User:Jazzaholic/sandbox

EARLY LIFE
‘’’Seth Adam Yudof’’’ was born in Austin, Texas on January 18, 1972. His father, Mark Yudof, was President of the University of California system, and his mother, Judith Yudof, was the first female International President of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

At a very young age, music and magic were integral parts of Yudof’s life. When he was six years old, he learned his first magic trick from his father and, shortly thereafter, received his first magic kit, a Presto Magic kit as a gift. By age eight, he had performed his first magic show at a neighbor’s birthday party.

Also at age eight, Yudof began to study classical piano, finally picking up the guitar (ultimately his favorite instrument) in 1984, at age twelve. He briefly joined the jazz band while attending Lyndon B. Johnson high school, a science magnet school in Austin, but opted instead to continue playing his guitar with several garage bands.

EDUCATION
After graduating from high school, Yudof attended the Ivy League’s University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in engineering. In an effort to diversify his education, Yudof also took classes in oil painting, architecture, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, and even mime. He spent one summer semester at the University of Florence in 1992. Then, in 1993, he interned first at FIAT Centro Stile in Turin, Italy and then with Electronic Data Systems in Dublin, Ireland. Yudof graduated from University of Pennsylvania with a BAS in 1994.

THE GAMESTERS
At college, Yudof met fellow student and magician Douglas Leferovich, a communications major. They discovered a mutual interest in show business, and became involved in several college theatrical productions as graphic designers, ultimately becoming magic consultants for a production of Barnum. They were then asked to perform in magic act during the show’s intermission, which eventually became known as “Masquerade”. They received a lot of recognition for this act and decided to become full-time magicians. They were known The Gamesters, a duo loosely based on Jim Carrey's character in The Mask and Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy.

The Gamesters wore exaggerated zoot suits and combined vaudeville, mime, and magic. They went by the character names of “Lefty” (Leferovich) and “Sly” (Yudof). Their over-the-top show toured with well-known magicians such as Franz Harary, and was featured at the Sands Casino in Atlantic City and in the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood. They were awarded the first-ever originality award from the Society of American Magicians in 1996. The duo actively toured for almost nine years, performing internationally in Chile, Peru, India, Thailand, Malaysia, and other countries.

Yudof and Leferovich created their own props and special effects for The Gamesters, and they began to develop special effects for other artists, under the company name Masquerade Productions.

MASQUERADE PRODUCTIONS
Masquerade Productions was originally formed in 1999 to produce Manhattan Magic, the first full-scale Gamesters production, which opened on September 15, 2001. Manhattan Magic’s name was originally Manhattan Mayhem, but was changed the day before opening night out of respect for those affected by the tragedy of 9/11. Yudof and Leferovich later utilized Masquerade Productions as a way to produce and market shows other than their own. Masquerade Productions was an immensely successful enterprise, producing large-scale productions such a Showtime in Atlantic City as well as creating design effects for major music artists including Jay-Z and Michael Jackson. Aside from production credits and effect creation, Masquerade Productions also booked a major touring shows like Hairspray, The Producers, and magician Steve Wyrick.

Originally, the base of operations for Masquerade Productions was in Los Angeles, but the enterprise moved to Las Vegas in 2002. Perhaps most notably, the duo served as creative directors for Wayne Newton’s final show, “Once Before I Go,” at the Tropicana Las Vegas.

In 2005, Yudof and Leferovich produced Exotique at Luxor. This sexy, brothel-inspired show gave Masquerade Productions the exposure it needed to start booking shows outside of Las Vegas. It also served as an entry into the Las Vegas nightlife scene, which eventually led to the development of CatHouse.

CATHOUSE
In 2008, Yudof and Leferovich opened the CatHouse Restaurant and Nightclub at Luxor Las Vegas Resort and Casino, which featured the culinary talents of celebrity chef Kerry Simon. Frequent guests included Criss Angel, Carrot Top, Holly Madison, Mike Tyson, Jenna Jameson, and Tito Ortiz. Other famous faces visited the vintage brothel-themed dining and nightclub venue, including Wayne Newton, Tommy Lee, Frank Miller, Rosario Dawson, the cast of Dancing with the Stars, Jack & Kelly Osbourne, Michelle Rodriguez, Jamie King, Gerard Butler, Adrian Brody, Robert Rodriguez, Rose McGowan, Robin Leach, Stacy Keibler, Emmanuel Lewis, Paris Hilton, Tracy Bingham, Jason Giambi, and Ice T & Coco.

In 2010, Yudof publicly parted ways with CatHouse in order to focus on live acts and artist management. The nightclub/restaurant was never able to achieve the same success it had at the beginning of its run and closed its doors for good in November 2012. In 2011, Yudof and Leferovich amicably dissolved Masquerade Productions. Yudof, started his own production and talent management company, UD Factory.

UD FACTORY
UD Factory manages a variety of musical artists, including Louis Prima Jr., the Grammy award-winning group Blues Traveler, and Bella Electric Strings. UD Factory also produces various shows in Atlantic City and Las Vegas including Almost Angels at Trump Taj Mahal Atlantic City and An Evening with Jason Alexander and His Hair, which was featured at Harrah’s Las Vegas in 2014. Yudof co-founded the Sin City Theatre at Planet Hollywood Resort Las Vegas, a 285-seat venue featuring multiple shows.