Ava Do is a magician, mentalist, and deceptionist.
Ava grew up in Vietnam and moved to the US at the age of thirteen. As an immigrant trying to manage impressions from two different environments, she became fascinated with the subjects of perception and social psychology. After studying Psychobiology from UCLA and working as a crisis counselor, Ava has spent the last decade turning her academic background and real-world experience with human behavior into a unique style of entertainment.
Ava's performances are a combination of sleight-of-hand demonstrations and mind games to create psychological illusions also known as mentalism. While initially guests are drawn to the novelty of a female magician, they soon realize she has the expertise of a behaviorist and the charisma of a con-artist. Misdirected by her charm and beauty, audiences find themselves happily fooled by her delightful deceptions. Ava uses her craft to demonstrate how magic instantaneously manipulates the way our brains interpret reality. This modern approach of entertainment combines both mind-reading and the marvels of human behavior.
With a thorough knowledge of the subculture of deception practitioners - con-men, hackers, art forgers, etc.. Ava has been sought after as a consultant for popular films and television programs such as WB's Focus starring Will Smith & Margot Robbie, as well as Amazon's Sneaky Pete.
“A magician’s knowledge about built-in assumptions and tendencies can be our undoing. Population stereotypes—patterns of behavior—come into play in the mentalist tricks used by Ava Do. ”
Red Handed Media - In 2006, Ava and her partner Apollo Robbins, co-founded Red Handed Media: an entertainment agency that features an elite line-up of performers & specialists including theatrical thieves, a former art forger, hackers, renowned scientists and academics.
Ludus Development - founded by Apollo & Ava in 2012, Ludus is a training & consulting collective that utilizes transmedia and live event production to develop immersive training methodologies with a focus on experiential learning.