Today, I perform as a professional magician, corporate entertainer, and Willy Wonka impersonator for corporate events, festivals, schools, universities, theaters, and private celebrations across the United States.
But my journey into magic didn’t begin on a stage.
It began when I was two years old—with my grandfather’s teeth.
The First Magic Trick I Ever Saw
My grandfather was one of my heroes. He was a World War II veteran, and when I was a little boy, I idolized him.
One day, he tapped me on the shoulder.
“Hey Andy, I want to show you something.”
He removed his two front teeth, held them at arm’s length and then appeared to throw them straight back into his mouth.
I was completely amazed.
“How did you do that, Pop?”
“That’s magic, Andy!”
From then on, whenever my grandfather visited and I had friends around, I’d ask him to perform his famous “magic trick” with his teeth.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but that moment planted a seed that would eventually change my life.
From Comedy to Professional Magic
Growing up in New Jersey outside Philadelphia during the 1980s, learning magic wasn’t as accessible as it is today. I watched legendary performers such as Comedy Magician Mac King on television, but I didn’t have a magician in my neighborhood teaching me sleight of hand.
Instead, I became involved in sports, acting, comedy and improvisation.
In high school, an acting teacher encouraged my love of comedy. I continued performing improv in college, and after graduating from Bates College, I moved to New York City and pursued comedy while working in the entertainment industry.
Those years of acting and improvisational comedy would later become enormously important to my career as a comedy magician.
Magic isn’t only about fooling someone.
It’s about connecting with an audience.
It’s about timing, personality, improvisation, storytelling and creating a moment people remember.
But it would take an extraordinary event in my life to convince me that magic was what I truly wanted to pursue.
The Phone Call That Changed My Life
Years earlier, I had registered as a potential bone marrow donor.
I always wondered whether someday I might receive the call saying I was a match.
Then the call actually came.
I learned that I might be a match for a two-year-old boy with leukemia.
I immediately agreed to continue with the testing.
After additional blood tests, I received another phone call with remarkable news:
I was a perfect match.
Several months later, after the little boy completed the necessary medical treatment, I made my donation.
That experience changed the direction of my life.
During the donation process, I started thinking about the child whose life I was trying to help save. If I ever had the opportunity to meet him, I wanted to be able to tell him that life was worth pursuing fearlessly.
And I realized I needed to follow that advice myself.
I had always loved magic.
So I made a decision:
I was going to become a professional magician.
Turning a Childhood Dream Into a Career
I began studying and practicing seriously.
Within a few years, I was accepted as a magician member of Hollywood’s legendary Magic Castle, home of the Academy of Magical Arts.
What started with my grandfather’s simple trick had become a professional career.
Over the years, my background in comedy, improvisation and magic began coming together into my own style of interactive entertainment.
Eventually, another part of my personality found its way into the act: my love of imagination, chocolate, theatrical characters, and the wonderfully eccentric world associated with Willy Wonka, Pure Imagination, and Gene Wilder.
Today, that combination allows me to offer something very different from a traditional magic show.
Becoming a Willy Wonka Magician and Impersonator
As a Willy Wonka impersonator and magician, I combine character entertainment, comedy, audience participation, and professional magic into an interactive experience inspired by the wonder and imagination audiences associate with the world’s most famous fictional chocolatier.
My Gene Wilder-inspired appearance and performance style are particularly suited to Willy Wonka-themed events, chocolate-themed celebrations, corporate events, festivals, schools, universities, theaters, promotional events, and private parties.
Rather than simply appearing in costume for photographs, I can interact with guests and incorporate live magic and comedy into the character experience.
That combination—Willy Wonka impersonation + professional magic + comedy—has become one of the most distinctive parts of my entertainment career.
Why I Love Performing Magic
Someone once asked me:
“If you had all the money you could ever need, what would you do?”
My answer is still magic.
I love seeing people’s expressions when something impossible happens inches away from them. I love hearing an audience laugh. I love bringing people onto a stage and turning them into part of the show.
That passion matters most in corporate magic and interactive entertainment.
Audiences know when a performer genuinely loves what they’re doing.
Every event is different. Every audience reacts differently. Years of improvisational comedy taught me to embrace those unpredictable moments instead of fearing them.
Those moments are often what guests remember most.
Magic With a Purpose
The most meaningful part of my story, however, isn’t a stage performance.
It’s the little boy who received my bone marrow donation.
His name is Lucas, and he lives in Brazil.
Years after the donation, we were eventually able to communicate and develop a relationship. He grew into a child with his own interests, personality, and dreams.
I once asked Lucas what he wanted to become when he grew up.
His answer stopped me:
“I want to find the cure for cancer.”
Naturally, as a magician, I had to ask:
“Are you sure you don’t want to become a magician?”
Magic helped me follow my dream. My hope is that my story can encourage other people to pursue theirs—and perhaps even inspire someone to consider joining a bone marrow donor registry.
Bringing Magic, Chocolate and Imagination to Events Nationwide
What began with my grandfather making his teeth “magically” disappear has become a career built around magic, comedy, chocolate and imagination.
Today, I bring that experience to audiences as a corporate magician, comedy magician, interactive entertainer and Willy Wonka impersonator, performing for events in New York City, New Jersey and throughout the United States.
Whether I’m performing close-up magic for executives, entertaining hundreds of people from a stage, interacting with families at a festival, or bringing a Willy Wonka-inspired experience to life, my goal remains remarkably similar to the one I had as a little boy watching my grandfather:
Create a moment when someone looks at what just happened and thinks, “How did you do that?”
And make them smile while doing it.
Hire a Willy Wonka Impersonator & Professional Magician
Looking for memorable entertainment for your next event?
Andy Wonka is available for corporate events, conferences, festivals, schools, universities, theaters, chocolate-themed events, Willy Wonka-themed celebrations, and private events throughout New York, New Jersey, and nationwide.
Bring together professional magic, comedy, audience interaction and a Gene Wilder-inspired Willy Wonka character experience to give your guests something they won’t soon forget.
Fill out the contact form below to inquire about availability for your upcoming event.
