A WORLD SLEIGHT-OF-HAND CHAMP WHO'S HEAVY ON AMBITION.

Byline: BRENT HOPKINS Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- The magician has toured the world, owns a Lamborghini and flashes a million-dollar smile. He's handsome, confident and ready to dazzle. He's also locked out of his warehouse.

That's Jason Latimer. He calls himself the EnVisioneer; the Federation Internationale des Societes Magiques calls him the World Champion of Magic. His fingers are so fast and his moves so cunning, he can make objects vanish right in front of your eyes. Even when you know he's cheating, you know it's an illusion, you know it's a trick, he's so good, you still can't tell.

So good, you want to believe it's real. Unfortunately for him at interview time, none of his illusions involve lock-picking.

He's 25, not so long out of Agoura High School. He could be great, one of those guys who tourists pay piles of money to see in Vegas. He could be a Master of Illusion, breathing the rarified air of the legends. Guys like that make tens of millions of dollars a year, guys like David Copperfield, Lance Burton, Penn and Teller. But until Latimer gets there, he's still a hard-working kid.

A hard-working kid who can't get to his tricks because they're secured inside a Santa Clarita warehouse and he doesn't have the key.

And yet, he's undaunted. After a quick rescheduling, he's there, fired up, ready to go.

``I was raised by a pack of wild magicians!'' Latimer proclaims, surrounded by pieces of tricks. ``I'm magic, magic, magic, magic. I eat magic, I sleep magic, I dream magic.''

After years as a journeyman playing restaurants, bar mitzvahs and progressively larger shows, he's planning a national tour, starting off with a one-night engagement tonight at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Though he's an expert in close-in magic, subtle darts and dashes of his hands to distract viewers' attention, this one's going to be big.

Very big.

``EnVisioneer: Unleash the Illusion'' involves lasers, rotating stages and his expensive Italian sports car in some fashion. He doesn't give too much away, not wanting to spoil the surprise. At some point, someone's going to levitate and rotate 360 degrees in the air, like something out of ``The Matrix.''

Latimer's poised, practiced, ready to knock the audience out. Though he's so skilled he's said to be light years ahead of the industry, he's still got a hesitant twinge to his voice as he pontificates about the show.

``This is home court,'' he mused. ``The people I went to high school with, they can afford a ticket here, so I can't screw up. I've gotta do good.''

He talks a million miles an hour, punctuating it with nervous laughter and magical references. When illusions are your trade, it's hard not to overuse the word magic. He often says fairly innocuous things, then hesitates and demands ``don't write that down!'' or ``that's off the record!''

Then again, when you traffic in illusions, it's wise to keep things mysterious. Here's a sampling of details Latimer's willing to part with: he started practicing magic at age 9, when a cruise ship conjurer picked him from a crowd as an assistant; he's got a girlfriend; he usually parks his Lamborghini in favor of a Toyota Corolla; when he was 12, he talked his way into The Magic Castle.

The storied Hollywood mansion, sort of like the Pentagon of magical happenings, brought the young Latimer to those wild magicians who schooled him in the arts of amazement. After four years in the junior program, he garnered a reputation as a brilliant innovator and headlined performances. He wasn't even old enough to buy a ticket to his own show.

``Jason's one of the superstars of tomorrow, there's no question about it -- he's at that jumping-off point right now,'' said Milt Larsen, The Magic Castle's founder and a lifelong practitioner of the art. ``He's been a world traveler, been to a dozen different countries, won all the awards he could want. There's no question that he's on the first few steps of the ladder to stardom.''

By the time he left for college at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Latimer had a bizarre study plan in which he spent three days in class, then four days flying all over the world to perform. Though it took him six years to finish, he ended up learned in math, economics and applied physics, all of which he managed to incorporate into his magic career.

This made him a frequent visitor during professor David Cannell's office hours in the physics department.

``It didn't take me too long to figure out he wasn't there for the physics, but what I could do for him,'' Cannell said. ``He was trying to use it to build a trick, and I was like, `Yeah, good luck, kid.' But as we were talking, he did a card trick for me, and I thought, `My God, this kid is as good as anyone I've ever seen.' I started taking him very seriously after that.''

Soon, Cannell was advising Latimer, and the guys in the shop were helping him build illusions. The educational foundation Latimer gained while working alongside gave him the technical roots that bring his tricks to life.

He sketches like a madman, bringing in elaborate designs and ideas to Valek X. Sykes, his chief illusion-builder. Sykes, a Philadelphia-bred ex-Marine turned robot-maker and puppeteer, often finds himself shaking his head at Latimer's wild ideas.

``He gets so into it, I could say, `Jason, the shop's on fire,''' said Sykes, president and chief executive officer of Tech-Works Studios in Santa Clarita. ``And he'd be like, `Fire? Oh, that reminds me of a trick!'''

The young illusionist calls this ``borderline obsession.'' But it's been a good one.

What started as a fun hobby as a kid has made him a success. If he plays his cards right, or in this case, makes them disappear properly, he could be onto something far beyond.

The money's nice, but he doesn't really like talking about that. It's the moment the audience snaps around and jaws start to drop, the moment he's not Jason Latimer, econ student and physics fan. When he's in that other world, like something out of Peter Pan.

When he has pulled off something magical.

``The technical aspects, that's all Val. The sneakiness, well, when it comes to that,'' he said, trailing off into that brilliant performer's smile. ``Some of us never grew up. Some of us found our Neverland.''

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Jason Latimer -- the World Champion of Magic and a Santa Clarita resident -- is good, really good. Tonight he will kick off a national tour with a show in Thousand Oaks.

(2) Jason Latimer's fingers are so fast and his moves so cunning, he can make objects vanish right in front of your eyes. Even when you know he's cheating, you want to believe it's real.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer