At Wynn Macau’s Grand Ballroom last Saturday night Australian magician, illusionist and escapologist Paul Cosentino put on a show that left the audience wondering, “How did he do that?”

Not only is Cosentino a magician, an illusionist and an escapologist, he is also the ultimate showman, whether it be playing with the audience or dancing like Michael Jackson.

Cosentino, 34, was runner up in the TV talent show Australia’s Got Talent in 2011 and has appeared on various shows since then. According to Wikipedia, Cosentino’s superhero is escapologist Harry Houdini.

During the course of the hour-long show Cosentino performed the ubiquitous card tricks, sawing the lady in half and the grand finale of a hair-raising escape from a swinging giant mediaeval axe, which left the audience holding their breath.

There was a lot of audience participation throughout the show in which Cosentino wandered through the ballroom looking for people to take on stage to assist him in the various card tricks. At one stage he pulled a woman from the audience and promised to change her HK$500 note into a HKS1,000 one but instead she was presented with a HK$50 note. He then apologised as the trick – apparently – had gone wrong only to pull the HK$500 out of an orange a few tricks later.

Photo: Wynn Palace