Jackson Aces was a kid from the Sutherland Shire who loved puzzles. Now he’s a master in the art of illusion, magic, and blowing the minds of millions.
His interest in the mystic arts was sparked when a classmate in geography class performed a magic trick.
“I wanted to show him up and out-do him because I was so competitive,” Aces reminisced.
“I went online that night – and this was in 2005 when there was no YouTube and there was dial-up Internet – and I was trying to find magic trick explanations, but there was nothing.
“After spending hours doing that, a magic show happened to come on the TV and I gave it a watch, and I was jaw-on-the-floor the whole time.”
The person on the TV that night was superstar magician and mentalist David Blaine, who went on to become a role model for Aces.
“It seemed so amazing to me that there was this whole world of magic that was actually cool – it wasn’t just waving around a piece of silk and it changes from red to blue,” Aces explained.
“When it came to levitating and appearing like you’re a messiah with otherworldly abilities, it was really intriguing to me.”
Another role model for Aces was De’vo, a renowned card manipulator and Cardistry (Card Artistry) expert.
“He never showed his face, so there was a real mystique about this guy, and he had cool techno music that would play in his videos and cool special effects,” Aces remembered.
“He would do all these incredible, difficult displays of skill with a deck of cards, and I was so captivated by that, my mum bought me my first premium decks of cards for my 13th birthday and a few magic DVDs.”
These inspirations formed the magician we see today.
“I got to meet David Blaine two months ago in Vegas when I went over for the NRL. He gave me a really nice shoutout on ‘The Today Show’ when he was interviewed by Richard Wilkins the next week,” Aces exclaimed.
“I was on cloud nine for the whole week after that because I was just a kid from the Shire with a deck of cards who was fascinated with this guy, and almost 20 years later, for him to give me a big wrap, it was so incredible.”
The praise was well-deserved, and Penrith is lucky enough to host Aces very soon.
“While I am known for my card tricks, my show is the best of the best of all the magic that I’ve learnt in the last 20 years,” Aces explained.
“I have a female assistant who gets cut into five pieces, she disappears and reappears in the audience, we appear out of nowhere. It’s a really dynamic show and there’s a lot of interactive magic where everybody can get involved from their seats.”
See Jackson Aces in ‘Beyond Possible’ at Penrith Panthers on Friday, May 23. Tickets are $59. To purchase tickets, visit penrith.panthers.com.au.
Ally Hall
Ally Hall joined the Weekender in 2024, and focuses on entertainment and community stories. She's a graduate of the University of South Australia and has previously worked as a Video Journalist with Southern Cross Austereo and as a News Reader with Australian Radio Network.