Derek DelGaudio

"In and Of Itself" redirects here. For a definition of that term, see the Wiktionary entry in and of itself.

Derek DelGaudio is an American interdisciplinary artist, primarily known as a writer, performer and magician.

Derek DelGaudio
DelGaudio in 2020
Born	1984 or 1985 (age 40–41)[1] Huntington Beach, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Performance artist, writer, actor, magician
Years active	2010–present

He created the theater show In & Of Itself, directed by Frank Oz, and co-founded, along with artist Glenn Kaino, the performance-art collective A.BANDIT, which has staged interventions at Art L.A. Contemporary in Santa Monica, The Ball of Artists, Art Basel Miami, LA><ART, and The Kitchen in New York.^[2] DelGaudio and Kaino also created The Mistake Room,^[3] a platform for situation-specific projects, as well as The [Space] Between, a "conceptual magic shop".^[4] They have also co-authored a book under the A.BANDIT name, A Secret Has Two Faces, containing interviews and stories from their careers in performance art and magic, as well as contributions from Marina Abramović, Ricky Jay, David Blaine and John Baldessari.^[5]

In 2014, DelGaudio was selected Artist in Residence for Walt Disney Imagineering. He has also consulted for television and cinema projects including The Carbonaro Effect and The Prestige. He wrote and co-starred (with Hélder Guimarães) in the show Nothing to Hide, which was directed by Neil Patrick Harris and opened off-Broadway at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center in New York City on October 23, 2013.^[6]

Frank Oz directed a film version of In & Of Itself which was released on Hulu on January 22, 2021. DelGaudio's nonfiction book AMORALMAN: A True Story and Other Lies was released in March 2021.^[7][8]

In August 2021, Neal Brennan's one-man show, Unacceptable, debuted at New York City's Cherry Lane Theater, with DelGaudio as director.^[9]

In 2022, DelGaudio made his feature film acting debut in Steven Soderbergh's thriller Kimi.

Reception

In the 2017 New York Times Magazine profile of DelGaudio, journalist Jonah Weiner wrote:

DelGaudio devises performances that combine sleight-of-hand with more theoretical preoccupations drawn from performance art, conceptual art and what's known as relational aesthetics: a tributary of the first two in which spectators become indispensable, unpredictable participants in creating an artwork's meaning.^[1]

Awards and honors

• The Academy of Magical Arts Close-up Magician of the Year 2011.^[10]
• The Academy of Magical Arts Close-up Magician of the Year 2012.^[10]
• The Academy of Magical Arts Magician of the Year 2016.^[10]
• The Allan Slaight Award for "Sharing Wonder," 2017.^[11]
• Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques Award for Creative & Artistic Vision, 2018.^[12]
• Grolla d'oro Award, Italy, 2019 ^[13]
• In 2011, the Conjuring Arts Research Center appointed DelGaudio their Director of Contemporary Conjuring.^[14]