It was in the fall of 2012 that comedy "shock" magician Amazing Johnathan (he spells his name unusually, with an a 'h' -- or with two, rather) announced that, on the strength of several successful private Halloween haunted-house parties that he'd staged in his warehouse, he'd been hired to construct an ambitious "SCREAMont Experiment" attraction by downtown's Las Vegas Club, of all unlikely places. As he explained, somewhat enigmatically, on his official website: "It’s a huge project that entails constructing a 45-square-foot space into the scariest haunt in the city. There are no monsters or vampires in this haunt. There are no actors jumping out yelling 'What are you doing here!?!"' Or chainsaws chasing you out the door. There will only be things that play with your mind and eyes. Impossible things and things that are all too possible. After 5 years of building haunts I know what’s scary to most. I have my finger on the pulse of scary and there isn’t one."
His unofficial press release went on, "The hotel will be open on Oct 6th and hours are from 7 pm till 2 am. Open every day and you have to be 16 or with your parents. You must sign a waiver to get in and it’s at your own risk. If your afraid of the dark, getting wet, or being touched then this isn’t for you."
This new project came in the wake of A.J. having recently declared that he was done with Las Vegas, after a brief run at Bally's that ended acrimoniously, with the performer claiming his show was not promoted. We didn't visit the "SCREAMont Experiment" in person, but we read positive reviews of what was described as a highly tactile and effective, if low-budget, scream fest. Evidently it was such a success, in fact, that in one of the more bizarre and unexpected turns of events we can recall in recent Las Vegas entertainment history, the following February the self-styled "Freddy Krueger of Comedy" announced to the Las Vegas Sun that he was being hired by the old and somewhat lackluster downtown casino to give it a total makeover. "All I can tell you is they want me to design the place and make it 'FUN.' They like my ideas and asked me to help. That’s all," he explained, as enigmatically as ever.
At this juncture in the story we need to backtrack a few years, to early 2007 when, at age 50, Amazing Johnathan was first diagnosed with a serious heart condition known as cardiomyopathy. At first, his stated intention was to retire from the stresses and strains of performing. He said he might require a heart transplant as a result of the virus that had been attacking his own since childhood. The latter proved not to be an option, however, thanks to his Type 2 diabetes.
However, apparently a combination of weight loss and blood thinners led to an improvement in his condition--we read that he also had a defibrillator implanted--and A.J. continued to perform, both on the road and in Vegas, until the unfortunate debacle at Bally's. What then became of the Vegas Club pipe dream, we can't say, having never heard another word about it after the initial announcement by the comedian; our assumption would be that his deteriorating health most likely scuppered any chance of that idea making it off the drawing board (although there could equally as likely have been a change of thinking on the part of the Powers That Be at the casino). Whatever the reason, rather than disappearing from the public eye, A.J. instead turned his attention instead to a web-based talk show called Burn Unit for awhile.
What we do know is that in July 2014, Amazing Johnathan announced, while guesting on the podcast WTF With Marc Maron, that his heart was functioning at just 12 percent capacity and that his days were numbered. In October of the same year he made a dramatic and emotional announcement from the stage of downtown's new Inspire Theater, where he'd been among six entertainers performing that night. He stated, tearfully, that he had been told he had just a year to live. "My heart is failing. I can’t do shows anymore because my legs lock up and my hands lock up, and that’s kind of (crappy) for a magician," he explained to a shell-shocked audience.
In February of this year, Johnathan underwent surgery to have two toes on his right foot partially amputated, after they literally came off with a sock -- his circulation is so poor that apparently the performer felt no physical pain even with naked bones protruding from his foot. On the other hand, at that time he said his heart function was back up to 36 percent, which is encouraging news. The overwhelming impression we've received, however, is that Amazing Jonathan is not long for this world, so it remains for us only to wish him the very best, pray for a miracle and, if that is not forthcoming, then hope that he and his new bride get to enjoy their marriage to the utmost in whatever time is afforded them.
