At a fairly young age, Olmedo Renteria “Olmedini El Mago” was already a star magician in Ecuador. He was a media darling and had his own TV show. He was often a juror for beauty contests and drove a sports car down the streets of Quito.
Sometimes Olmedini would fly to New York City to spend a few days shopping for fine suits, dancing with showgirls at the Palladium and checking out the latest magic tricks at Tannen’s on 34th St.
On one of those trips, Olmedini impulsively decided to stay in New York hoping to trade in his local stardom in Ecuador for international celebrity. However, the magician spoke no English nor had he saved up enough money to really hold out in a city like in New York for longer than a few months.
Soon he found himself performing magic on street corners and when the winter came along, he descended into the nether world of the subway, which became his moving stage and where he would remain for the next thirty years, entertaining countless New Yorkers with his art.
