Rick Lax
Lax in May 2014
Born (1982-04-17) April 17, 1982
Detroit, Michigan
NationalityAmerican
Alma materDePaul University
OccupationEntertainer
Years active2008–present
Known for
Websitericklax.com

Rick Lax (born April 17, 1982) is an American author, entertainer, and magician. He is a notable creator of viral content on Facebook.

Early life and education

Born in Detroit, Lax's interest in magic began at age 5, inspired by David Copperfield.[1] After attending Michigan State University and studying political science at the University of Michigan, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from DePaul University, and subsequently passed the Illinois bar.[1]

Career

Lax was a friend and the first manager of rock band Tally Hall, beginning in 2004.[2] He also appeared in videos by the band.

From 2011 to 2013, Lax worked as a behind-the-scenes consultant for Copperfield and wrote two books about Las Vegas. He also created the TV show Wizard Wars,[3][4] which aired for two seasons on the Syfy network in 2014.[5][6]

In 2015, Lax competed on The CW's Penn & Teller: Fool Us. He performed an original card trick called Binary Code, and was the only contestant to fool Penn & Teller during the episode.[7]

Lax continues to work as a show producer and behind-the-scenes magic consultant.[3][8]

In 2015, Lax started releasing videos on Facebook. By 2019, he was gaining more than a billion views every month.[9] Also that year, Lax launched Making Magic, which features Lax interviewing fellow magicians.[10] Lax later launched a network of over 180 content creators dedicated to creating viral content for Facebook. Notable content created by Richard Lax's network includes pranks, life hacks, "shocking interactions between strangers" (some of which were pre-existing clips purchased from sites like Jukin Media) "weird inspirational content", and gross-out videos featuring food.[11][12][13]

By October 2020, Lax's Facebook page had the second highest reach on the entire Facebook platform.[14][15] Lax and his associates made considerable money as a result of their videos, but Lax has said he has received thousands of death threats as a result of his content.[13] Lax's network was severely negatively impacted by changes to Facebook's algorithm in March 2022 that penalised "watchbait" videos that create "arbitrary" curiosity gaps or "promise sensational revelations".[13]

Publications

  • Lawyer Boy: A Case Study on Growing Up. St. Martin's Press. 2008. ISBN 978-0312373351.
  • Fool Me Once: Hustlers, Hookers, Headliners, and How Not to Get Screwed in Vegas. ST. Martin's Griffin. 2011. ISBN 978-0312545703.
  • I Get Paid for This: Kicking Ass and Taking Notes in Vegas. Huntington Press. 2012. ISBN 978-1935396505.

References

  1. 1 2 "Rick Lax Broke Facebook". VegasNews.com. 2016-07-17. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  2. ↑ Baldwin, Coz [@hiddeninthesand] (March 25, 2020). "When @RickLax was signed as @TallyHall's manager in an effort to get them signed to a major label" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. 1 2 Las Vegas Review Journal, Give conjurers random props, set the clock, and ... Presto, February 23, 2014
  4. ↑ Angela Watercutter (2012-07-24). "Video: Vegas Magicians Face Off in Wizard Wars | Underwire". WIRED. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
  5. ↑ ‘’Gaming ‘’Today, This year's Tony Awards show was the best yet, June 17, 2014
  6. ↑ "Wizard Wars". Syfy. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
  7. ↑ "Rick Lax: How I Fooled Penn & Teller". BoingBoing.com. Retrieved 2015-09-17.
  8. ↑ "Magic News, Magic Videos and Podcasts » Blog Archive » Rick Lax and Wizard Wars [Magic Week in Review]". Itricks.com. 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
  9. ↑ Kevin Roose (2018-04-08). "Facebook's Other Critics: Its Viral Stars". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  10. ↑ "'Making Magic' and Rick Lax are a hit for Facebook Watch". New York Post. 2019-05-17. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  11. ↑ Broderick, Ryan (11 May 2021). "Your Least Favorite Gross Viral Food Videos Are All Connected to This Guy". Eater.
  12. ↑ Wang, Lydia. "Here's Why You Can't Stop Watching Those Outrageous Recipe Videos". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  13. 1 2 3 Mears, Ashley (July 28, 2022). "Hocus focus: how magicians made a fortune on Facebook". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  14. ↑ "What Do People Actually See on Facebook in the US?". About Facebook. 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  15. ↑ Fischer, Sara. "Facebook says 6% of the content its users see is political". Axios. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
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