Grand illusionist Cosentino is on a high at the moment, and its nothing to do with the levitation in his magic act. Instead the much in demand artist is appearing at two places at once, but not magically, at the same time. Firstly he is appearing in the next installant of his magic show called ‘The Magic, The Mystery, The Madness’ and secondly, as the number one rated dancer in the years first episode of Dancing with the Stars.
When we chat, Cosentino tells me he was surprised by the latter, saying that his success in the contemporary ‘soft, pretty’ dance didn’t owe anything to his illusionist abilities.
Cos is loving dancing, but even for one with his magical skills, he says its difficult to learn and becomes an obsessive love hate relationship.
Cos is also doing touring with his live show and although he hasn’t got a Tassie date so far this time round, he would like to return to Tasmania and perform for the fantastic audiences he finds here.
Cos’s connection to Tasmania goes back to when he toured here as a youngster with Hale and Pace. It was here also that one of his favourite, and now retired doves, ‘ troup’ took ill but rallied and is still living with Cos to this day.
Cos want to be a pioneer in entertainment in Australia, after all he was the first magician in Australia to get his own regular TV show. An all rounder Cos is also responsible for writing the scripts and for other aspects of the program and believes if he wasn’t an magician and illusionist he would make a good director!
The cool thing about Cos is he has learned all he knows about magic without attending a magic school and without being a member of a magicians clique. All has been achieved by his own meticulous research and it definitely is meticulous. More than just a magician, Cos is like one of his heroes Houdini, is a showman.
Cos has always been a keen observer of audiences reaction, seeing what words the performer used that emitted the greatest response and what actions the most applause.
And with programs with titles like ‘threshold’, ‘distortion’ and the present one, ‘madness’ is it any wonder that Cos is continually pushing the limits. Its perhaps the meaning of Consentino’s name that sums up what gives this grand illusionist the strength and confidence to continually do so…family!. His name derives from the French, Italian and English and can be translated from middle English as ‘cousin’ or ‘kinsmen’ and it’s this kinship of Cos’s tight knit family that assist and support him in his performance. His Dad Jim is a structural engineer who designs all the props. One brother is also a structural engineer, another, a mechanic and yet another, involved in marketing, logistics management and promotion and his Mum, keeps a caring eye on his escapades!
You can see see Cosentino’s ‘The Magic, The Mystery, The Madness’ on Channel 7 Wednesday at 7.30pm.
Paula Xiberras
