Rocco Silano is an American
magician, author, and lecturer.
Biography
Silano was born June 12, 1962, in
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[Tony Slydini
Tony Slydini (September 1, 1900, Foggia, Italy – January 15, 1991), simply known as Slydini, was a world-renowned magician. His mastery, expertise, originality and innovative approach to close-up artistry magic, earned him a legendary reput ...]
protégé Bill Wisch. Silano studied with Wisch for at least 4 months in 1980, when Wisch taught him many Slydini routines, including Slydini's cigarette production. “For the last four months Silano has taken private lessons from Bill Wisch, the successor to Slydini, the famous 83-year-old magician, Slydini, who is “one of the best” according to Silano, does not teach anymore. One of the routines Silano has learned from Wisch is Slydini's cigarette production routine known as “poetry in magic” according to Silano." Later, Rocco was introduced to Slydini by Bill and Rocco took lessons with Slydini as well. "He (Bill Wisch) hooked me up with Tony Slydini. He was a student before I was with Slydini and he introduced me to him." In 1988, he invented a gable-top milk carton that could be more easily collapsed for disposal by removing a tear strip at the bottom of the carton.
Most known for his
sleeving techniques and skill, Silano is the recipient of the Merlin and Golden Lion Awards, a two-time winner of the coveted
Manhattan Association of Cabarets Award, and has been nominated nine times as Magician of the Year by the
Academy of Magical Arts
The Magic Castle is a clubhouse for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts. It is in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California and it bills itself as "the most unusual private club in ...
in four different categories.
Silano is the only American to win awards at two
FISM World Tournaments: 3rd place in Micromagic in 1994 in
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...
, Japan, and "Most Original Act" in 2006 in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...
, Sweden. Silano performed at the 2007 Austrian Magic Convention in
Vienna
en, Viennese
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, Austria, and appeared in the
VH1 celebrity magic reality series, ''
Celebracadabra
''Celebracadabra'' is an American reality television series on VH1 that premiered on April 27, 2008. The series involves celebrities attempting to learn and perform magic. Magician/actor Jonathan Levit serves as the host. On Thursday, June 12, 20 ...
'', in 2008, as an adviser and guide for celebrity partner and 1st runner-up,
Hal Sparks
Hal Harry Magee Sparks III (born September 25, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, political commentator, television and radio host and television personality. He made contributions to VH1, hosting E!'s ''Talk Soup'', and p ...
.
Rocco and VH1 Team Up for Celebracadabra
Insidemagic.com
Bibliography
*''The Winning Edge: The Lecture of a Champion'', with Bill Wisch, 1987
*''If it fits...Sleeve it!'', with Steve Schneiderman, 1990 ASIN B000NO7YZ2
*''A Lesson in Sleeving''
References
External links
Rocco Interview with MagicNewswire.com
Further reading
* Demaline, Jackie. (October 14, 1988) Times Union ''Abracadabra - It's Magic.'' Page C1.
* Burgess, Linda H. (February 22, 1989) The Record
The Record may refer to:
Music
* ''The Record'' (album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear
* The Records, an English power pop band
* '' Their Greatest Hits: The Record'', a 2001 greatest-hits album by the pop-music group Bee G ...
''From soup to sleight of hand. Magician helps meals take off.'' Page C3.
* The Times-Picayune
''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of ...
(April 27, 1990) ''Here tomorrow, gone today.'' Page L4.
* Yu, Winifred. (October 30, 1990) Times Union ''Colored doves are a magical illusion.'' Page C8.
* Kelly, Martin P. (November 2, 1990) Times Union ''Magicians create enchanted evening.'' Page C5.
* Mervis, Scott. (October 8, 1993) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Alle ...
''Festival of Italian arts.'' Page 3.
* Carney, Beth; Dezell, Maureen. (September 19, 1998) The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''Game of choice for Kearns Goodwin.'' Page C2.
* Times Union (October 28, 2007) ''My other life.'' Page D1.
* McMaster, Shawn. (March 2008) The Magazine for Magicians
Celebracadabra: VH1's Magic Reality Series.
'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silano, Rocco
1962 births
American magicians
American performance artists
American autobiographers
Living people
Writers from Paterson, New Jersey
Sleight of hand