Riniti honored as one of Top 53 magicians

Canyon Lake resident Anton Riniti, also known as Chef Anton, has been honored by Mark Shortland of the Academy of Magical Arts as one of the Top 53 magicians.

Mark designed a special deck of playing cards depicting 53 magicians instantly recognizable by their costume or signature effect. Anton is featured on the two of hearts.

“I chose the two of hearts to represent Chef’s two children, Sammy J and Tricky Nikki, whom I have known since their magical birth,” said Mark.

Each card is derived from Mark’s original hand-painted artwork. The work was completed over a six-month period while at sea on board various cruise ships. The paintings were produced in acrylic on a 20 x 25 cm. canvas, scanned in high resolution and the digital file used to make the playing card.

“It truly is an honor to be named in a list containing all-time greats such as Penn & Teller, Houdini, Lance Burton, David Blaine and even America’s Got Talent finalist Piff the Magic Dragon,” said Anton. “I am blown away.”

Anton is a two-time United States Trick Shot Champion of pool, award-winning close-up and stage magician at Hollywood’s Magic Castle, creator of the BeanBagglz beanbag tossing game and esteemed motivation speaker developing the 21 Day I Am Transformation System for goal setting and achievement.

A Canyon Lake resident since 2004, Anton is an active member of the community and has performed magic at the Lighthouse Restaurant and presented his mind-boggling pool ball wizardry during Fiesta Day. He’s an avid hydrofoiler, fisherman, pickleball player, backgammon aficionado and accomplished golfer.

Three months ago, Anton accomplished the near-impossible by shooting two holes-in-one during the same round.

Canyon Lakers may remember Anton from television where he won the grand prize of $50,000 on Steve Harvey’s Funderdome show or from Penn & Teller’s Fool Us where he attempted to fool fellow Las Vegas legends of magic Penn & Teller.

Anton will be performing at the Magic Castle in Hollywood July 8 through July 14, Aug. 22 through Aug. 26 and Oct. 10 through Oct. 13. If you’d like tickets, contact Anton at 909-559-0735 or chefanton@chefanton.com. For more information about 53 magicians, visit markshortland.com/53-magicians.

Photo by Lezlie Riniti

Canyon Laker Anton Riniti is an expert with the pool cue and a noted magician whose performance includes a unique mixture of magic, hustling tricks and billiard trick shots. Photo by Lezlie Riniti