David Maas, 57, of Glenview, Illinois, and Sarasota, Florida, passed away on November 22, 2020. Born in Jefferson City, Missouri on March 15, 1963, to Jerry Maas, a music director for the Circus Hall of Fame in Sarasota, Florida, and Frances Mecham (Boyer), a singer and dancer of the trio The Boyer Sisters. He is survived by his wife of 24 years Dania Kaseeva Maas, stepson, daughter McKenzie Keller, and mother Frances Marlene Mecham. David was preceded in death by his father Jerry Maas and brother.
David and Dania met in 1995 while working in the circus where she was performing a hula hoop act and he was the ringmaster. They married in 1996, to continue their dreams of the spotlight and remain together while on the road, they created their famous "Quick Change" act. "It's very, very magical and very, very visual no matter where you're sitting," Maas told the
Chicago Sun Times in 2006 after appearing on "America's Got Talent" and making it to the NBC show's semifinals. A clip of their performance
went viral around the world and was viewed more than 21 million times.
Wayne Hoffman, their agent, and manager, a mentalist and illusionist himself, said he was thrilled to take on the pair when he began his talent agency two years ago. "Their reputations proceeded themselves as the greatest quick change magic act in the world," he said. "Knowing what I know about illusion and magic, when I first saw their act it felt like it wasn't a trick. It felt like real magic."
The duo landed on programs like "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Ellen" and a slew of late-night shows, and as guests on "Big Brother." They helped Katy Perry, the pop singer, perform her own
rapid costume changes during concert performances of the song "Hot N Cold".
Former President George H.W. Bush requested their act three times at his home in Maine. They performed at magic shows and festivals worldwide. Appeared on "America's Got Talent," the NBC variety show in which they made it to the
semifinals in 2006. One of their performances on the show that year became the third-most-watched video on YouTube of the year.
"Your act is one of a kind," the actor David Hasselhoff, one of the celebrity judges, told them. "We're still sitting here with our mouths open."
They performed at all 30
N.B.A. arenas, the All-Star Game, and 15 W.N.B.A. arenas, shown on the
couple's website. At least 76 universities brought them to campus for halftime performances, along with the Big Ten basketball tournaments and the N.C.A.A. Final Four.
David and Dania were consistently among the
most requested halftime acts, and ESPN declared them "the most successful halftime act in sports," while
Sporting News ranked them in 2014 as the best halftime act in college basketball.
When it comes to revealing the secret of the act, David Maas says, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to make you disappear."
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