User:Paulaamus96/sandbox

Jorge Blass, whose real name is Jorge Sánchez Blas, is a renowned Spanish illusionist.

First steps
He was born in Madrid on May 2nd, 1980, and he began to feel the passion for magic practically at the same time his teeth started growing. It was at the age of 6 when he began to practice at home with magic games that his parents had given him. After some time, as he tells in his book Magia para no dejar de soñar (English: Magic to not stop dreaming), he was once reading one of the parts of the Course of Magic by Juan Tamariz when he found out that there was a magic shop in Madrid: Encarnita and José Luis Ballesteros' Magia Estudio. Really excited, he went there with his mother and he got delighted in front of famous magicians' pictures, old paintings and glass cabinets full of magical devices. That day he bought “The Three Colour Rope”. For some months, always with the company of his mother, he kept going to Encarnita’s shop, and it was Encarnita who who encouraged his mother to take him to a magic school, seeing Jorge’s fondness and excitement. At the age of 12 he enrolled in the Great Magic School Ana Tamariz, run by the daughter of Juan Tamariz, who was always pointed as his master. He made his first performances in the best magic auditorium in Europe, “HOUDINI”, in Madrid.

His iconic contribution to an excellent show with David Villalon, which took place in Madrid, is really remarkable, with an enormous attendance that caused a new highlight in the history of cards: “Barajas Villalon” (deck of cards Villalon).

In 1993 he took the necessary access test at the Spanish Society of Illusionism, passing it with an excellent score and becoming the youngest magician in that organization. From then on his training became more purist and he started attending all kinds of conferences and symposia about magic and illusionism, and he became a manipulation specialist. This way, in 1995, he got a national prize in the National Magic Congress in Valladolid, which would mark a new period in his life as a magician.

Maturity and success in magic
In 1995, he got two prizes in the International Congress Magic Valongo, which promoted Jorge Blass outside Spain. That caused that next year, when David Copperfield performed in Portugal and Spain, he requested a performance by Jorge to exchange ideas. The same year he was given the Frakson Award for best magician of the year. Moreover, he participated in the International Federation of Magic Societies (FISM) in Dresden (Germany) and he achieved the fifth place in manipulation. In 1998, he came back to the Magic School of the daughter of Juan Tamariz, although this time as a teacher. One year later, together with Tamariz and other great Spanish magicians, he made an exhibition in New York. A few months later, Rainier, the Prince of Monaco, gave him the Golden Magic Wand Award. In 2000 he took part in a magic competition in Las Vegas and he vas awarded “most promising talent”. These events meant a big step in his professional career.

In 2004 he founded his own company, 7 Rojo Producciones, from which he directs his own shows and projects such as magic galas with both national and international recognition or events for companies or private individuals.

In 2011, he directed and presented the 1st International Magic Festival of Madrid, held at the Circo Price Theatre. After the great success, the festival was performed again in 2012 and in 2013. It took place in the first quarter of the year.

In September 2012, he premiered his latest magic show, Birlibirloque, at the Compac Theatre in Gran Via, Madrid, in which he introduced cutting-edge illusionism using electronic devices as well as live music created and performed by Nacho Mastretta and his band composed of 7 musicians.

Arrival and consolidation in TV
His first appearance on television was on a television spot of a communications company in the year 2000, what allowed him to become known by the general public. However, he kept on doing other less recognised works such as the special effects of the musical “Dr. Jekill and Mr. Hyde” by Raphael. In 2001 he took a giant step by participating in the popular children’s program of Antena 3 Megatrix, in which he ran his own magic TV show called Magiatrix.

At that point his popularity was already unstoppable; he performs from India to Hollywood. In 2002 he signed a contract with Disney and started working for the program Zona Disney on Tele 5, in a section of magic called Magia Vip. From then on his participation became habitual in programs such as Lo + Plus (Canal+) or Un domingo cualquiera (La 1). He also published his first book of magic in 2003, Magia para no dejar de soñar.

In 2004 he created his own show and he went on many tours around different theatres in Madrid and Barcelona. After that he has also appeared in Ankawa (presented by Bertín Osborne) and Sábado Noche (together with Josema Yuste and Nani Gaitán). He managed and presented 3 seasons of the programme Nada X Aquí of the TV channel Cuatro, which was broadcast from 2005 to 2008. In 2007 he was awarded the Zapping Award by “best entertainment show”. As a magic advisor, in 2007 he designed the Beast’s transformative effect into Prince in the musical “The Beauty and the Beast”, which was performed in Madrid’s Teatro Calderón (2007/2008).

In 2013, he took part in the programme Por arte de magia presented by Anna Simon and broadcast on prime time in Antena 3.

Abracadabra Foundation, Magicians in Solidarity
He is a founding member and sponsor of the Abracadabra Foundation, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to bringing magic to hospitalised children, elderly people in nursing homes and psychically and physically handicapped people.

In the year 2007 he starred in Magos Solidarios on Tour 07 (English: Supportive Magicians on Tour 07), with which he covered 22,000 kilometres, visiting 25 Spanish cities and performing in more than 30 hospitals for children, offering his magic show in what has been the largest charitable magic marathon ever performed.

In 2008 and 2009 a weekly project called Semana de la Magia Solidaria (English: Charitable Magic Week) was created, in both cases celebrated in Madrid.

Magic in films
In 2010, Jorge took part in the film Pájaros de papel (English: Paper Birds), the first film of Emilio Aragón which was written by scriptwriter Fernando Castets (El hijo de la novia, Luna de Avellaneda), and Emilio Aragón himself. In it, Jorge plays the role of a great magician who performs in theatres of the post-war Spanish period.

Publications
In 2003 he published his book Magia para no dejar de soñar (English: Magic to not stop dreaming) with a prologue by Juan Tamariz.

In 2011 he published a book together with Fernando Botella La fuerza de la ilusión (English: The Strength of Illusion) that is about the ten magic points covered in his conferences addressed to companies.

Main awards

 * La Baguette D´Or of Montecarlo (Magic Wand of Montecarlo) in 1996.
 * SARMOTI Award for most promising talent in Las Vegas.
 * First International Award of Magic in Portugal.
 * Frakson Award to the best magician of the year in 1996.