In his Decennium show, Cosentino will perform a range of death-defying escapes along with mind-boggling stage illusions and cutting-edge street magic that twists reality.
In his Decennium show, Cosentino will perform a range of death-defying escapes along with mind-boggling stage illusions and cutting-edge street magic that twists reality.
He’s spent the last 12 months touring the record-breaking “Decennium the Greatest Hits Tour” to packed houses across the globe, and now it’s Aotearoa’s turn, with tour dates in Christchurch, Dunedin, Wellington, Auckland and New Plymouth.
Ahead of his tour, Ilona Hanne caught up with him to find out more about the appeal of magic, both for him as a child and for audiences today.
Let’s begin at the beginning, how old were you when you first discovered magic and saw it as something you could do?
I was 12. I was actually a very shy kid, very introverted, and I didn’t learn to read until I was 12. My mother was a school principal so she was really worried by this. She took me to the local library, which is the last place a kid who can’t read wants to be. I was looking at books with pictures there, because what else am I going to do? I came across this book with all these old vaudevillian-style posters in it, from the late 1800s, early 1900s, and they looked like what you would see in comic books. So they caught my eye, and I looked, and my mother thought, okay, he’s got a book pen, that’s good. So we borrowed the book and she’d read the stories to me about all the adventures of these great magicians. Then, at the back of the book, there were magic tricks. To learn the trick, you had to read the description, the secret and the method. So I began, looking at the illustration and back at the description, breaking the words down slowly. This was an adult book, it wasn’t made for kids, it was more a history of magic, so it had lots of complicated words, but I really wanted to do it.
Wow, so you learned to read at the same time you learned your first magic trick?
Yes, and of course this huge weight was lifted off my shoulders because I could read. It was really weird, like I gained confidence by being able to read finally, but I also gained even more confidence because I now had a skill that nobody else I knew had. And it was all before Google, YouTube and everything, so you couldn’t just watch a video and learn a magic trick. Now magic is super popular, and there’s more people interested but when I was a kid, there was no one around me doing anything like it, so it made me feel unique and special, and that’s where the obsession really kicked off.
What was the first trick you mastered after reading that book?
It was making a coin vanish, just some sleight of hand. But my father, he’s a structural engineer, and he had no idea how I did it. He asked me, and I didn’t tell him. It was powerful, I could do something my dad couldn’t, and he’s this super smart guy and he couldn’t work out how I did that trick. That’s a really powerful thing to experience as a kid, and it really got me interested in magic.
It seems like magic is something that interests lots of people now – what do you think it is about magic that people love so much?
I think we are so used to having the answers to things. With our phones, you know we literally have the answers at our fingertips a lot of the time, so then if I can do a show that baffles you, that leaves you wondering how I did something, it’s even more powerful, more potent. It fascinates people. Then, when you wrap that magic up in some storytelling and mystery, people really do love it. We have a fascination with mystery, and magic is part of that.
I think, what magic does on some level, is it reminds us we don’t have all the answers to the universe, and that’s okay.
It makes us think that, perhaps, the impossible is actually possible. Even though it’s magic, which is trickery, and on some level we know that, it still opens up our minds to the idea of it, the idea that we can achieve things we didn’t think possible. And that brings a real sense of power with it.
With your tour, you are travelling from theatre to theatre for one night here, two nights there ... how difficult is it to pack up the show and to have everything in the right place in each new location?
Yes, we pack it all into shipping containers and it gets shipped from Australia to New Zealand, then goes through quarantine and everything. Then we need to check it all, every venue we go into we strip out all the lighting, put ours in, because it’s all specific for my show. If we don’t light properly, then we are going to get bad reflections, or the camera won’t be able to show the audience everything clearly enough. We have to be really precise, myself and the team, and there’s a whole lot of work that goes into the show in that prep.
So it’s quite different from, let’s say, a magic show in Vegas, where it’s the same theatre every night?
Yes, and I think sometimes people have this tendency to think oh, America – that’s the best place for a magic show, but I’ll let you into a little secret, and I hope this doesn’t ruffle any feathers, but many American magicians have invited me over to write material for them secretly so you don’t have to be American, or only perform in America, to do really great magic.
Cosentino is bringing his Decennium the Greatest Hits Tour to New Plymouth in December this year.
Are audiences different here to America, or even across the ditch between here and Australia?
Yes, not only are audiences different in each place though, but even in towns, or on days. So an Auckland audience on Thursday might be completely different to a Friday night audience there, and then they’ll be totally different to a Melbourne audience, or a Christchurch audience. Especially in a show where we have audience participation. I think, at least I hope, it makes you a better performer because you are always thinking, always adapting.
What do you think is the appeal of the danger parts of your show – the escapology part?
I think audiences, they don’t want to see you get hurt, but they do want to be there if it’s going to happen. People like watching you do something they wouldn’t want to do themselves. Others may prefer other parts, the magic, the levitating, the gran illusions, the close-up sleight of hand parts or even the costumes or the humour. It’s why I am really very conscious about putting a lot of variety in the show.
Is there one part of the show that you think will wow everyone though?
Actually, the best compliment I get is when someone is asked what they liked best in the show and they say, well, I don’t know. It was all just so good. That means I’ve done my job, they’ve been immersed in the experience.
A lot of kids look up to you and admire you, you’ve got a huge fan following. What magicians did you look up to yourself?
Harry Houdini. He was one of the first magicians I read about. I love the whole escapology thing, I think it speaks to us, you know, Houdini’s byline was that nothing on earth can hold him a prisoner, and that’s a really powerful message. Noting can stop me, nothing can hold me.
What would you say to your own young fans, those kids aged maybe 13 or so who, just like you were, are awe-struck by magic and perhaps want to do it themselves?
You know, in a way they are really lucky because it’s easier now. With social media, it’s easier to learn magic, and it’s also easier to perform magic. They can film themselves and do it on socials. Back when I was doing it, I had to go out and find my audience, I couldn’t sit in my room and let the audience find me. You had to go out on the street and perform, or find opportunities like a retirement home, a school talent show, things like that. Now they automatically have an audience, which is great in some ways, but also, performing in front of a live audience is totally different. You can’t just do a new take if your trick goes wrong. With a live audience, there is risk, the person you are performing for might not choose the card you want them to. You have to learn to adapt. Magic isn’t just mastering a trick, it’s about how you manage your audience, how you talk to them, how you present it all. So to any young magicians I would say, go out, go find an audience and perform for them.
Also, don’t think being a magician is going to make you rich. It can, if you are really good, if you find a niche that works. But it will take you a very very long time. So do it because you love it, because you are passionate about it, and also, study other magicians. Study the magicians you really like, study them, be inspired by them, but don’t copy. Make it your own.
WIN: The Stratford Press has a double pass to give away to the New Plymouth show. To be in to win, simply email Stratford Press with COSENTINO in the subject line. In your email include your name, contact phone number and address, and the answer to the question: What magician does Cosentino himself admire?
Ilona Hanne is a Taranaki-based journalist and news director who covers breaking and community news from across the lower North Island. She has worked for NZME since 2011.
