Mario López Masterclass

We are delighted to welcome Mario Lopez as your Masterclass instructor for October! You may have seen Mario’s award-winning magic before, whether it was his viral cigarette routine, the hysterical Salt Pour he did on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, or his most notorious creation… The Vanishing Nipple.

For his Masterclass, you’ll go in depth on some of Mario’s favorite creations, learning not just the methods behind them, but the theories that make them so strong. You’ll learn about how he creates new pieces, the distinction between “perversion” vs. “strike” magic, how he defines character, and so much more.

Masterclass 1: October 3, 2026 (4pm ET | NYC Time)

In Mario’s first Masterclass session, he uses some of his favorite pieces to explain his creative process. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn.

La Pistola: Card to Cigarette

Mario’s handling of Card to Cigarette is equal parts entertaining, engaging, and fooling. On the surface, you’ll learn a devious method to vanish a torn corner of a playing card and have it appear inside a cigarette. But along the way, you’ll learn how Mario uses magical gestures to showcase his character, how the real tricks often happen only in the minds of the spectators, and much more.

Wild Coin Routine:

Three copper coins change one at a time into silver dollars. Mario’s handling feels so loose and free that it’s almost impossible to believe that any sleight of hand has happened. Through this seemingly simple effect, Mario shares how he uses objects to spark creativity, how he finds natural ways to use everyday objects as a source for his methods, and more lessons you can use to create new effects and ideas.

The Sandwich (Cannibal Coins):

You’ve seen the Cannibal Cards plot before, but have you seen it done with coins? Silver coins repeatedly vanish as they are “eaten” by the copper coins. By changing out the props, Mario shows how you can create an entirely new plot. He shares how he uses this technique to not just come up with new plots, but moves as well.

Masterclass 2: October 10, 2026 (4pm ET | NYC Time)

For his second Masterclass, Mario walks us through what he believes are the five most important aspects of a show.

• The magician

• The objects

• The tricks

• The participants

• The venue

But the only way to truly understand how Mario uses all five aspects is to see them work in context. Mario put together a special close-up show just for his Masterclass, and you’ll get to watch the entire thing AND have him explain all the theory behind it. You’ll learn about creating active attention, defining your character, choosing objects that fit your world, and much more. Don’t worry, you’ll learn the tricks too!

Emptiness:

A Teleportation of effect… of nothing. We promise, it’s much better than it sounds on paper. A hole disappears from a piece of paper in the magician's hand and appears on a piece of paper in the participant’s hand.

Message in the Bottle:

Only Mario could take a silly gag and turn it into a hysterical and fooling piece of card magic. It’s almost a reverse card trick which involves you telling the participant what card they’ll freely name.