Mind reader Banachek coming to Jeff-Morgan
Banachek, who was born in England and named Steven Shaw, moved to Marianna when he was 15 years old. “I still consider Washington, Pa., my home,” he said.
Banachek
Banachek, who graduated from Trinity High School in the 1970s, will perform at Jefferson-Morgan High School Jan. 22.
Banachek’s magic tricks take him all over the world. Over the next two weeks, he’ll perform in London, Ireland and Phoenix, but later this month, he’ll take the stage in Southwestern Pennsylvania for one very specific reason: It’s home.
Banachek, known by many in this area as Steven Shaw, lived much of his young life in Washington County and graduated from Trinity High School. He’ll return to the area to perform his Miracles of the Mind show at 4 p.m. Jan. 22 at Jefferson-Morgan High School.
“I always like coming back to that area to see family and friends,” Banachek said Wednesday in an interview. “There will be a lot of family and friends there.”
He was born in England and lived in South Africa, Australia and Colorado before moving to Marianna when he was 15 years old.
“I still consider Washington, Pa., my home,” he said.
Banachek said his grandparents were from Clarksville, and he has several family members in Washington and Greene counties. One of his distant cousins is Jamie Lawrence, a senior at Jefferson-Morgan who helped the school get in touch with Banachek.
“I’ve been to one of his shows,” she said. “He does a lot of audience work. He doesn’t usually come local for his shows, so a lot of the family members are excited to see him.”
Banachek said that when he lived in Washington County as a teenager, he didn’t really fit in because much of his youth was spent caring for two younger brothers.
“I was the kid in the very back of the classroom with a winter coat on in the middle of summer,” he said. “I was really shy back then, and the magic brought me out of my shell. For most of my life, I was much more comfortable on stage than with personal conversations.”
He said he started using magic at 15 years old when he learned a trick to bend metal silverware without touching it.
“I actually got in trouble because kids were bringing me silverware in the cafeteria at Trinity,” he said. “I also was able to make the bell ring early a few times.”
Banachek said he eventually moved to the Washington area and worked at Washington Hospital for a while before his career as a mentalist took off.
He’s since performed all over the world and has even done shows with Criss Angel, a famous magician and illusionist in Las Vegas.
“It’s kind of like a grown-up form of magic,” Banachek said about his performances. “I’m not a psychic. It’s a mixture of psychology, magic, verbal and nonverbal communication, and perception manipulation.”
Jodi Fulks, a Jefferson-Morgan teacher, said the student council is sponsoring the performance. Tickets can be purchased for $10 in advance at the school, or for $15 at the door, she said.
The show will be one of the first performances in the newly refurbished auditorium, which was part of the district’s three-year, $5.8 million renovation project at the high school.
“We thought it was a good way to do a community event,” Fulks said. “Our auditorium is brand new and we thought it would be a good way to showcase those updates.”
One of the tricks Banachek performs often is asking a volunteer to think of a playing card in number and suit before telling that person what card he or she was thinking of.
Banachek said he’s working on a new show, which will debut in Los Angeles in April. He said every show he does is different because he depends on audience participation and the minds he reads.
“There’s always something in my shows that I’ve never done before,” he said. “I’m really excited to come back to the area. It will be an interesting show for me. I’m really trying to push my boundaries.”