Delight in the magic
‘I was 10 years old and saw Cosentino on Australia’s Got Talent. He was doing big grand illusions and death-defying escapes and thought to myself ‘I know what I want to do…’’
What’s better than a little bit of magic in the world? A whole festival of it.
The Melbourne Magic Festival is casting its spell across the city with 130 performances of 30 different shows. It’s the largest festival of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, attracting magicians from all over the country and the world.
For 2023, Aiden Schofield will be joining the festival, presenting Aiden Schofield: MAGICIAN. According to the magician, audiences can expect a “fun, interactive family-friendly show with a wide variety of sleight of hand, and highly visual stage magic”.
“Controlling and manipulating bubbles, predicting the future, mind reading, solving Rubik’s cubes instantly, levitations, and so much more,” he explained. “The show has grown quite a bit since I performed it at last year’s Melbourne Magic Festival. I’ve added even more magic into the current routines and I’m super excited to share it. Also, there is no theme to this show. No story, no message, just people seeing impossible things, which is pretty cool.”
For Schofield, it wasn’t always magic. In fact, his dream career was to be a cameraman for film and television. Despite doing a film class in high school, the dream never went any further. What he did end up pursuing was concert lighting. In fact, he has spent the past five years working as local crew for major concerts like Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, and Elton John.
The turning point was Cosentino on Australia’s Got Talent in 2011.
“I was 10 years old and saw Cosentino on Australia’s Got Talent. He was doing big grand illusions and death-defying escapes and thought to myself ‘I know what I want to do – card tricks’,” he recalled. “I transitioned into stand up/platform magic pretty quickly, performing at my school’s talent shows and in front of 1200 other kids at the school assemblies.”
His point of difference, however, is that he has always wanted to take his act to the big stages, rather than focusing on private events like many magicians do.
“My shows are very theatrical,” he explained. “I love being able to play around with the music and the lighting to enhance the magic and the show.”
Aiden Schofield: MAGICIAN premiered at the 2022 Adelaide Fringe Festival and is set to tour cities around Australia and the world.
“I love performing magic. Whether it’s a simple trick or a piece that feels like you have real magic powers – manipulating bubbles, making objects levitate and float around,” he said. “I don’t want to give away too much before the show, but I will say there is a variety of magic for everyone to enjoy. Lots of surprises, I might even teach a trick.”
The Melbourne Magic Festival runs from June 26-July 8. For more information, visit melbournemagicfestival.com
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