Magician Michael Grandinetti gets inspiration from a happy crowd

When Michael Grandinetti was five years old, he took the magic kit he got for Christmas to his kindergarten class show and tell.

“I was very nervous and I was very shy. I took this magic set out and the kids smiled and the teachers smiled,” he said. “For a shy little kid, it was great, getting that kind of acceptance and reaction. It put it in my head this was something I wanted to do.”

From then on, magic was the driving force in his life. A Pittsburgh native, he began performing shows as a teenager and put himself through college at Duquesne University, where he majored in business and marketing, making magic onstage.

Grandinetti performs two shows at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at the Raue Center for the Arts in Crystal Lake. He will perform a show of grand-scale illusions, magic and comedy that’s heavy on audience participation.

“I’ve been in the Chicago area many times, but this is my first time at the Raue Center,” he said. “I’m very excited for these shows. I’m really looking forward to them.”

There are many surprises in the show, he said.

“The thing I’m really excited is, this version of the show I’m touring with this year is extremely audience-interactive, meaning the audience isn’t just going to watch the show, they’re going to actively become a part of the show and by the end, every member of the audience can say they’ve participated in the show in some way,” he said.

“I love that. To me, when you’re coming to a live show, you want that participation. You want to make it different from watching a movie or watching a television show. That’s the benefit of coming to a live show.”

People will come up on stage and assist him in making the magic happen as well as assist from their seats, he said.

“I spent a lot of time over the years putting these various routines and illusions together to create that interactive engaging shared experience and I love that,” he said. “My goal is I want everybody walking out of the theater with smiles on their faces and stories to tell and talking about the show. I found this interactive direction has really been successful.”

The process of creating a show is unique, he said. Some pieces of the show are audience favorites and have to stay in.

“I’m always working on new magic — every year I put in five or six brand-new pieces I’ve been working on for quite a while,” he said. “The new routines take quite a while to develop and rehearse and implement into the show. I’m always trying to enhance the show and figure out ways to keep the show as exciting as possible. It keeps it fun for me, for sure.”

He still feels like that five-year-old kid with the same excitement and love of magic, he said, and that comes across in his act. He says he’s lucky to have been able to do some “incredibly cool” things over the years.

He had starring roles on NBC’s “The World’s Most Dangerous Magic,” five seasons of The CW’s “Masters of Illusion” and Pop’s “Don’t Blink.” He has appeared on Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, “Bones” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

Audiences might remember him for his halftime show at a Chicago Bulls playoff game, where, in front of a sold-out United Center crowd, he levitated at the center of the court.

He was the first magician to ever perform in the Fourth of July parade in Washington, D.C., he said, where he floated a girl in the air. He performed at the White House at Easter one year.

When he was on “The World’s Most Dangerous Magic,” the NBC special, he was chained up to a six-foot platform between two walls of steel spikes that were set to a timer.

“If the timer ran out the spikes came in and if I hadn’t gotten out in time, it wouldn’t have been pretty,” he said. “To make it more difficult, they lit the spikes on fire and covered me with gasoline. That was a memorable one.”

He has more than 100 television appearances and he loves being able to bring magic to such a wide audience, he said.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to take magic in all these directions,” he said.

It takes six months to a couple of years to perfect an illusion, he said.

“It’s the magic but it’s also the staging and finding the right music. The music is very important — it’s like to score to a movie,” he said. “I design the show so the music plays a really crucial part in the show creating these moods and feelings within the show. I don’t want to do it if it’s not perfect and it’s not right. I love the process. It’s very rewarding.”

Despite being a shy child, performing magic was a greater thrill than not being onstage.

“I love being able to get up and share magic with the audience,” he said. “When you love doing that everything flows forward. It doesn’t feel like work to get up and speak in front of everybody. It’s not scary and it’s not nerve wracking. I sincerely enjoy the whole experience of presenting magic to the audience.”

He likes the grand illusions over other forms of magic, like sleight of hand. He started performing them exclusively as a teenager.

“I love big illusions, but many times it’s the smaller pieces that connect with the audience that people walk out of the theater talking about,” he said. “It’s about creating a variety of moods and feelings in the show. The big illusions allow you to create spectacular moments in the show where the small pieces create more intimate, more connective moments in the show. The larger illusions can create more drama and suspense.”

It’s a perfect show for the family, he said.

“It’s a great night or day out for people of all ages to get together and have a good time,” he said. “By the time they’ve left the theater they’re all going to have a chance to experience the magic. My goal is for everyone to leave with a smile on their face.”

Michael Grandinetti

When: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13

Where: Raue Center for the Arts, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake

Tickets: $27-$35

Information: 815-356-9212; rauecenter.org

Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.