Regarded as Australia’s premier illusionist and escapologist, Paul Cosentino (or simply Cosentino as he is known to fans) has been largely compared to his own personal superhero, the legendary Harry Houdini.
Like Houdini, Cosentino is known to try similar escape acts, including a much talked about stunt that saw him handcuffed, chained, and shackled to a 60-kilogram concrete block sunk over four meters deep to the bottom of the main tank of the Melbourne Aquarium which was filled with sharks, ray and other aquatic wildlife. Using only a lock pick, he was able to free himself in less than four minutes.
The first Australian magician to have his own prime-time TV shows there, Cosentino now headlines AXN’s “The Elements: Cosentino,” a four-part series covering his magic tour of key Asian cities Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Singapore. The show will highlight Cosentino’s large-scale illusions and death-defying escapes with each episode themed around earth, wind, fire, and water.
Also known for his street magic, Cosentino will also mesmerize audiences — including Asian celebrities like Alex Gonzaga — with sleight of hand and close-up tricks.
“I’m performing in different countries, different cultures, different textures. You’ll see street magic, stage magic, and some grand death-defying escapes. And the way it’s being filmed is really beautiful. It’s almost like, it’s kind of like watching a documentary film. So that makes ‘The Elements’ a very unique show,” the 36-year-old Aussie told InterAksyon and other Asian media in a recent interview.
Asked how Houdini influences his own escape acts, Cosentino recalled that even as a young man, he was very much inspired by the former.
“What I try to do is catch Houdini’s essence and make it more modern while still pushing the threshold. Like the time Houdini got tied to a rope, a chair with rope, another time he was upside down in a water tank. I put those two together, being chained and locked to a chair, and dropped in a water tank,” he shared.
“Or when Houdini was hung upside down doing a straitjacket escape. In ‘The Elements,’ I’m hanging upside down doing a straitjacket escape under this jaw-like apparatus which is connected to a burning rope. It will crush me once the rope is burned completely.”
Is he ever in real danger or is what audiences are seeing really just an illusion? Cosentino says “there’s a very distinct line between the magic and the illusion which are make believe, the trick, the skill, the technique.”
His escape act, however, is a totally different story.
“I can only talk on my behalf and no other magician. When I do my escape, I’m really underwater, really holding my breath, and really picking the lock. In fact, I was one of the very first magicians in the world to do the underwater escape with no cover or any kind of screen. I did it on ‘Australia’s Got Talent’ back in 2011 where you could see me do the escape the entire time. That was to prove that I’m really doing it,” he said.
“[But] I’ll be honest, I’ve been to the emergency room. I’ve had 12 stitches in my chin, seven in my forehead, [I’ve had] a broken rib, a broken ankle. And, you could see a lot of this captured on film. So, for me, the escapes are very challenging, very difficult, and very real.”
Having spent around three days in Manila to film an episode of “The Elements,” Cosentino felt a special connection with the Filipinos who were fortunate enough to see him do his thing. He is therefore not ruling out doing his own live magic show here in the near future.
“The people in the Philippines have really embraced the magic. [Filipinos are] very generous and beautiful and I feel like I really connected with the people there so I’d love to come back and do a live show soon,” he said.
“The Elements: Cosentino” will premiere on Thursday, January 18 at 9pm, first and exclusive on AXN. AXN is available on Cignal Channel 121, Cablelink Channel 38, Destiny Cable Channel 49, Dream Satellite TV Channel 20, G Sat Channel 51, and SKYCable Channel 49. AXN HD is available on SKYCable Channel 247.