Circus magician makes some big things disappear

BACKSTAGE at the Richmond Coliseum, the greatest show on Earth was getting its act together.

Alex Ramon joked with a few clowns as a rack of sequin-covered dresses and a wagon full of poodles rolled by. He stretched, took a few deep breaths and sneaked out on the floor.

"I'm standing behind a float unbeknownst to the entire arena full of thousands of people, and I have a moment with myself as the national anthem is ending. I say a little prayer, just, 'Thank you that I've been so blessed' and, 'Just let me have the energy.' "

And then the spotlight hits him, and he's looking up at Asia, a 4-ton elephant. With a wave of his hands, Ramon belts out "Zing Zang Zoom!" There's a bright flash. A cloud of smoke. Gasps from the crowd.

Asia is gone.

Ramon is Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus' first-ever "magical zingmaster," a combination ringmaster and headliner, with a magic act he's been honing since he was a teenager.

He introduces the other circus acts with illusions like making Asia the elephant vanish and turning a clown into a roaring Bengal tiger.

"It keeps me hustling quite a bit during the show, but I love it."

He'll lead the acrobats, clowns, Brazilian dancers, tigers, ponies, poodles and pachyderms under the concrete big top at Norfolk Scope for shows Thursday through Sunday.

Ramon grew up in the San Francisco area. He celebrates his 24th birthday Saturday.

He got a 370-page magic book for Christmas when he was 13, and put on his first magic show at 15, for his father's 50th birthday.

"Being in the circus was never even on my horizon of like a dream or anything, because it is so big," Ramon said after the recent performance in Richmond. "It's amazing."

But his act got him some attention, and eventually it took him around the world. Among his awards and honors are San Francisco Bay Area's Best Stage Magician and the Lance Burton award given to the National Teenage Champion Magician by the World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas.

His travels brought him to Hampton Roads in 2006, with the touring "Disney Live! Mickey's Magic Show." He did some sightseeing and went parasailing at the Oceanfront.

Leah Christiana, Ramon's sister, a former Oakland Raiders cheerleader, is also along for the circus ride.

"My sister performs a trapeze act, rides an elephant and does acrobatics in the show."

Ramon signed on with the Disney show when he was 20. That show's producers also handle Ringling Bros., and in late 2007 they asked him to join the circus. His tour started in January and will run for two years.

"I have the honor of saying that timeless line, 'Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, welcome to the greatest show on Earth.' Only a handful of people have ever said that, and I tell you it is definitely a humbling and honoring experience."

Getting used to the circus life has been easy for Ramon. He loves the show's unexpected twists.

"I've had moments when we had water on the ground, and I ran over and slipped, boom, and I fall. But you have those things. It's real. It's a live show. So I slipped and slid. I hit a pose and smiled like I meant to do it.

"I feel so at home."

When he toured with Disney, he could take along only two suitcases, and he was on an airplane every week.

"Where with Ringling, I live on the train. I love it because it's your own home. It's like my first little apartment. I can put pictures up if I want. And on my travel days I lay in bed, eat cereal and look out the window as America passes by."

 At the Richmond show, Ramon did his usual trick of calling some parents and kids onto the floor.

"I teach them how to levitate their parents. Today, this little girl, as I said, 'OK, you get complete control over your parents,' this little girl's eyes widened and she looks at her mom and she starts clapping over her mom like, 'Yeah!' "

Brothers Evan, 2, and Connor, 5, along with father Patrick Catanzarite, were in town from Syracuse, N.Y., to visit the boys' grandmother Sandy and take in the circus.

"This is my first circus," Patrick said at intermission. "I'm trying to figure out how these people and animals are disappearing. Some of the tricks are amazing."

And where did his sons think Asia the elephant went when she disappeared?

"Up there," both boys said, pointing to the arena roof.

Ramon's not telling. But he has come a long way from his first vanishing trick - making a playing card disappear from his hand.

"Asia is the largest thing that I've caused to vanish. She's a pretty big girl."

Roy Bahls, (757) 446-2351, roy.bahls@pilotonline.com