Simon Pierro (born October 2, 1978 in Ettlingen) is a German

magician Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...

and

TV presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garner ...

Life

Simon Pierro grew up in

Waldbronn Waldbronn is a municipality in the district of Karlsruhe, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the northern Black Forest, southeast of Karlsruhe. Geography Waldbronn is located at the border of the Alb-Pfinz-Plateau in the valley ...

(

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

), South Germany and now lives in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. At the age of 15, he was conned out of $20 by a street magician playing a

shell game The shell game (also known as thimblerig, three shells and a pea, the old army game) is often portrayed as a gambling game, but in reality, when a wager for money is made, it is almost always a confidence trick used to perpetrate fraud. In conf ...

on the streets of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. As a result of this encounter, Simon's sister gave him a book about magic and card tricks, where his passion for magic was ignited. Simon Pierro's presentations include modern elements of

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

and have little to do with the cliché of the "magician with tailcoat and top hat." With his stage show "The American Dream - From Rags to Riches," developed together with director Eberhard Riese, he has won several magic awards. In 2002, the Magic Circle of Germany voted him Magician of the Year.Magician of the Year 2002
/ref> Among other successes he became the German champion and award-winner in the World Championships of Magic (FISM).Runner-up in World Championships of Magic: General Magic
/ref> In 2004, he received the

Siegfried & Roy Siegfried & Roy were a duo of German-American magicians and entertainers, best known for their appearances with white lions and white tigers. It was composed of Siegfried Fischbacher (June 13, 1939 – January 13, 2021) and Roy Horn (born Uwe L ...

Award in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Shortly after finishing his studies of Business Administration and Engineering at the

University of Karlsruhe The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; german: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie) is a public research university in Karlsruhe, Germany. The institute is a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT was created in 2009 w ...

, Simon was invited by

Frank Elstner Timm Franz Maria Elstner (born 19 April 1942), known as Frank Elstner, is a German television presenter. Early life Elstner went to school in Rastatt in Germany and gained his first experience in broadcasting as a child when he acted in radio ...

to his German network TV show ''Menschen der Woche'' (people of the week). Afterward, he was also chosen to perform on Elstner's Saturday evening show ''

Verstehen Sie Spaß? Timm Franz Maria Elstner (born 19 April 1942), known as Frank Elstner, is a German television presenter. Early life Elstner went to school in Rastatt in Germany and gained his first experience in broadcasting as a child when he acted in radio ...

'' (the German equivalent of ''

Candid Camera ''Candid Camera'' is a popular and long-running American hidden camera reality television series. Versions of the show appeared on television from 1948 until 2014. Originally created and produced by Allen Funt, it often featured practical jokes ...

''), where he earned his own part as magic decoy and has since played magic pranks in more than 20 episodes to date. In addition to other worldwide TV appearances, he works off-camera as a consultant and, for example, developed an illusion for Heidi Klum's ''

Germany's Next Top Model ''Germany's Next Topmodel'' (often abbreviated as ''GNTM'') is a German reality television series, based on a concept introduced by Tyra Banks with ''America's Next Top Model''. The competition is hosted by Heidi Klum who also serves as the lea ...

.''Blog entry about performance on Germany's Next Topmodel
/ref> Since 2008 he has been heavily involved in digital magic, a combination of magic and technical innovation. Pierro is now known as "The iPad Magician," and was the first German magician to be invited to an Apple Store.Performance in Apple Store Munich
/ref> He uses Apple's tablet and

sleight of hand Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...

techniques to make objects appear to be pulled out of the iPad and psychokinesis to connect the iPad into the real world.Magician Simon Pierro exposes Kulagina´s feats (2007)
/ref> One of his signature illusions is to attach a beer tap to the screen of an iPad and then serve glasses of beer pouring from it to thirsty audience members. With video clips such as "Preview of

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

5"Preview of iOS 5: YouTube
/ref> and "

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...

Horror,"iPad Horror: YouTube
/ref> videos of Pierro's iPad magic act have seen notable success online, with views topping 80 million as of June, 2015. After an appearance on '' The Ellen DeGeneres Show,'' Simon Pierro on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
/ref> a video of his performance on that broadcast was viewed on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

more than 20 million times, more than any magician who has ever appeared on Ellen's show. He has also appeared on ''Angry Birds Toons'', as the Official Angry Birds Magician. His latest promotional appearances have been with

LEGO Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...

, performing his iPad magic where he builds various LEGO objects on-screen and then hands them to children.

References

External links

Official Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierro, Simon German magicians Psychokineticists 1978 births Living people People from Karlsruhe (district)