Walter Rolfo

Walter Rolfo
Born	February 22, 1972 Turin, Italy

Walter Rolfo (b.1972), has a degree in engineering and psychology and is a television author, a writer, a happiness coach, a motivational consultant for companies, an entrepreneur in the world of entertainment, an illusionist and a Guinness World Record holder.

Biography

Early Career

Walter was born in Turin on February 22, 1972 (his family is not part of the entertainment world, his parents own a driving school). He is a member of the “Circolo Amici della magia” in Turin and his teachers are: Enzo Pocher, who introduced him to the world of magic, Vittorio Balli and Don Silvio Mantelli (better known as magician Sales), who is still one of his points of reference. In 1976 he designed and wrote his first show which he presented in the summer of 1982 at the pizzeria “Las Vegas” in Bibione, the reward was… 2 pizzas, one for him and one for the boy who had accompanied him. In 1990 - he ranked third in the international “Bartolomeo Bosco Award” of the Bartolomeo Bosco Magic Club of Turin. In 1995, in June, he won the episode of “Beato tra le donne” on the Italian national TV (Rai) and after 3 months, in the final, he placed 6th in the general classification. In 1996: he won the first prize on the TV show “I Re Maghi” (Rai 1), he was a finalist (5th place) on “Miss & Mister 96”, he won the show “Sotto a chi tocca” (and was a guest in the following edition of July ’97) and won the international magic award “Trofeo Chabernot” in Rome (he was known as “the fire magician”). In 1997, he was part of the regular cast of the prime time TV musical quiz “100 Milioni + IVA” and he was responsible for animation and magic shows for the Suzuki stand at the Motorshow ’97.

Academics

In 2002 he graduated in Management Engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin. Since 2019 he has been teaching at the University of Turin. In 2021 he began teaching at the Polytechnic of Turin. In 2022 he graduated with a Psychology major.

TV Shows

In 1998 - from October '98 to January '99 - he was part of the cast of "Centoventitré", a Rai 1 television program hosted by Raffaella Carrà.

In 1999 - From October to December - he was one of the 40 Carra'mba boys in "I fantastici di Raffaella" and in "Carra'mba che Fortuna". On TMC he worked in hosting a program for kids "Zap Zap Tv" which airs from Monday to Friday. He hosted "the New Year's Eve Grand Gala in Bormio".

In 2000 he hosted a part of the Canale 5 TV program "Operazione Five". On the satellite channel "Comedy Life" he hosted a film review for the "Giffoni film festival". On the satellite channel "Marco Polo" he hosted a weekly travel program "Marco Polo pillole".

In 2001 Michele Guardì (an important TV director) opened the doors of his family, not only in television, to Walter and allowed him to work with him on “In Famiglia” on Rai Due. He participated as a correspondent on the program “Nientepopodimenochè” on Rai 1.

In 2003, after two years of experience with Michele Guardì, he began his collaboration in the Vice Management of Rai Due with Gian Stefano Spoto, where he managed projects and programs, both as an author and host. He collaborated with “Scherzi a Parte” ( a program like “Punk'd ” in the USA). Walter hosted on TV (Italia 1) the second season of “Ziggie” a television program for children.

In 2004 he was one of the authors of the TV program “Velisti per caso”.

In 2005 he was one of the authors (with Michele Alberico and Gian Stefano Spoto) of the TV program “Futura City”, Walter hosted in an ironic way mini-fictions where he is projected into a future reality often beyond the absurd. He was one of the authors - together with Gian Stefano Spoto - of “Bye bye baby” a TV program that talked about separations, stories that end and couple dynamics.

In 2006 - he designed, wrote and hosted the cultural TV program “ArcanA” (Rai Due), dedicated to the history of Magical Art which achieved considerable success with the public and critics (the first docu-show on Magic.).

In 2007 he is the author of the TV program “Donne” (Rai 2), hosts “Ragazzi c’è Voyager”. He designed, wrote and hosted the show “Masters of Magic”, a 12-part television anthology of Italian magic, in prime time on Canal Jimmy – Sky (repeated 575 times worldwide.)

In 2009 he wrote and hosted the reality show “Sei nel mirino” (Sky).

In 2010 he created Masters of Magic (Rai 2).

In 2011 he wrote and hosted 2 TV programs: The Secret (Rai 2) and Cartoon Magic (Rai 2).

In 2013 he created and produced the TV show “La Grande Magia - The Illusionist” (Canale 5), a magic challenge between 36 Magicians where the judges were: Uri Geller, Franz Harary, Ed Alonzo, Max Maven and Topas.

In 2015 he created, wrote and hosted, together with the italian tv star “Gerry Scotti”, the programme Masters of Magic, broadcast in prime time on tv (Canale 5) from 2 to 23 June 2016.

Shows and Artistic Direction

In 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009 Walter presented the Gala Show of the annual meeting of the Italian Magic Club (CMI) in Abano Terme.

Since 2008 until today he has been the President of the International Magic Congress of Saint-Vincent (10 -11) where he innovates the classic schemes of the magic show, creating a magical and media event of international importance.

In July 2009, he designed, wrote and presented “Magic Week in Saint Vincent”, a twinning between the great international magicians and Harry Potter fans that lasts a week. The event is filmed and broadcast by about twenty TV channels. He writes and hosts the reality TV show “Sei nel mirino” (Sky).

In 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2018 he presented the Gala Show of the annual meeting of the International Magic Festival of the Republic of San Marino.

In 2012 he becomes the Artistic Director of the MagiKro Festival of Crotone.

In 2013, with Alessandro Marrazzo, he wrote the Show "Inganni - Manuale di difesa" that he took around Italy.

In 2014, he participated as a speaker at TEDxTrastevere with the conference " The art of achieving the impossible". As CEO of WoW srl, a consultancy firm in the fields of management and communication, he conducted a series of training courses in Russia at the Association of Communication Directors and Corporate Publishing AKMR.

Since 2015, for 6 editions, he has been the artistic director of the "Parma Street Magic" Festival”.

In 2015, in Rimini, he was the president of the organizing committee of the 26th World Championship of Magic (Fism), the world championship of magic, which took place in Rimini from 6 to 11 July.

Together with Uri Geller, he was the protagonist in Holland of "Mindmasters Live", a show that is a live challenge of Mentalism.

From 2018 to 2020, he was the artistic director of "Torino Un Natale Magico”.

In 2018 he is the artistic director of the New Year’s Eve Magic of the City of Turin.

In 2019 and 2020 he is the artistic director of the summer Festival “Treviso Arte Magica”.

In 2019 he is again the artistic director of the New Year’s Eve Magic of the City of Turin and also of the City of Sanremo.

In 2022 he is the president of the Masters of Magic congress at the Mastio in Turin (25 to 29 May).

In 2023 he is the president of the Masters of Magic congress at the Mauto in Turin (12 to 14 May).

In 2024, from 17 to 26 May, he chaired the organizing committee of the European Championship of Magic FISM ITALY 2024.

He is currently the President of the organizing committee of the World Championship of Magic FISM ITALY 2025.

United Magicians For The World

In 2020, he organized the “United Magicians for The World” congress (only online due to Covid), from midnight on October 22nd to 4:00 am on October 26th (102 hours and 25 minutes of live web broadcast, with 111 artists from 24 different countries, which saw Walter Rolfo present each artist by moving to different places in Piedmont ... driving 604 km). With this initiative, more than € 11,000 were collected, which was added to the other donations given during the events. The entire amount was donated in the form of scholarships to young magicians from all over the world who, due to the pandemic, were unable to perform - with obvious economic losses - to allow them to participate in FISM competitions. In 2021, he organized the Masters of magic congress – from June 19 to 20 – which had two souls: a physical location (at the MUSEO DELL’ AUTOMOBILE DI TORINO) with the participation of the public “in person” and a virtual streaming section where Artists from all over the world took turns in 100 hours of live from June 17 to 20, creating the program “United Magicians For The World 2° Edition“. Also in this case, the entire amount (both of the physical and virtual congress) was donated in the form of scholarships to young magicians from all over the world.

Happiness Foundation

On April 7, 2022, he founded (together with 9 friends) the “ETS Happiness Foundation” which has the following goals:

a) create and develop skills, enhance talents and build infrastructures that lead people to achieve happiness, not as an end, but as a foundation on which to build a full and satisfying life.

b) make the future accessible to everyone, regardless of their origins, place of birth and social class.

c) help people build interpersonal and social relationships, new solidarity networks, new awareness, new forms of social and business organizations.

With the ETS Happiness Foundation, he has created many events. In 2024, he organized the Happiness On Tour 2024: 10 free meetings (the first at the Assago Forum on March 20 on the occasion of World Happiness Day) for students and the curious who want to learn more about the topic of happiness.

Awards and Honors

• Member of the Magic Circle of London, with a "Gold Star" 2015
• Honorary Member of the Italian Magic Club 2015
• Wizard Trophy award, Moscow
• Ambassador of Tik Tok Italia for World Kindness Day 2020

Guinness World Records

• 2008 The highest number of rabbits pulled out of a hat
• 2010 The highest number of magicians involved in a magic show
• 2011 The highest number of glasses – 66 – broken with the power of thought
• 2015 The magic show with the most artists inside: 134 performers for 7 hours of show throughout the night within the 26th World Magic Championship held in Rimini
• 2018 On the New Year's Eve show of the city of Turin, for the highest number of people who performed the same magic at the same time (12,514)

Bibliography

• The art of achieving the impossible, Sperling & Kupfer, 2017
• Be Happy. The book that makes you happy, Sperling & Kupfer, 2018
• The Happiness Code: 8 superheroes to train your talents and choose to be happy (author: Walter Rolfo, Pasquale Acampora and Alessandra Patti), ETS Felicità Foundation, 2023
• Happy companies do it better (the budget), Sperling & Kupfer, 2024

References

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