Today on Let's Talk About Brand, we're talking about personal branding with Katie and Mario Marchese. Mario is better known as Mario the Maker Magician. He has been a magician for over 15 years, and he really breaks the mold!

Mario has been called “the greatest children's magician in the world” by magician David Blaine, who he's also toured the world with. He has taught his own special brand of Maker Magic to Murray the Muppet on Sesame Street. He has also done a whole ton of live programming with Make Magazine. Normally, he’s touring all over the place with his family and his co-adventurer, Katie Marchese.

Katie, in addition to being Mario's wife and keeping their personal life going, is also his manager, his co-adventurer, road trip buddy, and they've got their kids in on the action too!

Mario and Katie had been touring all over the country until March, when the pandemic abruptly canceled all performances. However, they’ve been able to continue their show in a different way. They’ve been broadcasting from their home, where they’ve designed a set in their very own attic!

The traditional image of a children's magician would probably include a tux, top hat, and a black cape with red lining. However, Mario has created his own aesthetic, which has a punk rock, steampunk, Vaudevillian feel. In a cover piece for MUM Magazine, writer Chloe Olewitz summed Mario up perfectly as, “magic’s punk rock Peter Pan philosopher.”

This episode was broadcast as a livestream on September 25, 2020. It has been edited from its original format.

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