Adam Brindley (born 1979), known professionally as Adam Mada and The Wizard of Oz is an Australian magician, entertainer and magic consultant. Mada is the magic and illusion consultant for the

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

Australia's Got Talent ''Australia's Got Talent'' is an Australian reality television talent show. The show is based on the '' Got Talent'' series format that originated in the United Kingdom with Simon Cowell. The first six seasons aired on the Seven Network, from ...

, The Metaverse of Magic and previously served as The Australian Magic & Illusion Associate for the Melbourne premiere of

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'' is a play written by Jack Thorne from an original story by Thorne, J. K. Rowling, and John Tiffany. The plot occurs nineteen years after the events of Rowling's novel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hall ...

Early life

Mada became interested in magic in his youth performing for family, friends and private functions before deciding to pursue magic full-time when he was 21. He attended the Jeff McBride Magic Masterclass in Las Vegas, USA with Eugene Burger and has studied conjuring theory with mentors from South Africa, Venezuela, France, Singapore and Australia.Cerabona, Ron
"Double Effect of a Split Personality"
''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...

'', Canberra, 3 November 2012. Retrieved on 2013-01-29. Mada is a scholar of magic interested in the social dynamics of performance magic, often advising academics and artists on magic theory and practice"Mada's Touch"
, '' Time Out Sydney'', Sydney, 3 April 2009. Retrieved on 2013-01-29.

Professional career

2009 - FBi Radio

Mada hosted weekly radio segment 'Wonder Thunder' for FBi radio station in 2009, presenting the history of magic and performing effects live on air.

2010 - 2015 - Television and Mada's Marvels

Mada appeared alongside magicians Nicholas J. Johnson and Clare Werbeloff in the 2010 series ''

The Real Hustle ''The Real Hustle'' is a BBC British television series created by Objective Productions, Alexis Conran and R. Paul Wilson for BBC Three. The show demonstrates confidence and magic tricks, distraction scams and proposition bets performed on memb ...

'' for Channel 9. He consulted on ''

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

'', creating an illusion for the film's opening sequence. In "Binge", an episode of ABC Television documentary ''Whatever! The Science of Teens'', he worked with Neuroscientist John Currie Prof. John Currie to illustrate the effects of binge drinking in teenagers by applying magic techniques to memory tests. During the 2012 season of reality television competition

, Mada collaborated with choreographer Sarah Boulter on a levitation routine for her dance group Ev & Bow. In 2012, Mada worked with choreographer Farhan Hassan and costume designer Glenna Ng to create 'The Chamber of Secrets Magic Show' at the National Drama Center in Singapore. He worked with Australian Author

Tara Moss Tara Rae Moss (born 2 October 1973) is a Canadian-Australian author, documentary maker and presenter, journalist and UNICEF national ambassador for child survival. Biography Moss was born in Victoria, British Columbia, where she attended schoo ...

on her novel ''Siren''. In 2013 Journalist

Joe Hildebrand Joe Hildebrand (born 23 June 1976) is an Australian journalist, Television presenter, television and radio presenter. Hildebrand writes for Sydney's ''The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), The Daily Telegraph'' and is also known to contribute to a num ...

invited Mada to speak about invisibility on a panel at the

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), formerly the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, is located on George Street, Sydney, George Street in The Rocks, Sydney, The Rocks neighbourhood of Sydney. The museum is housed in the Stripped Cl ...

including other speakers

Brian Schmidt Brian Paul Schmidt (born 24 February 1967) is an American Australian astrophysics, astrophysicist at the Australian National University's Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. He was the Vice-Chancellor o ...

and

Ron McCallum Ronald Clive McCallum AO (born 8 October 1948) is an Australian legal academic. He is an expert in labour law, and has served as a professor and dean of law at the University of Sydney. He is the first totally blind person to be appointed to a f ...

. He headlined the Hoopla Festival in 2014 with his show ''Mada's Marvels''."Mada's Marvels"
/ref>"Becoming a Magician"
"Marvels"
/ref> He joined the 2014 Tour of

Band of Magicians Band of Magicians is a touring illusion show featuring a group of magicians billed as "The World’s First Magic Supergroup". The original group featured magicians James Galea, Justin Flom, Justin Willman, and Nate Staniforth. The current group in ...

, joining

James Galea James Galea (born 1981) is an Australian illusionist, magician and actor based in Sydney and Los Angeles. Early life and education Galea was introduced to the art of magic (illusion), magic at the age of 14. He spent most of his youth studying ...

, Ben Hanlin and Brett Loudermilk. "Band Of Magicians"
/ref>

2016 - Fooling Copperfield and India Tour

In 2016, he was invited by Australian Radio Station

2Day FM 2Day FM (call sign 2DAY) is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on a frequency of 104.1 MHz, and is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network. History 1980s 2Day FM was one of three radio st ...

to design and teach a trick to Angus O'Laughlin. The trick was performed to illusionist

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...

backstage at the Copperfield Theatre in Las Vegas. Copperfield was fooled by the illusion. Later that year, he performed with Ash Hodgkinson and Lucas Itrawan at the

Royal Bombay Yacht Club The Royal Bombay Yacht Club (RBYC) is one of the premier gentlemen's clubs which was founded in 1846 in Colaba (formerly Wellington Pier (Bombay), Wellington Pier), an area of Mumbai in India. The building was designed by John Adams, who also d ...

to celebrate the life of India's famous radio broadcaster the late Hamid Sayani brother of

Ameen Sayani Ameen Sayani (21 December 1932 – 20 February 2024) was an Indian radio announcer. He achieved fame and popularity across the Indian subcontinent when he presented his ''Binaca Geetmala'' programme of hits over the airwaves of Radio Ceylon. H ...

. Hodgkinson later garnered a large

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

following, and is known as Ash Magic. His show ''Mada's Marvels'' toured India with Author and researcher John Zubrzycki. He served as producer for the initial Short and Sweet Magic and Comedy festival, and coached 2014 Junior Australian Magic Champion CARDISTRY.

2019 - Present

Mada has taken on a number of professional, long term engagements as a Magic and Illusion Director, Associate and Design including for National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), the original Melbourne production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Possum Magic. In 2023, he was the Magic and Illusion designer for a new interactive magic variety show, ''Metaverse of Magic''.

Philanthropy & Charity Work

Mada has contributed to several charity organisations with performances, workshops and fund raising. Notably Mada headlined the

World Aids Day World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired immu ...

Gala in 2013, for the Aids Trust of Australia in 2012 Adam was WWF Earth Hour ambassador, prompting criticism from journalist

Andrew Bolt Andrew Bolt (born 26 September 1959) is an Australian conservative social and political commentator. He has worked at the News Corp-owned newspaper company The Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) for many years, for both '' The Herald'' and its succ ...

."Adam Mada Illusionist"
'' The Western Weekender'', Sydney, 2013-13-12 In 2013 Mada became an ambassador for the

Starlight Children's Foundation The Starlight Children's Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1982. Starlight's programs include providing hospital wear, games, and deliveries to hospitalized children. The programs are provided directly to children through Starlight ...

He is a coach for the starlight captains as well as raising funds form his public shows as part of the Melbourne Magic Festival Mada's Marvels He has spoken publicly about the need for better support for small business, especially in the arts and entertainment sector.

References

External links

Official Website

Twitter

Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mada, Adam Living people Australian magicians Australian artists Entertainers from Sydney 1979 births