Ken Whitaker

Ken Whitaker
Born	Kenneth Whitaker January 7, 1944
Died	June 14, 2002 (age 58) Las Vegas, Nevada

Ken "Kenny" Whitaker (1944-2002) was a magic craftsman and performer.

Biography

Whitaker developed and performed a bird act in the 1960s using colored doves, fantail pigeons, silky chickens, and a duck. (He would eventually pass this act on to others, including Dirk Arthur.)

Throughout his performing career, he used many stage names. As "Alan Kent", he appeared on an It's Magic! show in 1967, which led to contracts in Nevada where he was billed as "Ken Alan".

In the early 1970s, he teamed up with Steve Humphrey to create a double act called "Sorcery." Paul Haynes would also joined the act becoming a three-man magical rock band. During this period, Whitaker invented and performed probably his most famous and copied illusion, Impaled.

By the early 1980s, Whitaker dropped out of magic and worked as a cabinetmaker for over a decade.

In 1992, he moved to Las Vegas and opened Creative Illusions with Paul Haynes creating custom illusions for many professional.

Faced with severe health problems, Whitaker faded from the magic scene again, while Haynes continued to run the business as Production Stageworks.

Around 1998 he underwent heart surgery and then suffered a stroke the next year, from which he never fully recovered. Whitaker was found in his apartment almost three days after he died.