Mike Super is the winner of NBC series Phenomenon and a finalist on America’s Got Talent. He has entertained Ariana Grande, Tina Fey, Heidi Klum, Ellen DeGeneres and many more. Whether through television, the stage, or one-on-one, Mike has entertained millions and become one of the most sought after mystifiers in the world.
This is his story, as told to The Vendry.
I have been doing magic for my entire life.
It all started at Walt Disney World. I was 6-years-old and obsessed with the tricks that a man was doing behind the counter at the magic shop. My parents bribed me $20 to spend in the magic shop on the way out if I agreed to ride some of the rides. And that’s how I got my start.
I started doing shows in my neighborhood and soon I was getting paid to perform at my friends’ birthday parties. As I got older I started going to restaurants and doing table side magic in 5 minute sets. I had to win audience after audience over, and I did that 30-40 times a night every night for years. I equate the experience to the amateur nights that comedians do. It was through those performances that local corporations discovered me. Diners would come in and say, “We have our annual Christmas party,” or, “Our trade show in Vegas is coming up, would you come to that?” I said yes because I have always loved a challenge.
I had to follow my passion because I couldn’t afford the pay cut.
I studied Computer Science in college but my heart was still in magic. Plus, I was already getting offered more money to do magic than I could make working with computers. After college, I had to follow my passion because I couldn’t afford the pay cut.
When messaging is combined with magic, we found memory retention went way up. Companies could measure the fact that they were getting more leads with me doing magic than they were before I was doing it.
The corporations I worked with became repeat clients. I would come up with new magic to perform each year while integrating the key points the company wanted communicated. When messaging is combined with magic, we found memory retention went way up. Companies could measure the fact that they were getting more leads with me doing magic than they were before I was doing it.
I got experienced in the corporate arena over many years. Then NBC launched the show Phenomenon. The show’s aim was to find the best undiscovered mystifier. The corporate arena is always high pressure so I had a real strength going into this competition. I tricked them into thinking I was one of the top ten. Then I won! I won a quarter of a million dollars. It led to an appearance on Ellen and America's Got Talent (where I was a top 10 finalist).
One of the highlights of my career was doing an event at Madison Square Garden for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Tina Fey and I hosted an award dinner with 7,000 people in attendance. We did a fun interactive card trick, we had the podium fly over the crowd, and we predicted the powerball numbers. Because of the size of the audience and the size of the space of Madison Square Garden, the acoustics are different than anything I had ever experienced—I had to wait so much longer for laughter or sounds of amazement to subside. It was new for me, but the show crushed!
I have done a ton of TV shows and appearances at this point and while my dedication to magic hasn’t changed, what has changed is that now people are really paying attention.
I tell people that I get to be a big kid. I make a point of always trying to come up with magic that everyone isn't doing. I have done a ton of TV shows and appearances at this point and while my dedication to magic hasn’t changed, what has changed is that now people are really paying attention.
Right now, we have a bunch of exciting projects coming up. I am working on a TV project, a military tour in Japan, and the Mike Super Secret Society, which will be entertainment and magic tricks for people on my email list. I can’t wait for what’s to come.
