellow practitioners in the art for his incredible originality and his amazing new illusions. Peter has teamed up with illusion builder Shawn Larocque bringing Peter's unique creations to life. Peter continues to release new effects to the magic community selling his illusions to magicians all over the world, including Mark DeSouza, John Mendoza, and illusionist Lawrence Khong to name a few. Peter even teamed up with world renowned magician and magic inventor Fantasio, and released Peter's Ultimate Dancing, Flaming cane, which has been said to be one of the most beautiful visual magic effects seen on the stage. In addition, Peter has created such illusions as The Triangle of Darkness, Poltergeist, Sudden Fire, The Zombie Coffin, and now most recently The Elevator, which is dubbed as the ultimate street levitation that has hit the street magic genre by storm. It will be hard now for magicians to forget his name. Peter has certainly left his mark in the art of magic. Although quite confident in his accomplishments, Peter Loughran is far from having a swollen ego. He just does what he can to pay the bills. He doesn't ask for much. "As long as I can perform my shows to support myself, as well as make the audience happy, then I feel that I am successful".
"Always be you because nobody else can" - Steve Brooks
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The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The July 2003 entrée: Peter Loughran » » Peter Loughran - A little history » » TOPIC IS LOCKED (0 Likes) |
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