Masked Magician

Val Valentino
Valentino at an award ceremony
Born	Leonard Montano (1956-06-14) June 14, 1956 (age 61) Los Angeles, California, United States
Other names	Masked Magician, Mr M.
Occupation	Illusionist
Children	2

Val Valentino (born Leonard Montano) is an American illusionist perhaps most notable for secretly starring in a series of four television specials exposing the methods behind numerous classic magic tricks and illusions on the Fox network. In the specials, he used the stage name the Masked Magician and concealed his true identity by wearing a mask, being aware of the stigma amongst the magic community with publicly exposing tricks. As the finale to the final special, Valentino revealed his identity as the masked magician, garnering some notoriety amongst the magic community, and instigating several lawsuits.

Valentino became well known in Brazil after his sketches were broadcast in Rede Globo's Sunday newsmagazine show Fantástico from 1999 to 2000, in which he was referred by the alias Mr. M.

Valentino's first foray into magic was at the age of five with a trick called "the ball and vase" that his father gave him. In his teens, Valentino performed with the "International Cultural Awareness Program" for over a million students throughout the Unified School Systems. The performances also included revealing magic secrets to encourage others to become magicians. By the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s, Valentino had moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and was performing in casino shows including Viva Las Vegas and Splash, after having appeared on The Merv Griffin Show, as well as in the music video for Herb Alpert's "Magic Man".

For a span of two years (1997–1999), Valentino performed, unbilled and disguised, as the "Masked Magician" in four Fox Network television specials called Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed which exposed long-guarded trade secrets. The Masked Magician was also shown in the UK on the ITV network during the late 1990s and is still occasionally repeated on ITV4. In the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, the show can be seen on Netflix called "Breaking The Magicians Code".