Magic, mystery and madness

MAGIC, mystery 

and madness

 AUSTRALIAN ILLUSIONIST COSENTINO WILL SOON APPEAR ON A TV NEAR YOU

 PARINYAPORN PAJEE

THE NATION

 

AUSTRALIAN ILLUSIONIST and escapologist Cosentino didn’t doing any disappearing tricks when he popped over to Bangkok last Thursday to chat with the media about his upcoming TV show though he did have one lady floating horizontally in the air and escaped from a straitjacket.

The 31-year-old, who was born Paul Cosentino, is bringing “Cosentino” to Thailand next month with cable provider TrueVisions.

The young Cosentino turned to magic at the age of 12 to try and overcome his shyness and was soon wowing family and friends with his tricks.

A runner-up on “Australia’s Got Talent” in 2011, Cosentino has won two Merlin Awards – Most Original International Magician in 2012 and International Magician of the Year last year. His own TV show followed along with an invitation to take part in “Dancing with the Stars”, which he won.

XP waved its magic wand and convinced the affable Cosentino to sit down for a chat.

 

HOW DO YOU CREATE NEW MAGIC?

I have a very child-like imagination. That doesn’t been I’m childish but that my imagination is as vivid as a child’s.

I have six nephews and nieces and do magic for them and they see it as real magic, not a trick or illusion. If you think like a child you become creative.

 

WHAT MAKE YOU DIFFERENT FROM OTHER MAGICIANS?

In the TV shows we combine four disciplines – street magic, stunts, stage magic and reality and of course no other magician makes a habit of dancing! That makes the show unique.

Then there’s the personality factor. I’ve been influenced by people as diverse as Michael Jackson and Bruce Lee, even some Walt Disney’s characters, and the combination seems to work.

 

SOME OF YOUR ESCAPES ARE REALLY QUITE DANGEROUS. DO YOU FORESEE A TIME WHEN YOU WILL GET INTO REAL TROUBLE? 

It’s already happened. I did the show “Dropped” on TV. That involved my being in a sphere and dropping to the bottom of a 10-metre water tank. My eardrum burst while I was still chained. My ear was bleeding and I was nauseous but I still had to extract myself from the sphere and swim back up to the surface in one single breath.

Another escape act that almost went bad is “Stabbed”. It used a machine I invented with 18 chefs’ knives that are released. They are meant to miss me but one time I ended up with a bad cut on the chin.

 

HOW DO YOU OVERCOME YOUR FEAR IN SITUATIONS LIKE THAT?

It’s very difficult to do. I convince myself that I have to do it. If I worry about the danger or think of the things that could possibly go wrong I wouldn’t do it. 

But in the end it’s all the practice and the training and the rehearsal that make you feel confident. You must never try and escape if you are not fully prepared because you lose your confidence and start anticipating something going wrong.

And the main thing of course is not to panic. It’s difficult but it’s what you train for.

 

ARE YOU AFRAID THAT THE TRICKS WILL GET OLD SOMETIME?

Of course, you can never do the same tricks too many times. I have to keep coming up with new material and new ideas and they usually involve more chains. 

WHAT’S THE MOST DIFFICULT PART ABOUT MAGIC?

Like I said earlier, coming up with an idea is easy but bringing that idea to life is hard. We use technology to make it deceptive but not everything we do works the first time. We are constantly creating prototypes, which is time-consuming and expensive and often frustrating.

 

HOW DO YOU REHEARSE?

I go to the gym five times a week and train for the acts every day. If I have live shows coming up, I train two months straight every day until it’s perfect, really refined.

 

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A MAGICIAN?

Passion first and foremost. You also need hand dexterity training and to be creative. Most important I guess is charm because a magician is really an actor.

 

 WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN PEOPLE WATCH THE SHOW TO SEE HOW IT’S DONE RATHER THAN FOR ENTERTAINMENT?

I would obviously prefer it if they watched just to be entertained. It is like watching a blockbuster like “Hercules” and thinking that that’s all fake, that’s not real. Of course it’s not. And that’s the point. It not real, it’s illusion and it’s entertaining.

WHAT HAPPENS IF SOMEONE DISCOVERS HOW THE TRICK WORKS?

We kill them! No, I’m kidding – at the end of the day everyone wants to know how it’s done. But when the audience is being entertained, they get wrapped up in the story, in the mystery and at the end of the day although they want to know the secret, the entertainment overpowers it. But if someone does discover the secret, I would say shhhh!

 

DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL LESS CONFIDENT WHEN SOMEONE DISCOVERS HOW YOU DO SOMETHING?

No, not really. That’s why I like doing escapes because then there are no tricks, no smoke or no mirrors. It’s real water, real chains and real blood.

 

YOU’RE FAMOUS NOW, HAVE YOUR REACHED YOUR GOAL?

No, not at all. I always want to get better on my show. I believe we can always learn and for me it’s always good to learn from different cultures and different pick up inspiration from different people.

 

WHAT DO YOU GET FROM BEING A MAGICIAN?

In the beginning it was all about finding confidence in myself. Now I love the fact that can share who I am. It’s not about money or fame but the feeling of being able to share my art.

 

WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP IN YOUR CAREER?

To develop my craft and to make my acts more elaborate and more dangerous. I want to fly like a superman, not just levitate. I’m working on it

 

FINALLY, DO YOU CALL YOURSELF A MAGICIAN OR AN ILLUSIONIST?

An illusionist, because a magician does smaller tricks and more of them. If you are an illusionist, the bigger and grander your escapes and the better the show.

 GRAND ILLUSION

 n “Cosentino” will air on TrueVisions’ RTL CBS Extreme HD Channel 338 at 9pm on August 14 and 15 and August 21 and 22.

n For more details, see www.Cosentino.com.au.