Australian illusionist Paul Cosentino is no stranger to staging his tricks for television, including a deep run on Australia’s Got Talent in 2011. The magician is making a return to the small screen with a new four-part special called The Elements: Cosentino. The series premieres on January 18 and airs across Asia on the AXN network. He spoke with the Jakarta Globe about the show and his career in magic.

“Unfortunately for me in Australia, when I started, there was no YouTube, there was no Google. I learned through books and I taught myself,” he said. “I’ve never had a teacher. I’ve never had a mentor. It’s a bit of a negative thing because it took longer to learn, but it was also positive because you learned by practice and learned by going out there and actually doing it.”

Cosentino’s particular style of escape magic is one that is known for taking a long time to perfect. He acknowledges that some of his tricks are ten years old. Escape stunts are also a dangerous field to just jump into without that expert guidance as he did. And although he’s become a well-respected escape artist in the international magic community, Cosentino has had his share of accidents.

“You plan, you try to control the horrible as much as you can,” he said.

Cosentino is more than just a lauded performer. He also partnered with Scholastic Australia to help create a book series called The Mysterious World of Cosentino. Each of the titles includes a few magic how-tos and is designed to inspire grade schoolers.