About Dal

Dal Sanders has been studying and performing the art of magic as a full time professional for over thirty-five years and has put his entire heart and soul into the job. He is the Past National President of The Society of American Magicians, a member of The International Brotherhood of Magicians, a member of the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle) and he was awarded M.I.M.C. with a Gold Star with London’s famed society The Magic Circle. As President of the S.A.M. Dal was instrumental in convincing the United States Congress to recognize Magic as an Art.

In addition to headlining his own shows, Sanders has shared the stage with The Beach Boys, The Dixie Chicks, Bill Cosby, Toto, Styx, Huey Lewis and the News, Gary Lewis and The Playboys, Spyro Gyra, The Grassroots, Foghat, Gabe Kaplan, Kenny Rogers and Gladys Knight and others at various shows and events.

He is also well known for his educational school shows on a number of subjects including Reading, Character Building, Self Esteem, Science, Drug Prevention, Ecology and Being a Friend…Not a Bully. In fact, there are many entertainers who regularly perform Dal Sanders’ routines in their own educational shows.

Dal Sanders has also appeared on numerous commercials, films and television specials including The Ms. International Beauty Pageant which was broadcast throughout the world. He also had regular appearances on the iconic television series Dallas. Recently he performed on a Comedy Central Special and can be seen in the soon to be released feature film; “Hidden In The Heart of Texas”.’

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In The Book Of Secrets, John Carney says, “Creativity is Play”. If you accept that as truth then Dal Sanders is playing at life. I do not know another person so full of creativity. While most of you may know Dal as a Magician, he is constantly working on creating magic, writing books, and designing routines for himself and others, he is even a songwriter. He loves to write. In fact, if I hadn’t have said I wanted to write this for him, he’d have written it himself. Says Dal, “creativity is like a muscle: the more you use it the stronger it gets.”  And he does this in what spare time he has, working over 600 gigs a year. (By Dal’s definition a gig is not just one show, it can be a week long event for a client at a mall opening or even the Texas State Fair, performing 5 shows a day for 24 days.) Dal is the only one I know that seems to have a 36 hour day.

Dal is a busy man, but early on success didn’t seem to be in the cards.  As a child, Dal had obstacles to overcome – he had trouble breathing and talking.
Born in San Antonio, while his dad was in the Air Force, the family transferred to Memphis, where his sister Shan was born. once out of the Air Force, Dal’s father moved the family to Nashville, where Dal developed severe breathing problems. His father followed a Dr.’s advice to get the boy somewhere warm; at age 3, the family moved to Miami, Florida, where his sister Fauve was born.

While most 2 & 3 year olds are chatting away, Dal was not. He was born with a speech impediment , where having a conversation was almost incoherent. Quite simply, he couldn’t talk. It wasn’t until he was 5 that Doctors discovered the problem was with his tongue – it could not move. Minor surgery corrected it, but then Dal had to re-learn how to speak. he was taken to the Easter Seals clinic in Miami, where Mrs. Stein was his speech therapist. For many years he worked with her, even though her appearance was off-putting. Dal said, she was blind but did not use dark sunglasses to conceal her eyes. She had a hunchback and was not much taller than he was. She also walked with a cane.  To a 5 year old she was the embodiment of the witch from Hansel and Gretel, “my mom left me there for 2-3 hours week.”

Mrs. Stein’s kindness and expertise soon won him over, and he learned to love her. He added, “even though she couldn’t see my lips, she knew exactly what I was doing wrong; she made me learn to think about each syllable before I said it,”  Mrs. Stein spent 5 years working with Dal, having him read Shakespeare aloud while most kids were reading Dick & Jane.

Dal saw his first 5 magic shows while living in Florida, but for the longest time he thought it was two shows bu the same magician, it wasn’t until he became a magician himself that he realized that they were different. “I saw Willard the Wizard do a tent show while we were traveling for vacation, I also saw one of Harry Blackstone Sr.’s last theater shows.” The Willard show was a bit of foreshadowing of what was to come, in that the Assembly to which Dal belongs is the Willard the Wizard Assembly 13 in Dallas, Dal’s home houses the collection of memorabilia and props from the Willard the Wizard show.

Dal did some magic as a kid but it wasn’t a life-changing passion like it is for so many magicians. He watched The magic Land of Alakazam every Saturday, but he was also drawn to the puppets Howdy Doody and Kukla, Fran, & Ollie were favorite shows. Seeing the musical carousel made him want to perform. Dal made some puppets, built a stage, got his magic act together, and hosted a show for the neighborhood kids, charging them a nickel each. When his mother found out she was furious and made him return all the money. By 1968, Dal’s family relocated to Atlanta. While he doesn’t remember doing magic in high school, he says he must have done some. “I had just had my 40th reunion; they had the old school newspaper and it talked about me doing magic for the other students, I have no real memory of that. magic still wasn’t a passion, I wanted to play guitar.”

Expect Rave reviews wherever The Pure Magic of Dal Sanders stages its powerful brand of mystery, comedy, and illusion.  From the grandeur of the country’s finest theaters to the largest outdoor venues imaginable, Dal Sanders has dazzled audiences with his electric and engaging performance of some of the most striking illusions in magic.  It seems almost impossible, but Dal Sanders has been entertaining American audiences for more than 30 years!  The energy is amazing as the audience participates and becomes part of the show.

Dal Sanders has perfected his ability to please the audience with incredible magic, laughter and fun.  Dal’s riveting stage presence, combined with his timely humor and incredible talent has won him plaudits everywhere he has performed. From college stages to night clubs, amusements parks to corporate events, from sea to shining sea, in beautiful theaters, Dal Sanders has treated audiences of all ages to imaginative and entertaining shows, that have resulted in his tremendous success,

Family friendly comedy, bold choreography, captivating music and Dal’s extraordinary talent ignite each show with energy and excitement.  A rare mix of polish and down to earth appeal, Dal captures the imagination of children and adults alike.  His fresh approach and unique style is in demand in venues as diverse as casinos, colleges and conventions, Dal is garnering acclaim in entertainment circles as the Finest Family Entertainer in America.

An award winning professional, Dal had been the featured performer at theaters and resorts and corporate events across the United States. His corporate clients include a client list that reads like the Fortune 500 club, Sherwin-Williams, Hewlett-Packard, American Airlines, Raytheon, Tandy Corporation, m&m/Mars, McDonalds, Panasonic, U.S. Sprint, Southwest Airlines, IBM, Zales, Avis, Country seat, Procter and Gamble, Coca-Cola, Mercedes Benz, Niemen Marcus, and more.

The Pure Magic of Dal Sanders also has made frequent guest appearances on television variety shows and appeared with such celebrities as Bill Cosby, The beach boys, Toto, Styx, Heuy Lewis and the News, Kenny Rogers, Gladys Knight, Crystal Gayle, Trace atkins, Marty Stewart, Asleep at the Wheel, Foghat, The Grass Roots, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Gabe Kaplan, Spiro Gyra, and the Dixie Chicks.A stunning showcase of outstanding illusions, The Pure Magic of Dal Sanders is one of the brightest acts in entertainment today.

Not content to merely mystify the audience, Dal Sanders is an entertainer who combines comedy, audience participation, music, live animals, juggling, and elements of clowning, as well as magic throughout his shows. He firmly believes that the audience of today are not content to simply be amazed, but they also want to laugh.

Dal Sanders has performed on national Television shows a number of times. Many times he has been the feature entertainment of the Internationally televised Mrs. International Beauty Pageant. Here he developed illusions to magically produce more than 50 contestants as they were introduced and the contestants assisted him in magic and illusions throughout the special.

Dal Sanders has also appeared in too many television and radio talk shows to mention here. He has been featured on the hit television series Dallas, Walker, Texas Ranger and the 20th Century Fox Film Southern Comfort.

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Dal Sanders has been studying and performing the art of magic as a full time professional for over thirty five years and has performed across the United States and overseas in China, Portugal, Mexico and Brazil and The United Kingdom. He has headlined his own illusion shows and shared the stage with many top acts including Bill Cosby, The Beach Boys, The Dixie Chicks, Toto, Styx, Huey Lewis and the News, The Grassroots, Foghat, Trace Adkins, Kenny Rogers and Gladys Knight.organization also includes Harry Houdini, Howard Thurston, Cardini and Harlan Tarbell and others as Past National Presidents. He is also MIMC in the Magic Circle, A member of The Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle), A member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and is a Charter Member of KIDabra International.

Dal Sanders has also performed magic on numerous TV commercials, industrial films and television specials including The MS International Beauty Pageant which was broadcast throughout the world. He performed on this special several times where he developed illusions to produce over 50 contestants magically as they were introduced. The contestants also assisted him in magic and illusions throughout the entire show. Recently he magically produced comedian Mitch Fatel on his Comedy Central Special.