✦ Golden Grolla Award 2019

Derek DelGaudio

The storyteller who turned magic into art

With "In & Of Itself", Derek DelGaudio achieved something magic had chased for a century: a magic show discussed by theatre critics, artists and audiences as a work of art in its own right. The off-Broadway production, directed by Frank Oz, ran for hundreds of performances in New York, moved celebrities and ordinary spectators to tears, and later became an acclaimed film. At its centre there is no trick to catch: there is a question about identity, about the difference between who we are and who others see.

Before that, DelGaudio was already a legend among magicians: an extraordinary sleight-of-hand artist, considered one of the finest card technicians of his generation, and the co-creator of sophisticated theatrical projects that pushed magic into the territory of contemporary art. His writing, praised far beyond the magic world, treats secrets not as merchandise but as a form of intimacy.

Masters of Magic honoured him with the Golden Grolla in 2019, recognising the artist who proved that a deck of cards can carry the same weight as literature.

Honoured by Masters of Magic among the legends who have shaped the history of magic.