Paul Cosentino (born 2 November 1982) known mononymously by his stage name Cosentino, is an Australian illusionist and escapologist. [1]
Paul Cosentino (born 2 November 1982) known mononymously by his stage name Cosentino, is an Australian illusionist and escapologist. [1]
Cosentino's mother was a school principal and his father was a civil and structural engineer. As a child, he found a magic book in a library which fascinated him, but, due to his learning difficulties, his mother had to explain the contents of the book to him while he looked at the pictures. [2] One time when he was 13, he and his mother got locked out of the house. In order to get inside, Cosentino picked the locks. After being successful, he practised picking locks, a skill he'd use in his magic performances. Cosentino attended Wesley College, Melbourne, during his high school years. [3]
His first television appearance was on the Australian variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday when he was still in high school, for which he won prize money. [2]
On 17 February 2010 Cosentino, in honor of Harry Houdini's jump off Queen's Bridge in Melbourne on the same day in 1910, performed a tribute underwater escape act. He was shackled to a 60 kg concrete block and sunk to the bottom of the main tank in the Melbourne Aquarium. He was surrounded by various fish, sharks and rays, and had to free himself from using only a lock pick. Cosentino planned to complete the escape in 2 minutes 30 seconds, but due to problems with a padlock and his belly chain, the escape took 3 minutes 39 seconds. [4]
Cosentino auditioned in Melbourne for Australia's Got Talent with an illusion routine. He advanced in the competition after earning praise from the judges. In the preliminary finals, he performed an escape act, in which he had to pick 9 locks while completely submerged in a tank of water suspended above the ground. The escape took 1 minute 45 seconds. For the semi-final Cosentino performed an illusion routine, disappearing and reappearing in military style dance. In the finale, Cosentino escaped from a straitjacket while suspended from his ankles, six meters above the ground, inside a jaws-like apparatus. These jaws were held open by a single piece of rope that was set on fire for the act. Cosentino had to escape before the rope burned through and the jaws snapped around his ankle with over 200 kg of force. Overall, Cosentino came second in the 2011 series of Australia's Got Talent, losing out to Jack Vidgen. [5] [6]
Cosentino performed at Carols in the Domain in Sydney for magic tricks and arrival of Santa Claus. [7]
He won Dancing With The Stars on 26 November 2013, along with his dancing partner Jessica Raffa. [8]
Cosentino has appeared in 3 Magic, The Mystery, The Madness episodes where he performed Illusions, Escapes and Street Magic on the Streets of Melbourne and Sydney. [9]
Cosentino appeared at the Asia's Got Talent result show where he performed a disappearing act. [10]
Cosentino competed in America's Got Talent: The Champions in 2019. He did not advance to the finals. [11]
Cosentino appeared as an intruder in the sixth season of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Australia in 2020. [12]
In October 2016 Cosentino published his first book titled Anything is Possible: The Magic, The Mystery, The Life (2016). In the book he talks about his mind patterns and inspirations and how they helped him in his illusion career. [13]
He played himself in the 2017 Jackie Chan film Bleeding Steel .
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-American escape artist, illusionist, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician Robert-Houdin (1805–1871).
Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks, and other perils, often in combination.
David Seth Kotkin, known professionally as David Copperfield, is an American magician, described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history.
Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos, known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. Angel began his career in New York City, before moving his base of operations to the Las Vegas Valley. He is known for starring in the television and stage show Criss Angel Mindfreak and his previous live performance illusion show Criss Angel Believe in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas. The show generated $150 million in tourist revenue to Las Vegas in 2010, but has since been replaced by Mindfreak LIVE! in 2016. He also starred in the television series Criss Angel BeLIEve on Spike TV, the reality-competition television show Phenomenon on NBC, and the 2014 stage show Criss Angel Magicjam.
Quick-change is a performance style where a performer changes quickly, usually within seconds, from one costume into another.
Stephen Daniel Mulhern is an English television presenter, magician, and comedian. He began his career presenting children’s television shows for CITV, including Finger Tips (2001–2004) and Tricky TV (2005–2010). Mulhern has presented various television shows for ITV, including Britain's Got More Talent (2007–2019), Animals Do the Funniest Things (2007–2011), This Morning's Hub (2011–2014), Catchphrase (2013–present), Big Star's Little Star (2013–2018), In for a Penny (2019–present), Rolling In It (2020–2021), Deal or No Deal (2023–present) and Dancing on Ice (2024–present).
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J C Sum is a Singaporean hybrid marketer, author, content creator, former illusionist and illusion designer.
Ross Skiffington is a New Zealand-born Australian magician, actor, and theatre director, who has received two lifetime achievement awards for his contributions to magic.
Christian Farla is a Dutch magician from Rotterdam who specializes in illusions. In 2006 and 2009, he won the Merlin Award.
David Avadon, formerly "David Hutchins," was an American illusionist who billed himself as the country's "premier exhibition pickpocket." He lectured and wrote a book on pickpocketing and performed his trademark theatrical pickpocketing act for more than 30 years.
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Australia's Got Talent is an Australian reality television show, based on the original UK series, claiming to find new talent. The fifth season premiered on the Seven Network on 3 May 2011 and ended on 2 August 2011, where singer Jack Vidgen was crowned the winner of Australia's Got Talent, while illusionist Cosentino became runner-up. Judges Dannii Minogue, Kyle Sandilands, and Brian McFadden returned for the series, as well as host Grant Denyer.
Murray John Sawchuck is a stage illusionist, magician, comedian, actor, and host. Based in Las Vegas, SawChuck has dubbed himself "The 'Dennis the Menace' of Magic," and his shows often consist of a blend of "comical mishaps" that result in illusions and magic tricks. He was featured in the fifth season of America's Got Talent, and is the resident magic historian on Pawn Stars. SawChuck has also appeared as a magic coach on five episodes of the VH1 series Celebracadabra, and has been a guest star on shows such as Reno 911!, Last Comic Standing, Celebrity Blind Date, War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave, and Ring of Darkness.
Leslie George "Les" Vante Cole, known professionally by the stage names "Levant", "Levante", "The Great Levante" and Magician Cole, was an Australian illusionist. He is regarded as one of the greatest magicians in the world and "Australia's most famous magician". He is also credited with creating the Impaling illusion.
Adam Mada, known professionally as The Wizard of Oz, is an Australian magician, entertainer, magic/illusion designer & director, speaker and magic consultant. He is the magic and illusion consultant, coach and director for the National Institute Of Dramatic Art (N.I.D.A) The magic coach and consultant for Australia's Got Talent 2022 The Australian magic & Illusion associate for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts 1 & 2, the Magic/Illusion designer & director for Possum Magic and Sydney Theatre Companies 2022 version of Blithe Spirit. He is the resident magician for Studio 3 on ABC3, and the famed weekly live cabaret El Circo in Sydney Australia, he was the inspiration for 2 characters in the Novel Siren by Tara Moss, Adam was cast in Band of Magicians, supergroup in 2015.
Rob Lake is an American magician and illusionist known for his original grand illusions and elaborate theatrical interactive performances. Rob Lake was a quarter-finalist on America's Got Talent in 2018. Rob has performed his illusion shows all over the USA, Japan, Australia, Europe, Guam, and Thailand. He currently performs his show on television, in casinos, and theaters around the world.
The Illusionists is a touring magic production which features a rotating cast of 5 to 8 magicians who all specialise in specific branches of magic from stage illusions to mind reading to escapology and comedic magic.
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