Matt "the Knife"
Matt the Knife on stage reading an audience member's mind.
Born	Boston, Massachusetts
Occupation	Mentalist, Magician, Speaker, Former Con artist, Comedian,Escapologist
Website
Matt The Knife.com YouTube Facebook

Not to be confused with Matt the Knife the WFTDA referee from Rainy City Roller Girls.
"Matt the Knife" (also called MTK) was born in Massachusetts and grew up in Boston, but now resides in Rhode Island. He is a magician and mentalist as well as the breaker of a multitude of Guinness World Records, but began his career as a professional con man.^[1][3][8][9]

From the ages of approximately 14 through 21, he worked as a con artist, operated a card-cheating ring, a shoplifting ring and a pick-pocketing ring which bilked dozens of casinos, corporations and even at least one Mafia family

Sometime around 2000 he began to adapt his talents from that of a criminal to the skills of a conjurer and slowly transitioned out of an illegal lifestyle over the next couple of years. Since then his magic has taken him on to perform in 17 countries across 4 continents (including television shows in the United States, China, Italy, Canada, the United Kingdom and several others)
He’s probably best known for his feats of mentalism but also often mixes sword swallowing, stunts, escapes, magic and his unique brand of humor in to his stage shows.

As of 2012 he's broken 12 Guinness records. They include records for things such as escapes, sword swallowing, fire manipulation, feats of strength, and card manipulation. He usually performs these stunts either for publicity or for the climax of his various television specials.

Since his transition from a grifter to a performer he has also gone on to be an anti-fraud expert. The stories from his early years along with tips on how to protect yourself, information about fraudulent activities, and demonstrations of many of these feats were put together for his keynote speaking engagements. The lecture has been featured at theaters, colleges and corporate events.^[1][2][7][8]

In 2003 he founded a consulting firm that specializes in the prevention of fraud and cheating within the gaming industry and their personnel, corporations, security & police forces, as well as the film, literary, theatrical and television industries to create realistic characters and help develop more accurate depictions of topics involving criminal activity, the occult, the allied arts, the magical arts and mentalism.
Some time later he began to occasionally present a different style show than what he'd become known for, a séance based performance entitled "Epitaph". It debuted in Rhode Island and it has toured in several major cities including Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC and New Orleans.
But in spite of his claims that it was only intended for entertainment it has come under fire by some religious groups in the US.^[1][22]
Matt The Knife has been featured in The New York Post,^[19] The New York Times, ESPN Magazine, Philadelphia City Paper,^[2] PLAY Magazine,^[8] The "METRO" Paper, Road King Magazine, Escape Masters Magazine, Amusement Business Magazine,^[14] and The Wall Street Journal; as well as being on The Discovery Channel,^[11] NBC,Ripley's Believe It or Not!, CNN, The History Channel, National Geographic Channel, Adult Swim on The Cartoon Network, Guinness World Records, Sirius Satellite Radio,^[1] CCTV (China), Rai Tre^[10] (Italy) and The BBC (United Kingdom).