Willi Auerbach (born July 2, 1980, known professionally as MAGIC MAN) is a German stage illusionist,

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 designer of magical illusions.

Life

Auerbach was born and raised in

Waldkirch Waldkirch is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located 15 kilometers northeast of Freiburg im Breisgau. While the English translation of its name is ''Forest Church'', it is known as the "town of mechanical organs", where fairground organs ...

, a town located in southwest

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. At age 17 he first came into contact with magic. Soon after, he completed his industrial mechanic apprenticeship, followed by his media engineers studies ( Dipl.-Ing. (FH)) at the university of

Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the ad ...

which he finished in 2009. Auerbach has since been working as a full-time magician. He is a member of Germany's Magic Circle since 2002.

Career

One of Auerbach's most spectacular effects so far is the flying illusion, where he seemingly is able to overcome gravity and float freely through the air. His several TV appearances include "Tú Sí Que Vales" on Italian TV, " Penn & Teller: Fool Us" on

The CW network ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, "Sag die Wahrheit" on SWR television, "Superhitparade der Volksmusik" with Caroline Reiber on

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

and “Guten Abend RTL”, a news show in which he startled everyone with his prevision for the future for the Society for the Scientific Investigation of Parasciences (GWUP) under the supervision of

Mark Benecke Mark Benecke (born 26 August 1970) is a German forensic biologist. Career Science Benecke has worked on the identification of Adolf and Eva Hitler's skull and teeth in Moscow, and is the only forensic scientist to work on the case of Co ...

. In 2012, Auerbach hosted the finals of the Pangea mathematics competition at the House of World Cultures in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

for the television station Ebru TV. In May 2017, the magician became second at the German Magic Championships and in July 2018, he participated in the World Magic Championships in South Korea. According to Penn & Teller's: Fool Us Wikipedia page, Auerbach was featured on the 7th season of this show on April 16, 2021. He also regularly organizes charity events for "Menschen für Menschen" (“Humans for Humans”), a charity organization helping Ethiopian people in need, which was originally founded by the now deceased actor Karlheinz Böhm. At a charity gala in June 2015, where amongst others, the Flying Steps were part of the performance show, 5,000 euros were donated to the foundation. In 2019 at the theatre of Freiburg 23,333 euros were collected. Over the years, the artist was able to collect tens of thousands euros for the charity. On the occasion of the organizations 30th anniversary, the MAGIC MAN even performed his show on site in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. Those celebrations were not only attended by Almaz Böhm and Karlheinz Böhm, but also by Germany's former Federal President Horst Köhler, Addis Abeba's mayor Kuma Demeska and the Ethiopian world record runner

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champions ...

. Auerbach has been an ambassador of the Ethiopian Aid program since September 2017. In addition to his work as a magician, Auerbach is also an inventor and designer of magical illusions, apparatuses and theatrical special effects for other magicians.

Television appearances

* Tú Sí Que Vales -

Canale 5 Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a s ...

2021 * Penn & Teller: Fool Us -

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

2021 *"Sag die Wahrheit" - SWR television in 2019 * Carolin Reiber -

television * "Guten Abend RTL" -

RTL (German TV channel) RTL (from '), formerly RTL plus and RTL Television, is a German-language free-to-air television channel owned by the RTL Group, headquartered in Cologne. Founded as an offshoot of the German-language radio programme '' ,'' RTL is consider ...

* Presenter "Pangea-Mathematikwettbewerb" at Ebru TV

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auerbach, Willi German magicians 1980 births Living people