May 17, 2024
The Parker
www.BrowardCenter.org
May 18, 2024
The Plaza Live, Orlando
www.PlazaLiveOrlando.org
Known for performing illusions causing people to doubt their own eyes, out actor and magician Michael Carbonaro has fittingly titled his new tour Lies on Stage, and he’s bringing it to The Parker on May 17, 2024.
In an interview with Lavendar magazine last fall, he said, “There’s this electricity that happens when I start doing things right there, in front of them, for real. There’s this excited relief. Like it’s real. Not real, real. It’s real, fake real. It’s not camera tricks.”
While Carbonaro has been performing magic since his youth, he took a detour to study experimental theater at New York University. As an actor, he’s often recognized for the gay-teen comedy Another Gay Movie, for which he won two Grand Jury Awards at L.A. Outfest. Other appearances include Happily Divorced, 30 Rock, Grey’s Anatomy and CSI Miami but the pandemic brought him time to perfect a new show and return to magic.
With his unmatched blend of humor and charisma, he conjures up a concoction of unbelievable magic, hysterical offbeat shenanigans and wonder for audiences of all ages.
In an interview with the St. Pete Catalyst, he said, “I think an actor is a magician, and a director is a magician . . . anyone who does any kind of performance, where you’re creating something out of nothing, channeling and transcending emotions and feelings and images, it’s a kind of magic.”
He first gained mainstream attention for his magic presenting hidden-camera magic in frequent appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, before becoming the star and executive producer of The Carbonaro Effect which ran for over 100 episodes on truTV and currently airs on Max and in worldwide syndication.
In The Carbonaro Effect, he goes undercover as a coffee shop barista, museum curator, a seemingly unremarkable store clerk and other identities to perform inventive tricks on unsuspecting members of the public. Real people are bewildered as he makes a car disappear under a security guard’s nose and turns crabs into kittens in a science lab.
Now he’s following his first tour, Michael Carbonaro Live!, with an evening he says is filled with silly tricks and audience participation. The audience’s reaction has proven that the star of Another Gay Movie is here with anything but another magic show.
