Peter Reveen

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Peter J. Reveen
Born(1935-10-08)8 October 1935
Illusionist
  • hypnotist
  • SpouseCoral Reveen
    Children4
    Websitereveen.website

    Peter J. Reveen (8 October 1935 – 8 April 2013) was an Australian

    illusionist and hypnotist who performed mainly in Canada, and particularly Atlantic Canada.[1]

    Early life

    Reveen was born in Adelaide, Australia, and traveled to the US in January 1961, landing in Honolulu, Hawaii. From there, he took a boat ride to San Francisco, California, and purchased a Greyhound Bus ticket to Vancouver, British Columbia. Reveen was granted a six-month visitor's visa on 16 March 1961.

    Career

    Reveen began his career in the town of Chilliwack, BC, booking himself into local community halls and legions, calling himself Reveen, the Impossibilist. To promote his shows, Reveen offered complimentary tickets to all businesses willing to put a poster in their storefront window. In many towns, he also offered local radio stations a percentage of ticket sales in exchange for advertising. In 1962, The Man They Call Reveen was given the opportunity to perform in a movie house and his career took off. He toured extensively through Canada and the United States for 35 years, eventually performing for over 6,000,000 people. In September 2007, Reveen came out of retirement with a mini-tour of Atlantic Canada called The Return of Reveen.

    Reveen was one of the founding members of the Magic Castle in Los Angeles, California, and in 1987 wrote the book The Superconscious World. In 2000, he won the DRAGON Award, an annual award given to magicians who excel in Drama, Romance, Artistry, Glamour, Originality and Necromancy.[2]

    After Peter's death from diabetes and dementia[3] in 2013, his son, Tyrone, continued with the "Reveen" show.[4]

    Personal life

    Reveen was married to Coral Reveen, who died on August 23, 2023.[5] Together, they had four sons. From oldest to youngest, they are: Wayne, Tyrone, Calvin, and Peter, Jr. Peter Jr. is best known as the former guitar player in the now defunct American hard rock band Salty Dog.

    Cultural references

    Samples from his self-hypnosis LPs, including Relax with Reveen, Study and Concentrate with Reveen, and Stop Smoking...Stop Overeating with Reveen, feature on some modern Electronic music, such as the Lemon Jelly track Nervous Tension, and Bonobo track Shadowtricks.

    Ricky
    is occasionally called "Reveen", not to Ricky's displeasure, due to their dubious physical resemblance.

    Reveen appears to be the basis for a Saturday Night Live parody commercial about a hypnotist who gets audience members exiting the theatre to robotically drone, "I loved it. It was much better than CATS. I'm going to see it again and again," to a reporter.

    In an episode of the Canadian sketch comedy program The Holmes Show, there is a sketch featuring Roman Danylo as a stage hypnotist named "Crevasse the Impossiblist". A crevasse is similar to a ravine, and is a pun on the name "Reveen".

    During his May 2009 Late Show with David Letterman appearance, comedian Norm Macdonald revealed he went to one of Reveen's shows as a teenager.

    Notable honours

    In December 2009, IBM Ring 257 named Reveen their 2009 Magician of the Year.[6]

    References

    1. ^ "Played numerous times in Atlantic Canada starting in 1960's". News957. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
    2. ^ List of Dragon Award Winners
    3. ^ Peter Reveen, stage illusionist, dead at 77
    4. ^ Volders, Eric (22 September 2016). "The man they call Reveen! Son continues in father's famous footsteps". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
    5. ^ "Coral Reveen". Reveen. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
    6. ^ "Peter Reveen to Be Honored by Fantasma Ring 257". The Linking Ring. 89 (10). The International Brotherhood of Magicians: 70. October 2009.

    External links