Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Douglas “lefty” Leferovich. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Douglas “LEFTY” with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I got my work ethic from my father and mother. Growing up my father was a lawyer in NYC, and my mom stopped working to be at home to raise my bother and I. From a very young age, as a family, we did little magic shows for family gatherings, which eventually grew to children’s birthday parties, company picnics, etc. I really enjoyed performing and spending time with my family, but looking back I realize so many life lessons my parents instilled in me. From dressing professional to always showing up time (which meant being early), these are qualities I still follow today. Since in magic your hands at “the stars,” my dad would always make sure that my brother and I cleaned under our finger nails, since we were young boys and loved playing outside and getting dirty. Even after a show was over, the work wasn’t. We would often go to McDonalds and discuss which routines went well, what tricks could use improvements, and how our show could get better in the future. Many years later, in the fall of 2021, I applied this same work ethic while I was co-producing and co-starring in a large production show called Manhattan Magic at the Sands Casino in Atlantic City. After every show, I would go back to my hotel room and have dinner while watching that night’s performance. I would take notes on myself, the dancers, and even the crew, on things that went well and how things could be changed for the better for our next performance.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Native New Yorker Douglas Leferovich has been surrounded by magic all his life. When he was four years old, he performed the color changing silks for his pre-K class and a career was launched. The fascination with magic continued to grow and became a significant part of his life. Performing as “Magic by the 3 L’s,” Douglas, along with older brother Johnny and Dad found family fun and some financial success as the main attraction at birthday parties, school assemblies, library shows and company picnics. Truly bitten by the magic bug, Douglas went to Tannen’s Magic Camp where he honed his craft learning from the best. In 1990, Douglas was off to the University of Pennsylvania where he was a communications major with a minor in marketing/advertising at the Wharton Business School. While at Penn, Douglas continued to perform magic and was hired as a consultant for the student production of Barnum.
After graduation, Douglas helped create the visual comedy and magic act called The Gamesters. For the next five years, he toured the world performing in magic and variety shows and making several international TV appearances. Some performance highlights included performing for the Princess of Thailand, for Michael Jackson at his Neverland Ranch, being regular performing at the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, CA, being a member of a hand-picked team that vanished the Tower Bridge in London, England for a BBC Television special and was part of the design team of magic effects for music artists such as Jay-Z and Michael Jackson for their world tours. One major dream was realized when Manhattan Magic, a full evening production show that he co-created, co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in had a successful run at the Sands Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.
Over the past 25 years, Douglas has emerged as a force in Las Vegas entertainment as a result of his creativity and production expertise. He has been the magical guest act for 15 years in his best friend’s show, Murray the Magician, as well as, in the last 5 years Douglas has produced, hosted, and performed in the exclusively adults-only magic & comedy show, Late Night MAGIC which is currently at The Orleans Hotel & Casino. When not on stage, you can often see his work behind the scenes consulting on over a dozen headline shows on the famous Las Vegas Strip (which include work for Boyz II Men, Meat Loaf, The Jacksons, and Wayne Newton to name a few). Whether performing, consulting or doing graphic design work for shows in the Strip’s major casinos and hotels, it has become clear that Douglas has added his own special magical touch to many of the shows that audiences enjoy when they come to the entertainment capital of the world.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in my journey were practice, having a diverse knowledge outside my area of expertise, and attention to detail. Let me expound on each one.
Practice: From a young age, performing magic always came easy / natural to me. I always loved puzzles when I was growing up, so I often looked at magic tricks as puzzles that I knew the solution to, but the audience didn’t. As I got older, I realized my natural skills would only take me to a certain point, and to get to the next level, I would have to practice. Whether working on a card manipulation flourish for 5 hours a day for two weeks to perfect it, or even today, rehearsing my card manipulation act for 45 minutes before a performance to get my fingers warmed up (similar to a dancer stretching before a show), as my skill level has improved, the hours of practicing behind the scenes has increased to master the new trick / illusion I am working on.
Having a diverse knowledge outside of your area of expertise: My whole life, magic has my focus, my area of expertise. However, learning different art forms (juggling, physical comedy, how to structure and tell a joke, dance, mime, etc.) has really enhanced my magic. My solo goal with my magic is not to trick the audience, but rather they leave the performance entertained. So by adding other art forms to my magic, it has made me a more well rounded entertainer giving the audience a truly unique performance. For many years, I was a silent performer (performing on stage to music, and not talking). By learning about comedy, telling jokes, and how to be a host, I was lucky enough to fill in numerous times for Dani Sawchuck at the host of Crazy Girls at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort & Casino. Also, when I was in college, my focus was on marketing and advertising. This knowledge has come in handy while trying to market and advertise a show that I am producing, which hopefully makes that show stand out from over a 100 shows daily in Las Vegas.
Attention to detail: I often say, “when you see something wrong, you might not know what it is, but you know something is not right.” Many times, that is a small detail that is often overlooked. Whether the exact position of a prop or table on stage, the right accessory to your costume, how a billboard or poster is laid out, to knowing what exactly you say for the punchline of a joke to get the maximum reaction from the audience, every detail matters.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
he people who have been most helpful in my career are people that are smarter than me…and there are a lot of them, haha! When I was younger, I was shy and often afraid and embarrassed to ask a question when I didn’t know something. As I got older and became more mature, I realized there were lots of people smarter than me, especially in their particular field of interest. So if a show I was touring with loaded in, and I had time before the first show, I would sit with a lighting designer and ask them questions. Or if the LD used a term I didn’t know, I would ask what it meant. Once I learned the meaning, I would file it away and never have to ask again. They often say that knowledge it power, and if I can gain more knowledge from experts in fields I don’t know much about, it will ultimately help me to be more well rounded and potentially become more successful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://douglasleferovich.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latenightmagic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/douglefeferovich
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DouglasLeferovich
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/late-night-magic-las-vegas
- Other: https://magiclatenight.com
Image Credits
Shane O’Neal
Jen Rosenstein
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
