Doug Leferovich – Wizard of Ahh’s
Over the past five years, Douglas Leferovich has made quite a name for himself with producers and shows here in Las Vegas. Leferovich has been a consultant and go-to-guy for a vast variety of live shows here on the Las Vegas Strip. Some of the recent shows include The Jacksons, Boyz II Men, Meat Loaf, Human Nature, Name That Tune, Wayne Newton, Recycled Percussion, Greg London, Sapphire Comedy Hour, Divas Las Vegas, Steve Wyrick, and of course Murray Sawchuck, in which Leferovich also plays the hilarious and sleight-of-hand sidekick, “Lefty.”
I had a chance to sit down with my friend over lunch and chat about his background, his thoughts on entertainment and Las Vegas, and what the future holds for this talented wizard behind-the-scenes, and who many call the “Wizard of Ahh’s,” if you will.
Here are two excerpts from Doug’s interview with StripLV Magazine.
StripLV magazine asked me if comedy was always part of my magic. My response was,
“No. It’s not something that I always did. So when somebody says, “Oh, I thought the magic was great,” it’s still nice to hear, but it’s something I’ve worked on my whole life. So to go out on stage and do comedy bits with Murray, where I don’t have anything in my pockets, with no trick… I’m going out and doing a funny dance, or making a funny expression, or how I act, especially because I don’t speak on stage—I spend time reading the autobiography of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, watching old films like The Keystone Cops.
You watch how, to me, all that comedy is timeless and still funny today. And because Vegas is an international market, it works with any language. When I do my comedy, you don’t have to speak English to understand what’s going on. And what’s interesting is, because of my facial expressions, the way we interact and the music—there are times where we speak to people after the show and they don’t even realize I’m not speaking. Because you see us interacting, and you know what I’m thinking or how I feel because of my expression, even though I’m not saying something.
Sometimes I feel like people pay more attention because I’m not speaking—because if you’re watching someone and they’re talking, if you drop something and you pick it up, they’re just talking, you can just keep hearing what they’re saying—as opposed to me—if you look away, you’re missing what’s going on. It really focuses people to watch what I’m doing.”
When I was asked what my end goal is, I said,
“I guess most people in their job have an end goal, or something specific they want to achieve. They are so worried to get to that end goal that they often skip over some amazing things that happen on the way. For me, I am achieving goals all the time.
One month I am sharing the stage with Larry King for his Cardiac Foundation charity in Washington, DC, the next month I am magic consultant for The Jacksons, then the next month I am sharing the stage with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp, and then the next month I am a creative consultant for the release of the 2010 Ford Mustang, where they shut down the Las Vegas Strip—not to mention, performing magic in a show on the Las Vegas Strip for the last 3 years.
So I’m not so worried about the end goal, as I am having so much fun on the journey to get to whatever that end goal is.”
» More about this article in the Press Section
Douglas has worked on many shows up and down the Las Vegas strip. He has worn many different hats, from being a creative director, lighting designer, set designer, and production / technical director having worked with Wayne Newton, Frank Marino, Human Nature, and Recycled Percussion to name a few.