Profile: Cosentino

The magician and his props. Picture: James Geer             

                          
By: Megan Lehmann
From: The Weekend Australian Magazine
September 27, 2014

IN a black, unmarked building on Melbourne’s outskirts, where the air is spiked with the allure of mystery and the spirit of Harry Houdini casts shadows on the walls, the man who would succeed him is showing me a trick.         
      It’s called The Ambitious Card and it’s famous for having snookered Houdini, still considered the greatest magician of all time. “I’ll run my thumb down the pack; you call stop and pick a random card,” says Cosentino, his long fingers nimbly palming a deck that’s always to hand. I choose the six of hearts — a very ­ambitious card, it seems, for however the deck is tumbled and shuffled and rearranged, it ­continues to sneak its way to the top.
Cosentino is enjoying himself hugely, my bafflement urging him on. Then he goes for the clincher: I crease my chosen card, push it deep into the middle of the pack. He clicks his fingers sharply and my heart skips a beat: the card on top is the four of hearts, not the six. Oh no, he’s blown it. Composing my features, I look up to see the young magician grinning like a Cheshire cat, the six of hearts between his teeth.

Full story here:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/cosentino-is-the-great-pretender/story-e6frg8h6-1227069405998