THE CONTESTS

 

The International Brotherhood of Magicians conducts annual contests in Close-up Magic and Stage Magic. These high-profile events attract contestants from every corner of the globe.

The I.B.M.’s “Gold Medal International Award of Excellence in Stage Performance” and “Gold Cups International Award of Excellence in Close-up Performance” are the pinnacles of achievement in the world of magic, and they are not conferred every year. Since these awards first began in 1980, there have been only seven recipients of The Gold Cups and only eight recipients of The Gold Medal. Each of these honors is accompanied by $5,000 in U.S. currency.

Since 2013, the Youth category awards in Stage and Close-up have been supported by the I.B.M. Endowment and Development Fund to encourage participation by our Youth in magic. The most outstanding Youth Member (age 7 through 17) in the Stage performance category will receive a special prize package from Fantasma Magic.

For complete information on award categories and prizes, visit the Contest area at www.magician.org.

 

Past Recipients in Youth and Adult Stage Magic

 

 

YEARDIV. WINNER

1980 Jr William Cumming

Sr Ward Thomas

Gold MedalLance Burton

1981 Jr Not awarded

Sr Mr. Astor

(Antranik Arabadjican)

1982 Jr Levent Cimkentli

Sr Bobby Cordell

1983 Jr Ken Domash

Sr Kazuma Sakamoto

1984 Jr Ken Domash

Sr Nowlin Craver/

Robert Baxt

1985 Jr Steve Wyrick

Sr Jody Baran

Gold MedalSrHoward Hale

1986 Jr Not awarded

Sr Yuji Yamamoto

1987 Jr Joe Hindman

Sr Scott Fillers

1988 JrNathan Burton

Sr Brett Daniels

Gold Medal Sr James Cielen

1989 Jr Nolan Haimes

Sr Christopher Broughton

1990 Jr Nathan Burton

Gold MedalSrFanny Tjin (Jade)

1991 JrNot awarded

Sr Tony Chapek

1992 JrNot awarded

Sr Juliana Chen

1993 JrTamara Tsitalashvilli

Gold MedalSrGreg Frewin

1994 Jr Jason Ace

Sr Vladimar and

Natasha Perevodchikov

1995 Jr Ashley Springer

Sr Eric Buss

1996 Jr Justin Willman

Sr Jonathon (David) Bass

1997 Jr Dallas Fueston

Sr Cuiffo and Hughes

 

YEARDIV.WINNER

1998 Jr Ashley Springer

Sr Shawn Farquhar

and Felicity

1999 Jr Joel Ward

Gold MedalSrGeorge Saterial

2000 Jr Kristoffer and

Heather Olson

Sr Jay Mattioli

2001 Jr Jessica Reed

Sr Richard Forget

2002 Jr Michael Barron

Gold MedalSrKeiko Muto

2003 Jr Matthew Stanley

Sr Mirko Callaci

2004 Y Dakota Rose

Sr Sh Xiong Wu

2005 Y Farrah Siegel

Gold MedalSrArthur Trace

2006 Y Eli Portala

Sr Koyko Maebeya

2007 Y Sterling Dietz

Sr Shen Juan

2009 YDavid Mlakar

ARichard Forget

2010 Jr  Yang Yang

Sr  Jason Andrews

2011 Y  Reuben Moreland

A  WonKuen Ha

2012 Y  Sebastian Zarza Guarano

A  Jean Paul Ohlaberry

2013 Y  Eli Portala

A  Ming Ya Liu

2014 Y  Not Awarded

A  Hun Lee

Stage

2015 YDaniel Hernandez

AChris Randall

2016 Y Not awarded

A Jordan K

2017 Y Not awarded

A Omar Ferret

2018 A Red Star Seong

Gold MedalAZhou-Zhou & Yuanyuan

 

Past Recipients in Youth and Adult Close-up Magic

 

YEARDIV.WINNER

1980 Jr Elliot Blatt

Sr Paul Kozak

1981 Jr Elliot Blatt

Gold CupsSr David Williamson

1982 Jr Devin Lushbaugh

Sr Johnny Ace Palmer

1983 Jr No entrants

Gold CupsSrJohnny Ace Palmer

1984 Jr Bobby Lilly

Sr Chuck King

1985 Jr Ricky Kalmont

Sr Dorian Jones

1986 Jrnot awarded

Sr Charles Greene/

Joe Givan

1987 Jr Steve Cohen

Gold CupsSrJoe Given

1988 Jr Mark Sisher

Sr Scott Tokar

1989 Jr Leah Feldman

Sr Dorian Grey

1990 Jr Jeffrey Booker

Sr Mark Sisher

1991 Jr Lee Asher

Gold CupsSrGiovanni Livera

1992 Jr Lee Asher

Sr Claude Cloutier

1993 Jr Cory Brager

Sr Steve Fearson

1994 Jr Ali Shelly

Gold CupsSrSteve Bedwell

1995 Jr Thomas Mier

Sr Jon Allen

1996 Jr Dan Rodrique

Sr Marc DeSousa

1997 Jr Todd Gaines

Sr Brad Caimes

YEARDIV.WINNER

1998 Jr Matthew Jarman/

Todd Gaines

SrJohn George

1999 Jr Danny Hill

Gold CupsSrOscar Munoz

2000 Jr Winston Helling

Sr Stephen Bargatze

2001 Jr Winston Helling

Sr Shawn Farquhar

2002 Jr Danny Hill

Sr Brian Ochab

2003 Sr Patrick Przysiecki

Gold CupsJrChase Curtis

2004 Y Nathan Gibson

Sr Rick Merrill

2005 Y Aaron Rabkin

SrIvan Amodei

2006 Y Leo Michaels

Sr John B. Born

2007 Y Ben Proudfoot

Sr David Minkin

2009 Y Micah Johnson

Sr Y oo Hyun Min

2010 Y John Accardo

Sr  Ben Jackson

2011 Y Reuben Moreland

A  Shin Lim

2012  A Michael Dardant

2013  Y Drake Stanton

A  Alberto Lorenzo

2014  Y Not Awarded

A  Michael Dardant

Close-up

2015 Y Jolie Dreiling

A Shin Lim

2016  Y  Not awarded

A Jim Vines

2017  Y Not awarded

A Ari Slomka

2018 A Erik Tait

2023 Contest Winners

Close-Up:

4F Award - Jeffrey Wang, CA

People’s Choice Award – Jeffrey Wang, CA

Award of Merit – Dreygon Hibbler, MI

1st Place Award– Farren Poage, MI

Stage:

Fantasma Award - Olivier Henning, The Netherlands

People’s Choice Award – Olivier Henning, The Netherlands

Stage - Youth Category

Award of Merit – Anja Steyn, Cape Town, South Africa

1st Place Award - Olivier Henning, The Netherlands

Stage - Adult Category

Award of Merit – Joseph Marchese, New York

1st Place Award – Danny King, Texas