Jordan Winton, 22, had a magical night in Las Vegas recently when he became the youngest recipient of the Merlin Award and deemed “The Next Star of Magic.”
Winton is the owner of Rigor Mortis Haunted Attractions and the star of “The Magic of Jordan Winton.” He was voted by over 57,000 members of the International Magicians Society worldwide to receive the Merlin Award. This award is the equivalent of what the Oscars are to movies, what the Emmy is for television and what the Tony is for theatre. This award has been given to the greats such as David Copperfield and Criss Angel.
On Aug. 10, Winton attended an awards ceremony in Las Vegas and was presented the award by Tony Hassini, President of the International Magicians Society. This was the 55th annual awards and the show was dedicated to Siegfried and Roy, two magicians Winton has always admired.
“Tony Hassimi dedicated the award ceremony to Siegfried and Roy and I am a huge fan of them because I am inspired by them. I never got to see them so it was just a weird coincidence that they dedicated that night to Sigfried and Roy who have also won the award before,” said Winton.
When he got on stage, he thanked his mom and dad for their support, and recognized what an accomplishment this was.
“When I was receiving the award, the first thing I thought was being 22-years-old and to be the youngest in the 55 years that they have done this, it just didn’t seem real. Normally people, especially magicians, work a whole lifetime to receive such an award and to receive that in the short amount of time I have put in the effort was really an honor,” he said.
At a young age, Winton knew he enjoyed entertaining people. He learned he enjoyed doing Christmas light shows and was even on the ABC show “The Great Christmas Light Fight” when he was 15-years-old. He was also the youngest contestant on that show.
“It seems like I have a trend being the youngest with things, I don’t know,” joked Winton.
Winton has also always loved Halloween and even did his own haunted houses in his grandmother’s house. That passion led to him having a 50,000 square-foot professional haunted house in McMinnville's Plaza Shopping Center, Rigor Mortis. In 2020, he decided he wanted to try something different and built the magic theater.
His start with magic happened when he got a magic kit for Christmas when he was 8 years old.
“It is the typical story you always hear. Kids love to do magic and I was one of those kids. I started doing little things for my family and I figured out early on that I loved doing that,” said Winton.
His love for magic grew even more when he attended a magic show in Pigeon Forge called Terry Evanswood. Evanswood later became Winton’s mentor. Winton now has a full magic show.
“We now have the 90-minute show here which is grand illusions like making a car appear, making a girl float, disappearing and reappearing and stuff like that,” he said.
When asked what his favorite trick to perform is, he said it was like picking a favorite child.
“I love them all,” he said.
He loves performing grand illusions and performing some of the tricks he created himself.
“I do love when I get to involve the audience,” said Winton.
There are still a few more chances to catch one of Winton’s magic shows this year. Tickets for his show can be purchased on jordanwintonmagic.com. Shows are currently scheduled for Aug. 26, Sept. 30, Oct. 15, Oct. 29, Nov. 4 and Dec 2. Shows sell out quickly, so be sure to a secure a ticket early.
