{"id":59139,"date":"2014-06-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-alumnus-mat-franco-to-showcase-magic-skills-on-americas-got-talent\/"},"modified":"2014-06-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-16T00:00:00","slug":"uri-alumnus-mat-franco-to-showcase-magic-skills-on-americas-got-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/06\/uri-alumnus-mat-franco-to-showcase-magic-skills-on-americas-got-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 alumnus Mat Franco to showcase magic skills on America\u2019s Got Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t UPDATE: Watch the Audition<\/a> that won Franco four “Yes” votes!<\/b><\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 16, 2014 \u2013 Millions of Americans will find out Tuesday night what thousands of 溏心vlog免费B站 and other college students already know \u2013 Mat Franco is a skilled and funny magician.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe Newport resident and 2010 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate will audition June 17 on America\u2019s Got Talent, which airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on WJAR, NBC 10.<\/p>\n


\n\tNamed 2013\u2019s Best Male Performer by Campus Activities Magazine, Franco has been wowing freshman orientation audiences at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Kingston Campus since he was a student. Most shows end with standing ovations. Franco, who grew up in Johnston, is performing a full slate of shows for this year\u2019s 溏心vlog免费B站 orientation program, which runs through the end of June.<\/p>\n


\n\tHe has won strong reviews for performances at hundreds of schools, including University of Florida, Kansas State University, University of Connecticut, University of North Carolina and California State University.<\/p>\n


\n\tFranco, who majored in marketing at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Business Administration, began performing when he was 4 years old.<\/p>\n


\n\tHis audition was taped in April before a live audience of about 3,000 people in the famed Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, where the Academy Awards were held.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI have performed before big audiences, but being in such an iconic place in front of so many people, was unbelievable,\u201d said Franco, who graduated from Johnston High School.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI am a live performer, so being in front of so many cameras was very different for me, and having a celebrity panel of judges front and center was pretty crazy. I had never done anything like that before.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nHe also enjoyed being back stage with all of the different acts, saying that \u201cit was wild, kind of kooky where you meet all different types of acts. You might meet a bearded lady, a 13-year-old comic and a singer. Imagine hanging out with them for a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nFranco\u2019s obsession with magic began when he was just a little boy and watched magic acts on TV. <\/p>\n


\n\tAt just 12 years old, after saving money from local shows, he traveled to Las Vegas to study and learn from some of magic\u2019s biggest names.<\/p>\n


\n\tA few years later, he was invited back to Las Vegas as a teenager, hired to perform at the Riviera Hotel and Casino as part of the Society of American Magicians National Convention.<\/p>\n


\n\tAlso a founder of Franco Talent, a specialty talent agency featuring the best college performers, he said his family has always been supportive, encouraging him to do what he loved.<\/p>\n


\n\tFranco said without 溏心vlog免费B站, his career never would have developed.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t have even been a possibility without the business education I received at 溏心vlog免费B站,\u201d Franco said. \u201cI had to learn the business side of things to maintain my magic habit. When I started, people learned about me through word of mouth, and I handed out business cards. But the marketing program at 溏心vlog免费B站 was just fantastic, and it gave me a perspective on things and where I could go as an entrepreneur.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tBut outside the classroom, he learned people skills.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI was a 溏心vlog免费B站 freshman orientation leader for two years, and then as a junior I was a program assistant. Then, as a senior, I was a student co-coordinator for the entire program. This was the most rewarding experience where I learned a lot about other people and myself.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nJayne Richmond, dean of 溏心vlog免费B站’s University College for Academic Success, which oversees freshman orientation, said Franco “understands the joys of college and speaks with the audience in a most authentic way. His humor is gentle and very contemporary. He also tells students about his own journey, working with former University College academic advisor Linda Lyons (now assistant dean) and together they figured out how to go from undecided to a business major with a strategy to incorporate his love of magic into a full-time career.” <\/p>\n


\nPhoto is courtesy of Mat Franco<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATE: Watch the Audition that won Franco four “Yes” votes! KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 16, 2014 \u2013 Millions of Americans will find out Tuesday night what thousands of 溏心vlog免费B站 and other college students already know \u2013 Mat Franco is a skilled and funny magician. The Newport resident and 2010 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}