Mat Franco – Mat Franco’s Got Magic

Q) When Mat Franco’s Got Magic airs next week, is there any one segment in particular that you’re most excited for your fans and the viewers in general to see?

A) Yes. I have a lot of favorite things I’m looking forward to, but I guess most of all is the set that I did back in Rhode Island. Back where I’m from this really is sort of a road trip that chronicles my journey going from Rhode Island to opening the show in Las Vegas. And we stop off at amazing locations all across America, but it does sort of really mean something to go back home and be able to thank the people there that really supported me on this journey; in particular, my college, university of Rhode Island. I really was excited to go back there and shake their hands and say thank you. And I’m also really excited about the special magic that I came up with just for them.

Q) your special also features a pretty impressive list of celebrity guest starts. So I have to ask — is there any certain star that’s been on about the whole group as a whole that you’re really excited to work with?

A) Oh, man. They were all just amazing to work with. One that was really unique because it was sort of different – a lot of the celebrity guests that we have like Nicole Scherzinger – we released a sneak peek of that. I performed magic for them. But in a couple of instances — like, for example, with Neil Patrick Harris — because he is a magician – a lot of people don’t realize he actually has a real background in magic. We collaborated together to create a trick that we could perform for people and that’s what we’ll see on the special, which is really cool. And we did the same thing with Penn and Teller. Since they are magicians – so we thought it would be a cool opportunity to collaborate rather than me performing a trick for those particular celebs.

Q) Can you tell me just a little more about what you did back in your home state, Rhode Island?

A) All I can tell you is that I shot some footage over at the University of Rhode Island, which is a place that’s close to my heart. Of course, that’s where I went to school. I’ve performed there, in some cases, nine times a year. It’s just a place that has voting parties for me when I was on America’s Got Talent. They had riots on campus when I won. When they said, Mat, where do you want to go and shoot, that was pretty much first on my list because I just knew there was a lot of great energy there and I wanted to be able to go there and say thank you to people that mattered to me.

Q) Have you gotten your invitation to join the Magic Castle?

A) Yes. I’ve been to the Magic Castle a good handful of times because I spent the past six months in Los Angeles before I came here to Vegas, which is where I am right now as we’re chatting here because that’s where my live show is tonight. We have our residency show here right in town and before that I filmed the special – I spent the past six months based out of Los Angeles so that I could work on that. So yes, I’ve been to the castle a handful of times.

Q) What is your favorite magic act of all time from either you or any other performer?

A) Well, if you look back on America’s Got Talent, my favorite piece that I did on the show that I’m most proud of is my very first audition where I told the story using a deck of cards that I customized to be about America’s Got Talent, to be about my journey. And the reason I like that so much is really just because it’s a personal piece. I like things that include a story and have surprises along the way, and keep it fun. But people often ask is there an ultimate magic trick, and my answer to that is really that I think it depends on your mood just like a song. You might be in the mood to listen to a fast-paced song because you want to dance. Or you might want to hear something a little bit slower and relax you a little bit. So there are a lot different types of magic and a lot of different genres of magic. And I tried to include as many of those as possible into the two hour special. But really it changes day to day what my favorite thing is that I’m working on.

Q) How did Mat Franco’s Got Magic come about?

A) So Mat Franco’s Got Magic is really essentially a spin-off. You can tell by the name from America’s Got Talent. We called this Mat Franco’s Got Magic because it really just takes off from where we left off with where I won and where that’s led to now, and what’s up next. So it’s produced by the same company that does AGT. Of course it’s on the same network, NBC, so we just – I really enjoyed being on the show. We all sort of had a great time working together and wanted to continue working together mutually, which is why it resulted in having Mat Franco’s Got Magic. So I couldn’t be more excited about it to continue the relationship because we’ve just been having a blast.

Q) Creatively, did you come up with the ideas for this? Or did the producers come up with it? How did you decide what you wanted to do, the tricks? What was the creative process?

A) The creative process for me is always the same. I generally start with the crazy concept that comes to mind, and it can come to you – you can’t force it. It could be while you’re driving. It can be in the shower. And you’ll have an idea for – just like a songwriter – a crazy idea for – wow, wouldn’t that be amazing if I could do this? So I come up with a lot of crazy ideas. Some of them come directly from me out of nowhere. Some of them come from friends who are either magicians or non-magicians. In fact, sometimes the best ideas come from people who don’t do magic because, as a magician, we think within certain borders and how thing scan be done. But people who don’t use magic as a hobby just think about – well, if magic were real, why wouldn’t you just do it this way? And then it’s like, oh wow! I should try to come up with a way to do it. So inspiration comes from all over the place and working on the TV special I had some great magic friends that helped make these ideas come to fruition as well. and a lot of input from some of the best magic creators in the business that were able to collaborate with me on this just the same way musicians collaborate together with a band.

Q) And the celebrities — were these people you picked or that AGT picked? How did you end up with this particular group of people?

A) Well, it depends case by case. For example, we have some of the judges from America’s Got Talent which, of course, seemed like a natural fit. Then just seeing great people and still being in touch – it seemed like a natural fit to have them be included. And I’m honored to have them. Jason Mraz is one of our special guests. You’ve heard me mention in this conversation music a few times. I’m a huge – yes, huge fan of music, which is why we have some people in the music realm like Nicole Scherzinger and Jason Mraz. I’ve seen Jason in concert probably over twenty times. I’m a big fan of his and it was great to see that he was a mutual fan. He’s a big fan of magic, so we invited him to be a part of it and created some magic for him using musical props, in a way. So that was exciting. And Penn and Teller – they are of course legends in magic and have been innovative in magic for many years. So that seemed natural. Same with Neil Patrick Harris being a magician. And last, but not least, there are more that we haven’t announced yet, but Rob Gronkowski being from the hometown team, the New England Patriots. It seemed like a cool opportunity to work together.

Q) You didn’t magically deflate any footballs, did you?

A) We’ll have to see.

*CONFERENCE CALL*