Back to TV Shows
The Carbonaro Effect
Overview
Michael Carbonaro is a magician by trade, but a prankster by heart. Michael performs baffling tricks on unsuspecting people in everyday situations, all caught on hidden camera. Everyone is left stunned and delighted, even though they have no idea what just hit them.
Status
Returning Series
Created By
Michael Carbonaro
Network
truTV
Seasons & Episodes
Season 1
Episodes
Got the Bug Out
Posing as a technician, Michael literally "gets the bug out" of a customer's phone and has him convinced it was in there all along.
A Problem with Chocolate Turtles and Seeds
Posing as a cashier, Michael makes a shopper's face appear on a milk carton and tries to convince her that she really is a missing person. Then, in a shipping store he has customers believing that impossible technology of the future has arrived, like a bowling ball that can be mailed in a flat box. Plus, he has a hotel guest questioning her identity when he swaps her ID, and stumps a valet when he does a disappearing act from his car.
A Waddle, a Scratch...
A duck fools thrift store shoppers; an endless chain of hangers; cheese corks in a liquor store; freezing wine; destroying and reconstructing art in a museum.
Just Smash It Out
Michael convinces car wash patrons that he broke their window, only to miraculously fix it with the push of a button. Then, dry cleaning customers are confused when Michael is suddenly wearing their clothes in the blink of an eye. Plus, pet shoppers see fish in a dry water bowl.
Out of Bounce
Too good to be true toys; Michael poses as a personal trainer who sweats a bucket-full; a disappearing car makes a security guard panic.
Don't Freeze Me
A light box turns heavy in a sporting goods store; Michael poses as a barista for a glass illusion; a boomerang in a museum; taxidermy mischief.
The Lizard Law
A lucky serpent at a Mexican restaurant; metal-melting salsa; a brown bag lunch that keeps on giving; the freshest frozen entrée ever; dead flowers revived.
It's a Makeshift
Never ending laundry soap; a human phonograph at the thrift store; a flipping punch bowl; a teleporting glass penguin.
Green Friendly
A shrinking wine bottle with a confounding cork; vanishing diamonds in a jewelry store; going green at the car wash.
Maybe it's the Echinacea?
Posing as a Pet Store employee, Michael sells customers on the novelty of pets that can hatch out of balloons and convinces a hotel valet that he can park a car without even sitting in the driver's seat.
Serious Déjà Vu
Posing as a bartender, Michael turns water into liquor and convinces a self-proclaimed experienced drinker that distillation is a lie.
An Elevated Ferret Alert
At a car wash, Michael uses a unique method to retrieve keys that were locked in a car, and horrifies a woman who does not want new furry friends.
Cause and Effect
In this special episode, Michael breaks the laws of physics with a multitude of tricks and then introduces new technologies to some very accepting patrons.
This is Not an Orange
Michael confuses variety store customers with products that have secret hideaways; astonishes camping store patrons with rafts that come in pill form; and convinces a woman that a tiny propeller enables human levitation.
Just During the Previews
Michael tests gravity when he floats the idea of astronaut snacks; his darkness-triggering popcorn and he astonishes an antique store employee with glass figurines that feel emotion and repair themselves.
In Case What?!
Michael stumps a delivery man when he pulls live crabs out of his Chinese food order.
A Faux Pas to Wear
Michael stuns shoppers with a remarkably advanced antique that self-tailors clothes and a chalkboard that solves mathematical equations.
Just a Milker
Michael fishes for trouble in a toy store with pop-up books that contain live animals and, at a health food store, he shows a woman how to milk almonds; a mummy causes an employee to question ancient curses.
Suburban Pimp
Michael gets spooky at an antique store with a vintage voodoo doll and, at a costume store, a Dorothy outfit comes complete with a little dog too.
Might Be Trippin'
Michael fills in for a karate instructor and interrupts the Zen of his students; a frog necklace that is so realistic; a clothing display that puts the "man" in mannequin.
An Awogami Is Ripe
Michael works at a camping store where his life-saving s'mores and pop-up coolers stun customers; a child safety pill bottle with built-in invisibility proves too complicated for adults; Michael adjusts the size of a model train.
Iguanasaurs
Michael shrinks into a leprechaun outfit; a museum employee makes the discovery of a lifetime when a preserved egg hatches a baby dinosaur.
3D Galastical Morphin Ranging Power Tents
Michael tries to pull a fast one on burger joint patrons with his inflatable hot dogs and his unusual technique for bagging buns, then he creeps out a flea market vendor when he brings an acrylic encased arachnid back to life.
Flash Melt
Michael hits the jackpot in a convenience store with a man who guesses the winning lotto numbers and amazes a mother at a toy store when he demonstrates her own child's genius abilities.
An Over-grooming Situation
Michael leaves a co-worker with a technologically confounding hose that wirelessly transmits water; Michael's puppy takes to the catwalk after dressing himself in the most fashionable canine attire.
Top Cast
Michael Carbonaro
Himself
