The magic of Pop Magician It goes far beyond making people disappear and appear at will. He is a professional through and through. Able to surprise thousands of people at his shows, the Pop Magician – stage name of Antonio Díaz – has no limits. And this 2023 has proven it: after years of successes at the national level, the 37-year-old Catalan from Badia del Vallès has crossed the Atlantic to fill theaters also in the mecca of world performing arts. broadway.
Bringing a show made and produced in Barcelona to success in the Big Apple is something unprecedented. But doing it with the addition of to be the youngest illusionist to set foot on a Broadway theater It is admirable. Therefore, it is not surprising that he has already become the illusionist highest grossing in the world -According to the magazine Forbes– and, for many critics, the best magician in history.
On the verge of closing an almost unbeatable year for his company, the Editorial Committee of El Periódico has decided to award Mago Pop the prize for Català de l’Any 2023, a badge that the newspaper gives annually to the most prominent personalities in the cultural, political, business, scientific and social world. For the first time in the history of the awards, the winner will be an illusionist. Before him, the award has gone to artists like Joan Manuel Serrat, athletes like Pau Gasol, politicians like Pasqual Maragall or businessmen like John Hoffman, the promoter of Mobile, who won the award in the last edition.
Taking advantage of the return of the Pop Magician to the Catalan capital after his success on Broadway, the artist will receive the distinction on November 20 at the gala of the 21st edition of the awards, which have been held since 2001.
Catalan cultural heritage
The magician has just landed in Barcelona after his tremendous debut in the American market, the biggest challenge he had faced so far. The audience applauded him relentlessly. reviews from the most important newspapers in New York They praised his talent unanimously and now the big Broadway theater groups are pursuing him to negotiate with him. He managed to capture the magic of thousands of people in the United States and raised almost 3 million euros. He has now returned home to follow his ‘show’ in Barcelona waiting to define his next steps.
It is precisely this connection that he has always maintained between international success and his homeland that makes him a figure loved and respected by his long-time audience. The award aims to reward his career and his achievements, but also honors his work and his contribution to Catalan culture and Barcelona. El Mago Pop is the artist with the highest grossing in the history of Catalonia and this year, the Victoria theater – which he has owned since 2019 – has received the most attendees in the 2022-2023 season, with 219,726 spectators, which account for almost one in ten of all tickets sold in Catalan theaters in a season with record global figures.
The most famous magician of the decade and the current world leader in illusionism has already managed to attract more than 2.8 million people who follow his show live, while millions of them enjoy it on television in hundreds of countries. The magic boom of Mago Pop is now at its peak and, while the Catalan is enjoying his success, he is already preparing his next performance.
From Badia to Broadway, from magician to businessman
A good magician never reveals his tricks, but it is evident that his international success has a lot to do with his businessman mentality and knowing how to play his cards well, also outside the audience. Born into a humble family, Díaz founded his company at just 20 years old while he was studying Dramatic Arts at the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona and, now, 17 years later, he owns two theaters. In 2019 he bought the first of them, the Victoria in Barcelona, and four years later, in March 2023 and before his debut at the great Ethel Barrymore Theater (Broadway), he acquired his second theater: the Branson, in Missouri ( USA), to finish consolidating the expansion of its empire also on the other side of the pond.
He has never been afraid of theater, nor of the uncertainty that live performance produces. In fact, in multiple interviews he has acknowledged that he is more scared of television because people tend to distrust tricks more: camera turns, flat changes and other ‘traps’ can make him lose credibility. For this reason, his beginnings in television programs were not easy: he had to overcome the barrier between the screen and the viewers to trap his audience there and seat them later in the theater seats.
Keep the magic on television
In November 2013, five years after receiving the National Magic Award, ‘El Mago Pop’ premiered on Discovery Max and became one of the most watched programs in the channel’s history. In that first special he managed to surprise Love of Lesbian, Eduard Punset and Ferran Adrià – who was also awarded the Català de l’Any prize in 2003 – with his sleight of hand, and also foreign guests such as Stephen Hawking, Victoria Beckham and Nick Mason, drummer of the legendary band Pink Floyd.
Discovery and his charisma in front of the cameras made him the first Spanish illusionist to have a one-man television program with international broadcast, reaching his magic to more than 200 countries. In 2021 he makes the leap to Netflix and premieres a new series: ‘Magic for humans Spain with Mago Pop’. In a total of six chapters – filmed in Barcelona – the artist teaches his tricks through the streets of the capital, while combining magic with entertainment, rhythm and humor.
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El Mago Pop, the man of the impossible, has reminded the world of performing arts that magic does not go out of style and that Catalan culture has strong potential. As a child he dreamed of being a magician and now he dreams of bringing the best magic show to all parts of the world. Magician and businessman, he has become a mass phenomenon loved and praised by millions of people.
To his long list of successes and recognitions received during this decade of magic, he will now be able to add a new trophy starting November 20: the award Català de l’Any 2023.