Michael Grandinetti

 

With performances on national and

 international television, in stadiums,

arenas, casinos, and theaters around the

 country, with symphony orchestras, for

 Fortune 500 companies, and even at

The White House, Michael Grandinetti

has made a name for himself around the

 world as an extremely talented and

 innovative illusionist. Over the past

20 years, Michael has strived to make

magic contemporary and to give it a

wide, mainstream appeal while taking

his magic in new and daring directions.

He has been featured on NBC’s “The

World’s Most Dangerous Magic II,” CW’s

 “Masters of Illusion” series, Pop

Network’s “Street Magic” series,

 “Entertainment Tonight,” “SportsCenter,”

 ”New York Today,” “FOX & Friends,”

“The Bold and the Beautiful,” “Crook &

 Chase,” and “The Jerry Lewis MDA

Telethon.”

 

Possessing a true passion for amazing

live audiences, Michael has performed

at Heinz Hall with Oscar-winning

composer Marvin Hamlisch and the

 Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Grand

 Central Station in New York City, Navy

Pier in Chicago, John Paul Jones Arena in

 Charlottesville, VA, the Four Seasons

Resort in Lanai, Hawaii, on the red

carpet of ESPN’s ESPY Awards in

Hollywood, and at The White House

Easter Celebration. Michael was recently

 honored to be the first illusionist ever

 invited to perform in the National

 Independence Day Parade in

Washington DC. During this remarkable

 celebration of our country, Michael

levitated a girl high above one of the

floats as it moved down Constitution

Avenue, in front of a live audience of

250,000 people.

 

Last summer, Michael was one of the

 headlining performers in “Masters of

Magic”, a large-scale production show,

which ran nightly for two months at the

 Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, in Reno,

 Nevada. Presented on the world’s

largest indoor stage, with a full acre of

 usable space, Michael caused a 500-lb.

 motorcycle to appear in mid-air,

levitated 10 feet into the air at the front

of the stage, created interactive magic

with everyone in the theater at the same

 time, and melted his body through a

7-foot tall wall of solid, examined steel.

 

Michael is currently starring in the CW

 television series “Masters of Illusion”,

hosted by Dean Cain (“Lois & Clark:

The New Adventures of Superman,”

“Hit The Floor”). Showcasing the world’s

top magicians and illusionists, Michael

 performs both grand illusions and

 interactive stage magic in front of a live

 studio audience, including shrinking a

girl to the size of a basketball, vanishing

 borrowed rings and causing them to

 reappear baked inside a loaf of bread,

and escaping from a platform

suspended 20 feet above the stage.

In one of the latest episodes, special

guest Ace Young, star of “American Idol”

and “Hair on Broadway,” assisted Michael

 onstage for his “Walking Through Steel”

 illusion.

 

Season 2 of Masters of Illusion

premieres on The CW this summer.

Michael is also featured in the new Pop

 Network series “Street Magic”, in which

he performed both large-scale grand

 illusions and sleight of hand while

 surrounded, outdoors, on location

 throughout Hollywood. “Street Magic”

 premieres nationally this May.

 

Taking the show on the road, Michael

also is a headlining performer in

“Masters of Illusion Live!”, the largest

touring magic production in the world.

The tour has performed 116 shows to

date, nationally and internationally, with

 recent venues including Casino Rama in

 Ontario, Canada, and Harrah’s Casinos

in San Diego and Atlantic City. The show

 consistently plays to capacity

audiences.

 

Always dreaming big, Michael pioneered

live magic in one of the most

challenging environments imaginable,

 professional football and baseball

stadiums. He performed an NFL halftime

 show at Bank of America Stadium while

a live audience of over 70,000 people

 watched with a 360-degree view as

Michael caused people to appear,

vanish, shrink in size, and levitate

high into the air, right on the 50 yard

line. At Citizens Bank Park, Michael

made the 7-foot, 300-pound

Philadelphia Phillies mascot, The

Phanatic, magically appear in the

center of the outfield. At Kansas City’s

 Kauffman Stadium, Michael performed

one of the largest live interactive

illusions in history when he read the

minds of all 45,000 people in the

stadium at the same time. This is magic

on a major scale.

 

Michael Grandinetti has come a long

way since first taking up the art of magic

at the age of five, when he received a

magic set for Christmas. His personality

and style were introduced to the world

when he performed his original creation

 “The Spike Tower” on the NBC television

 special “The World’s Most Dangerous

Magic II.” While covered with a mixture

of gasoline and kerosene and secured

by chains, Michael had just 60 seconds

to escape before two walls of flaming

steel spikes were thrust towards him at

over 50 mph. Bringing together seven

 illusionists from around the world, at

just 21, Michael was the youngest

performer on the show.

 

Michael combined magic and live music

into a seamless experience that

captured the audience’s imagination

when he performed with the Grand

Rapids Symphony Orchestra. During the

 show, Michael transformed a black

tuxedo and conductor’s baton into Music

 Director David Lockington, levitated

high into the air while surrounded by the

 playing orchestra, and, for the finale,

caused the orchestra to read the minds

of the audience by playing pieces of

music they were only thinking of.

 

In addition, Michael has created and

 developed custom magic presentations

for Fortune 500 companies and major

 corporations including Mazda, Hewlett

 Packard, Grainger, Ernst & Young, The

 American Marketing Association,

Harley-Davidson, Rite Aid, and Bayer.

 

As a respected creative consultant,

Michael has taught sleight of hand magic

 to the actors on the CBS daytime drama

 “The Bold and the Beautiful,” consulted

on a national commercial featuring magic

for the United States Treasury, and

provided historical information for

 “Spellbound,” a biographical book on

famed illusionist Doug Henning. His

original illusion designs have been

featured around the world, including

stage productions in Japan, Korea,

and Italy. Michael was even called

about the possibility of making Dubai’s

Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building,

 magically appear – before it was built!

 

Michael Grandinetti is making the ancient

art of magic charismatic and

contemporary. By blurring the line

between illusion and reality in a

 groundbreaking yet personable way,

 Michael gives the audience an

engaging, entertaining, and one of a

kind experience they will not forget.