CL local magician taking tricks underwater

Canyon Lake scuba trainer and well-known magician Chef Anton has taken his magic to new depths…and is offering to teach others how to do the same. Chef’s underwater magic tricks are performed while scuba diving. At the Canyon Lake POA Park Hopper event, he will be signing people up for his “Scuba Magician” course at a booth at the Canyon Lake Lodge next weekend, May 29 and 30.

Chef is both an award-winning magician from Hollywood’s Magic Castle and is also a Master Scuba Diver Trainer. He has combined those two passions and has created the “Scuba Magician” course, a fully-recognized Distinctive Specialty Diver Certification through PADI.

“In scuba diving, after you get your Open Water Certification, you can continue your education by exploring specialties such as Search and Recovery, Wreck Diving, Underwater Photography and, my personal favorite, Rescue Diver,” Chef said. “Each course is designed to teach you more activities you can do while scuba diving. I wanted to create a specialty that does not exist and has mass appeal. The Scuba Magician Course teaches you 15 magic tricks you can do during a Safety Stop. Now you, too, can add magic to all of your scuba adventures and make every dive magical.”

As an esteemed motivational speaker and highly sought after trade show sales entertainer, Chef knows how to blend magic into a message to make the presentation unforgettable.

Fellow scuba divers react to one of Chef Anton’s magic tricks that he enacted underwater while scuba diving. He will be signing up Canyon Lakers to teach them how to do the same thing, including learning how to scuba dive, at a booth at the Canyon Lake Lodge during the upcoming Park Hopper event.

“When I teach scuba classes, my students are in for a treat,” Chef said. “I teach them scuba using magic tricks as a way of keeping the learning process fun and memorable. Think of it as Comedy Traffic School for scuba. We all have to learn basic diving techniques to keep ourselves safe, so why not make it educational and entertaining?”

Chef said the Scuba Magician Course is built on this premise and is designed for the non-magician.

“In fact, the underwater magic kit the students receive is aptly named ‘The Scuba Magician It-Ain’t-Magic Kit’ because once you know the secret, ‘It-Ain’t-Magic’ to fool and amaze your friends,” he said. “The collection of 15 tricks is not just magic tricks you do underwater. Each trick is hand-selected to teach you about Scuba Diving. More importantly, all tricks are easy to perform, require no prior magic skills and are impossible to figure out unless you know the secret.”

Chef is also available for private scuba training classes, magical local diving tours and even underwater magic shows.

“I am so excited to share this amazing support with our community,” he said. “After the year we have all had, don’t we deserve to do something for ourselves? Scuba diving is therapeutic, offers great exercise, and introduces us to a world most have never seen. I am proud to be a Scuba Instructor and offer private training classes right here in our own backyard.”

Anyone with a desire to learn, can become scuba certified in just a few days, Chef said.

“For those who are certified, I am also available for Magical Local Diving Tours,” he said. “Southern California has some of the best diving sites in the world. I will take you to all of the best locations, give you a guided tour and entertain you with underwater magic tricks. It is a dive you will always remember.”

Chef is also the founder of the Canyon Lake Ocean Dwellers Club, a sanctioned Canyon Lake POA club. The club is a community group for all water enthusiasts including scuba divers, snorkelers and free divers. He and his wife Lezlie Riniti started the club since they are both avid divers who are committed to being underwater ambassadors.

“Now that we are coming out of COVID-19,” Chef said, “The Ocean Dwellers will have monthly gatherings and quarterly beach clean ups to keep our waters safe.”

In addition to being able to sign up for the Scuba Magician course at the Park Hopper booth, those who would like to learn how to scuba or who are already certified and want to continue their education can also sign up for courses there.

The Scuba Magician pop-up booth will be located at the Lodge from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during both days of the Park Hopper event. At the booth, individuals can sign up for Private Training Classes, enroll in the Ocean Dwellers Club and also support a local entrepreneur by getting Official Scuba Magician Merchandise. Chef will also be performing magic tricks at the booth.