Liz Toonkel’s
work strives to create social change through humor, spectacle, and transgression.
Liz Toonkel is a queer magician and performance artist who combines sleight of hand magic with storytelling, comedy and activism. Toonkel thrives on storytelling being deemed “a fantastic storyteller” (The Sappy Critic) and “an irresistible performer who deserves to break out in the UK and worldwide” (To Do List) and her work ranges from performance and installations to films.
She has performed worldwide including headlining the Chicago Magic Lounge, the Elysian Theater in Los Angeles, the 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival (Winner: Best Costume Design, Nominee: The Splash Award, Soaring Solo Social Impact Award, Best Cabaret & Variety), The Center for the Arts at Kayenta, the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival (4 stars (To Do List), Highly Recommended Show (Fringe Review)), the 2023 Cincinnati Fringe Festival, Aarhaus Festuge with Live Art Denmark, Honor Fraser Gallery, LAX Festival, ltd Gallery and the 2016 Queer Biennial in Los Angeles.
When she’s not performing, Liz is a production designer whose credits include the Oscar nominated animated feature “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”, for which her work was nominated for an Art Director’s Guild award, and “Emily the Criminal” starring Aubrey Plaza. Liz was the first time recipient of the Calarts Distinguished Young Alumnx of the Year Award in 2023 for her outstanding work across the arts.
Liz has been a resident at Asylum Arts, Automata, PAM, The Marble House Project and the Transart Institute in Berlin. She has studied clown and performance with Spymonkey, Dr. Brown and the Idiot Workshop. She earned her BFA at New York University’s Tisch School for the Arts in Film & Television Production with a minor in Gender & Sexuality and holds a dual MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in Art & Technology and Scenic Design. She is a magician member of the Academy of Magical Arts. Check out her production design work at www.liztoonkel.com