Parkite Doug Coleman named 2025 Utah State Magician Champion

Utah’s 2025 State Magician Champion Doug Coleman fans two flaming decks of cards—one of the signature effects that earned him the title. Photo: Doug Coleman

PARK CITY, Utah — Doug Coleman thought his night was over. After performing last at Utah Magic Fest on Feb. 6, the Park City resident packed his props and started for the parking lot. Curiosity drew him back inside just in time to hear the announcement: he was the 2025 Utah State Magician Champion.

“I was shocked to see that I’d won first place,” Coleman said. “I’d already taken my equipment to the car and was ready to head up the canyon.”

Coleman, 71, is no stranger to superlatives. In his teens he won state diving and trampoline titles. In adulthood he built a four‑decade film résumé as a stuntman, coordinator and second‑unit director, logging more than 200 screen credits and earning membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The Bear‑attack sequence in “The Revenant,” a nearly six‑minute shot that helped the film collect three Oscars in 2016, is his best‑known work. Coleman said the idea sprang from a magician’s mindset. “I’ve been doing magic since I was six,” he said. “You reverse‑engineer an illusion the same way you deconstruct a high‑risk movie stunt. Magic has really helped my film career.”

Now he devotes most of his time to parlor and close‑up performances—formats that, he believes, dissolve the barrier between magician and spectator. “I don’t want people just watching some magic guy onstage,” he said. “I look every spectator in the eye and rely on them to be part of the show so they feel the magic instead of only seeing it.”

A longtime member of the Academy of Magical Arts’ Magic Castle in Los Angeles, as well as the Society of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians, Coleman insists on original material. Inspiration often arrives in the dark. “At two in the morning I’ll wake up wondering how to tie a ring to my shoelace without bending over,” he said. “I scribble notes, then spend weeks reverse‑engineering until I can perform it.”

Born in Salt Lake City and raised in Ogden, Coleman moved to Park City more than 30 years ago while judging the nascent freestyle‑ski circuit. The town remains his anchor between film sets and private shows. “If you live in Utah, you know what a beautiful place it is and how fortunate we are,” he said. “Being home is the real reward—getting to share a little wonder with my own community.”

Travel still calls. Coleman will coordinate stunts for “Wild Horse Nine,” shooting in Moab, this spring, and booked a corporate magic show for the Young Presidents Organization in San Francisco. A six‑episode television series titled “Homestead” is scheduled to film in Utah later this year.

No matter where the calls come from, Coleman said, Park City remains the vacation he looks forward to. “If you live in Utah, you know what a beautiful place it is and how fortunate we are,” he said. “Being in Park City is the real reward—getting to share a little wonder with my own community.”

For private or corporate shows with Doug, email magicduc@aol.com.