# Mark Setteducati > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mark_Setteducati > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mark_Setteducati.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Setteducati > Source revision: 1299870930 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Mark Setteducati** (born November 1, 1955) is an American magician and inventor of illusions, games and puzzles.[1] He is also an author, known for the book The Magic Show, which he co-authored with [Anne Benkovitz](/source/Anne_Benkovitz). He is featured on the [PBS](/source/PBS) "Inventors" list.[2] ## Early life and education Setteducati was born in New York City, NY and grew up in Emerson, New Jersey. He received his BFA in Art and Design from the [School of Visual Arts](/source/School_of_Visual_Arts) in Manhattan, New York.[3] He later became a member of the faculty, where he created and taught the first ever toy and game design class, which allowed students to be able to receive a BFA with a major in Toy Design.[1] ## Career From 1975 to 1980, Setteducati was the assistant to artist, [Louise Bourgeois](/source/Louise_Bourgeois), and in 1992 he performed Magic in “She Lost it”, a performance piece by Bourgeois at [The Fabric Workshop](/source/The_Fabric_Workshop_and_Museum) in Philadelphia.[1] After working as an in-house designer for Astra Trading[4] and teaching design at his alma mater, he decided to become a full-time independent inventor. His first invention that he licensed was in 1981, Rubik Game, a game where you play tic-tac-toe on a [Rubik’s Cube](/source/Rubik%E2%80%99s_Cube). Later he developed and designed Rubik's Illusion, which later would lead to a project with the [Harry Potter](/source/Harry_Potter) franchise.[1] Throughout his career, Setteducati developed and licensed puzzles and games to toy companies around the world. In 1986, he designed a game travel version of the [Wheel of Fortune](/source/Wheel_of_Fortune_(U.S._game_show)) game show, which went on to sell millions of copies, and as well as the travel versions of [Jeopardy!](/source/Jeopardy!)[1] and [the Dating Game](/source/The_Dating_Game).[4] A year later in 1987, he designed his first magic set with [Harry Blackstone, Jr.](/source/Harry_Blackstone,_Jr.) that was produced by [Pressman Toy Company](/source/Pressman_Toy_Company).[4] In 1994, Setteducati created the "[Magic Works](/source/Magic_Works)" brand for [Milton Bradley](/source/Milton_Bradley), an all-time best-selling line of magic tricks that are geared towards children.[1][5] Setteducati co-founded [Gathering 4 Gardner](/source/Gathering_4_Gardner), along with [Tom M. Rodgers](/source/Tom_Malin_Rodgers) and [Elwyn Berlekamp](/source/Elwyn_Berlekamp), and for many years served as its president.[6] Released by Jumbo in 1994, Setteducati's "Magic Showcase" offered performers instant acts.[4] Setteducati co-created and invented Ji Ga Zo with [Ken Knowlton](/source/Ken_Knowlton), a universal jigsaw puzzle system, debuted in Japan and in 2011, it started being distributed by [Hasbro](/source/Hasbro) in the United States.[7] In 2013, Setteducati was featured on [PBS](/source/PBS) Digital Studio series, "Inventors", which is produced by David Friedman.[2] The [Academy of Magical Arts](/source/Academy_of_Magical_Arts) awarded Setteducati the Creative Fellowship Award for 2014, and an honorary lifetime membership to The Magic Castle, Hollywood, California.[8] ## Honors and awards Award Organization Year Result Leslie P Guest Award Society of American Magicians 1994 Won I.D. I. O. T. Int'l Designer & Inventor of Toys 2002 Won Medal of Honor National Arts Club 2008 Won Innovative Toy Japan 2010 Won[9] Tagie Award (nominated) Chicago Toy and Game Fair 2013 Nominated Creative Fellowship Academy of Magical Arts 2015 Won ## Other work He is a member of the educational non-profit corporation, [Gathering 4 Gardner](/source/Gathering_4_Gardner).[1] ## Personal life Setteducati has over ten thousand pens, he is the largest novelty pen collector in the world.[1][10] ## References 1. Zimmerman, Ann. ["The Trickster Behind the Magic Tricks"](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303936704576399621528829448). *The Wall Street Journal*. Retrieved 16 December 2013. 1. Kolawole, Emi. ["Math + magic = 'mathe-magician'?"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/math--magic--mathe-magician/2013/03/22/96214b60-9307-11e2-a31e-14700e2724e4_blog.html). *Washington Post*. Retrieved 16 December 2013. 1. ["SVA Alumnus Mark Setteducati Profiled by 'NY Daily News'"](http://www.sva.edu/feed-item/sva-alumnus-mark-setteducati-profiled-by-ny-daily-news). School of Visual Arts. Retrieved 16 December 2013. 1. Rubin, Adam (January 2011). ["This Is Not A Oen"](http://marksetteducati.com/?p=68). *Magic Magazine*. '***(January). Retrieved 16 December 2013.*** 1. Reyland, Mark. ["Inventing isn't Magic"](http://www.inventoropinion.com/inventing-isnt-magic/). The United Inventors Association of America. Retrieved 16 December 2013. 1. [About Gathering 4 Gardner Foundation](http://gathering4gardner.org/ABOUT.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160507111434/http://gathering4gardner.org/ABOUT.html) 2016-05-07 at the Wayback Machine 1. Morgan, Matt. ["Recreate Any Image in Jigsaw Puzzle Form With Ji Ga Zo"](https://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/02/recreate-any-image-in-jigsaw-puzzle-form-with-ji-ga-zo/). *Wired*. Retrieved 16 December 2013. 1. Haydn, Pop (18 May 2015). ["2015 Academy of Magical Arts Awards Show Winners!"](https://pophaydn.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/2015-academy-of-magical-arts-awards-show-winners/). *Pop's Soapbox*. Retrieved 23 October 2015. 1. Settembre, Jeanette (17 November 2013). ["Magician and inventor Mark Setteducati creates HolograFX, a magic set that lets kids project holograms"](http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/abracadabra-mark-setteducati-invents-holografx-article-1.1517735). *NY Daily News*. Retrieved 16 December 2013. 1. Rubin, Adam (January 2011). ["Mark Setteducati"](http://marksetteducati.com/?attachment_id=76). *Magic Magazine*. Retrieved 16 December 2013. ## External links - [Mark Setteducati](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/3488/mark-setteducati%20) at [BoardGameGeek](/source/BoardGameGeek) - [Creative Fellowship Award](https://www.facebook.com/MagicCastle/posts/10153312916044399) at [Magic Castle](/source/Magic_Castle) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mark Setteducati](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Setteducati) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Setteducati?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.