Magic moment

WASILLA — Back when Landon Swank was 7 and saw his first magician in Anchorage, he wanted to be as far away from the stage as possible.

Today, as one of the Top 48 acts on this year’s “America’s Got Talent” Swank, 26, dreams of being on stage nearly every night of his life as one of the country’s best up-and-coming illusionists. The winner of the TV contest gets $1 million and a headline act in Las Vegas.

“My mom had taken me to see Harry Blackstone Jr. in Anchorage and he called me up on stage and was having fun with me as part of his act. I thought they were laughing at me, so I went back to my seat while he was turned around getting ready to do a trick,” the former Colony High School athlete said Monday from Hollywood before rehearsal. “He went out into the audience to find me. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a rabbit and a box of chocolates. I guess he was so frustrated that I wouldn’t go back on stage with him he called an early intermission. But I was hooked after that. I even had the rabbit for quite a few years after that.”

Swank spent the first 19 years of his life in Wasilla before moving to Las Vegas to study business management and pursue a career in magic. He’d been performing here and there locally, going to Valley elementary schools as a teen, wowing children with his slight-of-hand tricks and watching old tapes of illusionist Doug Henning to improve his craft.

At first he said he was torn betwe≠en going after a soccer scholarship and pursuing a performance career.

“As soon as I was done with soccer and basketball practice, I would go home and work on my show and create new things,” he said. “I definitely wanted to be on the stage more than I wanted to be on the field. When I graduated from high school in 2003, I did a show at the VPA that was an hour and 10 minutes long. That was the last thing it took before I was hooked for life. I could see the big picture then.”

His father, Greg Swank, said Monday he and his mother, Merry Swank, have always encouraged their children to pursue their passions.

“I didn’t expect that to continue and blossom as far as it has,” his father said. “He’s been with this magic stuff for a long time now. He has a chest of books and it seemed like forever we were buying decks of cards for him.”

After graduating from the University of Northern Las Vegas at 22, he said he took a course on acting for the camera to help with his stage presence. His goal then was to have his own television special.

With the help of Anchorage resident Thomas Lane, who taught him how to design sets and materials for his magic act, Swank was on his way to making a name for himself in the Vegas area.

He began getting gigs at conventions, corporate parties and private functions, but he knew he wanted more.

“It pays the bills, but it’s not what I actually want to do,” he said. “I want to be performing in a theater where people buy tickets to see your show.”

It was his fiancée, Vegas singer Harmony Moniz, who convinced him to try out for “America’s Got Talent.”

“She told me I had to go for it,” he said, adding she’s the one who helps him with his illusions during the show. “I’m very glad I did audition. It’s pretty exciting to make it this far.”

Swank was one of several magicians being considered by the AGT judges and now that they’ve narrowed the field to 48, there are two fellow illusionists left.

He said he feels all three of them offer something different, but he hopes audiences pick up the phone for him now that it’s up to America to decide who makes it to the final rounds.

“I’m happy I’m the first act tonight,” he said. “I’m hoping that gives me an edge. And I hope the folks back home pick up the phone for me.”

Swank said he’s already felt a lot of support coming from his hometown. He even got a call from his former basketball coach, Phil Engebretsen, wishing him luck, he said.

He said he and Moniz have worked 16 hours a day in their north Vegas garage for the past six weeks, building a new set for tonight’s illusion.

“Everything’s coming together,” he said. “I can’t reveal what it is, but I can tell you it’s going to be good. It’s going to be something no one has ever done before.”

Tonight’s show airs on NBC from 8 to 10 p.m. local time. Only four acts from tonight’s 12 performers will continue to the next round. Phone, text and online votes determine three of them, and the judges — Howie Mandel, Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan — select the fourth contestant.

Wednesday’s show will reveal the results of tonight’s vote. A total of 16 acts will make it to the semifinals. If Swank moves on, he would be the second Alaskan this season in the semifinals. Juneau singing sensation Anna Graceman, 11, made it through last week with her rendition of Louie Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.