If seeing is believing, then you better believe that Geno Ploeger — the 22-year-old magician returning for the semi-finals of America’s Got Talent this week — is the real deal. Enthusiastic, affable, and authentically himself, he’s been training for this moment most of his life.
“I was five years old when I first started magic, and then when I started doing magic lessons, I was eight,” says the Arizona-based performer, adding, “It was my grandpa who showed me [magic] in person when I was five years old. But when I was getting older, the majority of the magic I learned when I was first starting was on YouTube because there was such a wide variety to learn from.”
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“There was also a magic shop in my hometown in Wisconsin, where I’m from, and I used to do magic lessons there. So it was like a combo: I was learning a lot on YouTube, and then I was learning from this guy that I was doing magic lessons with who actually is still one of my mentors today.”
It was during that period, the adorably earnest Ploeger states, that he first realized that his newfound skills could be used for more than just impressing his pals or earning a few bucks next to a backyard bounce house.
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“Ever since Mat Franco won [AGT in 2014], magic kind of started booming again, but in a cool way,” he explains of the show’s first-ever magician champ. “And now people understand, you’re not a guy doing magic at a birthday party. You’re not [wearing a cape]…no top hats. It’s so moved on from that. So it’s been interesting to see the shift and how magic has transformed throughout the years.”
“When I was 10, I watched him winand ever since that moment, he’s been my biggest inspiration and magic. I was like, ‘You know what? I want to do that, too,’ because I just thought he was so relatable. Every magician I had seen up to that point was like the Lance Burtons or the David Copperfields who had these flashy [acts]. I wasn’t like that. I was doing card tricks. And I saw that he could make a career doing stuff that I was doing. So I’ve always dreamt about doing the show. I had submitted for a couple years to try to get on the show and it finally came around this year.”
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But even before he landed on network TV, Ploeger has been building heat on social media, where he’s amassed over 14 million likes on his addictive TikTok account, as well as an appearance on comic Matt Rife‘s Netflix Christmas special, Unwrapped that quickly went viral.
“That was crazy in and of itself,” he marvels, assuring us that it was a purely impromptu moment of luck. “I was performing and saw those tickets come out. I was like, ‘Oh, it’s in my hometown. We should go. It’d be fun to see him, but also see a Netflix special be taped.’ My fiancée and I went and I thought I should probably have magic ready in case because I know he does crowd work. So I was prepped. I had cards on me and it worked out! But it was not planned. It was not planned at all!”
@genoploegermagic Everyone check out @Matt Rife ‘s new special Unwrapped on @Netflix ! Thanks for watching the magic 😉 #magic #magician #igotvoodooigothoodoo #fyp #mattrife ♬ original sound – Geno Ploeger ♠️
Just as adamantly, he confirms that his TikTok lives are unedited and A.I. free. “People do love to comment, ‘Oh, there was a cut in this spot, or there was an edit here.’ And I say, ‘Man, if I could edit that well, you think I would be a magician? There are so many better things I could do if I was that good of an editor on these videos!” he laughs.
“I think it’s honestly hilarious, but the times are changing. I think that’s why I enjoy live-streaming so much, because I’m still performing for the live audience. My goal with magic ever since I’ve been a kid is to show magic to as many people as possible. And social media gives you that. Especially with TikTok, I’ve been blessed enough for hundreds of millions of people to see my work.”
That now includes AGT‘s wildly impressed judges panel, who all readily voted Ploeger through to this week’s semifinals back in August…even if he couldn’t understand their effusive praise inside the packed Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
@genoploegermagic One of the greatest moments of my life @agt @agtauditions ♬ original sound – Geno Ploeger ♠️
“There’s nothing that can prepare you to be in front of these people you’ve watched on TV your entire life,” he recounts. “First of all, that’s a wow moment when I’m sitting backstage and [host] Terry Crews is talking to me. It’s like, ‘What are we doing?!’ You know what I mean? But then secondly, in that theater, it is so loud. On my quarterfinals performance, Sofía [Vergara] was talking after I was done. I heard zero of what she said, zero! I read her lips and she said ‘original,’ so I was like “Oh, thanks!’ I literally had no clue what she said. The crowd is so loud, but it helps us as performers because I think all of us kind of feed off that energy. It’s indescribable, honestly.”
Fittingly, it sounds like Ploeger has something similarly hard to explain up his sleeve for the semi-finals.
“Well, it’s obviously a lot more pressure because the level of talent is stepped up and on top of that, I only had three weeks to actually fully prepare this next thing that I’m doing,” he previews. “But the thing I found that people resonated with from my performance was me telling my story and really being me and showing who I am. So that’s basically the inspiration for the next one. Without giving too much away, I am…I’ll put it this way. My audition, I told my life story. My quarterfinal, I told my family story, and this next one, I’m telling the story of me right now.”
One that we wouldn’t be surprised ends up including a very magical win.
Check out the clip above for a look at his magic in action.
America’s Got Talent,Season 21, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8/7c, NBC