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He made his Australia wide stage debut at the age of 28 on televisions ‘Australia’s Got Talent,’ performing as an Illusionist, Magician and Escape Artist.
Paul Cosentino was born 2 November, 1982 in Victoria, Australia. After stumbling onto a magic book in his schools library at the age of 13, his fascination with the craft became obsession.
With help and ongoing encouragement from his mother, he began learning magic as a way of dealing with speech and shyness issues at school. One day she was locked out of the house and her keys were inside, so in order for her to gain entry, she called upon her son, who picked the lock and opened the door.
With a family that are extremely supportive of Cosantino’s career, they are also very ‘hands on’ when it comes to helping with the design of props and sewing of costumes. Even his older brothers are part of the act which has brought the family together as a tighter unit.
He began by mastering a few basic tricks, cards were a favorite, presenting these to family and friends, however by the end of the year, he had refined and developed his act to such a level, he ended up collecting first prize at the National Magic Convention.
With sheer determination and a seemingly endless imagination, Cosentino is now fulfilling his childhood dream.
In his short career, he has already achieved what many performers can only dream of. Cosentino already can add to his impressive resume, a Guinness world record, a nomination for the prestigious 2007 Helpmann awards and a Merlin Award.
Dubbed Australia’s own Houdini, he recently put his career and life for that matter on the line, when on the 17th August 2010 to mark the occasion of Houdini’s Queen Bridge jump, he chose to be shackled to a 60kg block of concrete and lowered 5 meters to the bottom of the Melbourne Aquarium, as onlookers were asked to hold their own breath to take in the experience. Alone and surrounded by sharks and other sea creatures, with only picks to aid in his escape, Cosentino held his breath for 3 minutes and 39 seconds before he finally freed himself in front of a live television audience.
Shortly after Cosentino was signed to the Seven Network Australia to perform a television special, filmed live from the Regent Theatre Melbourne. This Television special made television history as Cosentino became the first Australian Magician to have his own TV show. The show received a #1 rating, after reaching 1.975 million viewers across Australia. The show also highlighted to the Seven Network Executives, just how captivating and alluring his show was to the Australian public, so they signed him on to do a further 3 Prime Time shows, the first of which aired in August, 2013.
Other Television Appearances include Sunrise, The Morning Show, Talking About Your Generation, Good Friday Appeal, Carols in the domain, WB Kids, Saturday Disney, Mornings with Kerri-Anne, Today Tonight, Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, Channel 7 news, National Nine News, Channel 10 news, ABC News, SBS News, NTDTV, Perth Telethon and Before the Game.
Cosentino’s originality and innovation have earned him the respect of his peers and clients alike. He is a pure showman… and his made-to-measure productions are amongst the most powerful, riveting and sought-after in the entertainment industry today.
As Australia waits for Cosantino’s next death defying feat, one can only wonder, what motivates a man to put his life on the line time and time again, for the pure enjoyment of those brave enough to watch. It also asks the question, how long can this master of illusion continue to cheat death?…………………
