Cosentino: Creating magic and deception on Her Majesty's stage

And equally he can't wait to get back to the historic stage of Her Majesty's Theatre in Ballarat where he last performed 13 years ago.

"I used to do a lot of regional touring many moons ago, then for about 10 years I only did metro shows and in 2019 I did another regional tour and planned a bigger one for last year but we all know what happened to 2020," he said.

"I really enjoy performing in the regions - it's more intimate with the audience, smaller venues, a different show with a lot of audience participation."

Cosentino knows he's battling for the same slice of the entertainment dollar that most performers are seeking now that live performance has resumed.

"Everyone wants to be on the road now." he said. "As a performer, as someone whose life has revolved around the arts - it was my hobby as a kid, then a passion, it became a career and now consumes my life ... to not be able to perform for 14 months was pretty tough," he said.

"It's very different physically because I have to keep very physically fit, and mentally, so I'm pumped to be back."

But he didn't let COVID lockdowns stifle his creativity.

He created new material in his "lab" and expanded his online teaching via YouTube and offering Zoom incursions for primary and secondary schools.

From his work on Zoom he received corporate bookings and set up a studio in his Melbourne rehearsal space, picking up skills in video, live streaming and editing which he will use in his new shows.

"When I started getting corporate bookings I realised adults almost enjoy it more than the kids, which I wasn't really expecting. Adults want to learn magic, but things I thought were very simple proved not as simple as I thought. I've been doing this my whole life, the sleight of hand tricks, but teaching adults that dexterity and finger placement is very foreign, very difficult.

"It's like teaching an adult to play piano, children just pick those things up quicker. "

While children are happy to be amazed by the outcome, Cosentino said adults enjoyed knowing the mechanics of how things work.

"I believe everyone should know a great joke and great magic trick," he said.

Deception, the show he will bring to Her Majesty's Theatre in Ballarat on June 5, is a blend of his 2019 show and the work he developed during the COVID lockdowns of 2020.

"Thinking about the different things that happened last year and the skills I learned, it's allowed me to incorporate more audio visual content in to my shows which ties everything together nicely."

Cosentino says his new shows have four pillars - grand illusion, sleight of hand magic, death-defying escapes and a hybrid of dance, theatre and comedy.

"Put all that together and it's a very dynamic and diverse show - worldly unique and appealing," he said.

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The grand illusions feature people appearing, disappearing, getting cut in half and melting through steel place, sleight of hand magic such as card tricks are always a favourite, and Cosentino's hallmark escapes that rocketed him to the nation's attention in Australia's Got Talent a decade ago are sure to provoke audience anxiety.

Since then his television shows have since being viewed more than 100 million times in 40 countries. and he has won both International Magician of The Year and International Escape Artist of The Year at the Merlin Awards.

During Deception there's plenty of audience participation.

"When I talk to the audience, wives always say 'can you make my husband disappear?' and the husbands respond with 'yes please' while children always ask 'can you saw me in half?' so I thought about this during COVID and that's what I'm going to do."

Tickets to Cosentino - Deception are available here.

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