Santa Clarita Valley entertainer Brian Hoffman earned a gold medal at the 89th Pacific Coast Association of Magicians convention in Mission, British Columbia.

A total of 12 contests, including mentalism, close-up magic, platform magic, children’s entertainment, stage magic, and best assistant, took place over the course of the convention. Hoffman entered the children’s entertainment contest as that is his specialty. All awards were announced Nov. 13.

“I’m very honored– and excited to achieve this level of recognition from PCAM,” Hoffman said.

For the children’s entertainment contest, Hoffman had a 10-minute time limit. Six judges, consisting of past PCAM presidents, followed a strict scoring criteria: appearance and act, smoothness, technical skill, originality, entertainment value and mystery value.

Despite having performed for more than a dozen years, Hoffman admitted that he was nervous. He knew that it was key to score high in all the areas in order to earn an award. In addition, the audience was especially important to him.

“I was so thankful that we had children for our audience. My show relies heavily on my interaction with kids. I have so much fun energizing them,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman returned to Santa Clarita late Monday and will perform at Holiday Hocus Pocus benefiting the Boys & Girls Club of SCV. Years ago, he helped establish the Holiday Hocus Pocus stage show as a benefit for the nonprofit. The 2022 event will focus on five main entertainers, including Hoffman, and takes place as part of the Festival of Trees at the Canyon Country Community Center. Tickets are $10. Doors will open with close-up magic at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://scvbgc.org/holiday-hocus-pocus/.

PCAM is an organization for professional, semi-professional and amateur magicians that incorporates chapters around the entire Pacific Rim, including Japan, Hawaii, California and Western Canada. The PCAM family refers to the annual convention as the “biggest little magic convention in the world.”

Hoffman is owner of Brian Hoffman Magic, Kids Foam Party and Interactive Kids Disco, and has been performing for more than a dozen years at private, school and community events. He lives in Saugus with his wife of 21 years and two teenagers.