Who was The Amazing Johnathan? Tributes pour in as the "Freddy Krueger of Comedy" dies aged 63

Standup comic and magician The Amazing Johnathan, also known as John Edward Szeles, recently passed away on February 22 following a long battle with heart disease. Szeles was 63 years old at the time of his death.

On February 21, John’s wife Anastasia Synn had said that her husband was not responding and had apparently reached the final stage of his life after an “absolute nightmare” week.

Anastasia said that her husband was strong and had requested his close friends to stop texting and calling him while he was under hospice care. She continued:

Everything known about The Amazing Johnathan

Born on September 9, 1958, The Amazing Johnathan’s comedy and magic acts mostly consisted of hijinks, interactions with audience members and quite a few legit magic tricks.

John began his career performing on the streets of San Francisco and appeared in The 8th Annual Young Comedians Show in 1983. Besides being the host of the 1991 game show, Ruckus, he also appeared on various talk and variety shows from the mid-80s to mid-2000s.

His only performance as an actor was The Obligatory Holiday Episode of The Weird Al Show. He later appeared multiple times on the talk show Late Night with David Letterman and had many specials on Comedy Central like Comedy Central Presents, Lounge Lizards, and more.

Szeles appeared in the 2005 documentary The Aristocrats and became a household name in Australia because of his performances on Channel 9’s Hey Hey It’s Saturday. He was also the author of a how-to book on practical jokes called Every Trick in the Book.

The Detroit, Michigan native then opened the Amazing Underground in 2008, a members-only indoor drive-in movie theater located within his warehouse facilities in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Szeles also performed regular shows at the Harmon Theater in Las Vegas in 2011 and was a recipient of the Best Comedian Award from the Las Vegas Review Journal. He later received the Comedian of the Year from Nevada Magazine and was also the host of an online talk show called Burn Unit in 2013.

Fans pay tribute on social media

Ever since 1983, The Amazing Johnathan gained recognition as a magician and stand-up comedian. The public expressed their grief on Twitter when they heard about his death:

John is survived by his wife of eight years, Anastasia Synn. The pair tied the knot on June 7, 2014.

About the author

Anupal is a pop culture writer at Sportskeeda with a degree in Political Science. He developed a keen interest in the lives of celebrities, films, TV shows, and box office collections since an early age. After accumulating significant experience as a content writer across varied fields at companies such as The Indian Wire, DigiStatement, and QuirkyByte Media, he eventually settled on writing about his favorite genre - pop culture.

Anupal believes in conducting in-depth research while writing about any topic and relies on varied sources to ensure he produces holistic articles. He also often glances through content that was published in the 80s and 90s to gain a better understanding of the subject he is covering.

Anupal admires Robert Downey Jr., who played one of his favorite Marvel superheroes, Iron Man. He is inspired by the actor's resilience and the determination in overcoming past struggles to building a successful Hollywood career and admires the way he articulates his thoughts while speaking in interviews.

If Anupal could travel back in time, he would love to experience James Cameron's 2009 film 'Avatar' in a theatre full of fans. When he's not busy working, he binges on the latest OTT titles across languages.

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