and used a television, that he laid the groundwork for his
iPad success. He used the TV screen as if the other side were
a parallel universe he could reach into and manipulate. He
seemed to suck soda out of a glass with a straw, reach into
the TV to grab a broom from himself (presumably from a pre-
recorded video), and pull a chair out from under a character
on screen. The customers in the store could see his hand
reach into the picture and pull what seemed to be the very
same chair out of the TV into the store instantaneously.
After the iPad’s release in 2010, Pierro was glad to use
this device instead of a television because an iPad is signifi-
cantly lighter to travel with.
To grow his following and attract more bookings, Pierro
began using YouTube to show off his iPad tricks. Pierro created
a short video series called
Magic Mondays
set in public places
where curious spectators would gather around. At a Bavarian
beer hall, he tilted his iPad toward a party cup and poured
beer; the level of beer on screen went down as the cup filled
up. In another video, he is seen with chimpanzees, confusing
them as they see him “grab” a picture of a peanut on his iPad
that becomes an actual peanut in his fingers. In a riskier trick,
he used his iPad to scan passersby. The screen appeared as a
live shot, except the people on camera appeared on the iPad
with no clothes. (These shots were blurred, but the expres-
sions on the faces of people gathered at Pierro’s side told the
full story.)
His first YouTube video landed him a guest spot on the
Ellen DeGeneres Show
.
In 2017, Pierro used an iPad on a German television
special to salute the legendary magician Cardini, who had
gained fame in the first part of the 20th century. Pierro
opened with a brief history lesson by showing an online
biography of Cardini that included a picture of one of his
trademarked gloves.
Pierro used his thumb and forefinger to enlarge the
onscreen glove. Then, when he put his hand behind the iPad,
the glove on screen came to life, with fingers stretching and
wiggling. Pierro pulled a red handkerchief from the glove.
He also made cards and balls appear, pulling them out of
the screen or making them appear in his gloved hand from
behind the device.
“If you do something unique, you will get attention,”
he said. “If you do something unique with one of the hottest
gadgets to be released in a decade, everything is possible.”
Pierro used the iPad to pull off classic
Cardini tricks with a new twist. PHOTO:
Willi Weber/Brainpool
Simon Pierro is The iPad Magician.
PHOTO: Willi Weber/Brainpool
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