Background
Setteducati was born in New York City, New York and grew up in Emerson, New Jersey.
Setteducati was born in New York City, New York and grew up in Emerson, New Jersey.
He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art and Design from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, New New York He later became a member of the faculty, where he created and taught the first ever toy and game design class, which allowed students to be able to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in Toy Design.
He is also an author, known for the book, The Magic Show, and featured on Public Broadcasting Service Inventors. From 1975 to 1980, Setteducati was the assistant to artist, Louise Bourgeois, and in 1992 he performed Magic in “She Lost it”, a performance piece by Bourgeois at the Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia. After working as an in-house designer for Astra Trading and teaching design at his alma mater, he decided to become a full-time independent inventor.
His first invention that he licensed was in 1981, Rubik Game, a game where you play tic-tac-toe on a Rubik’s Cube.
Later he developed and designed Rubik"s Illusion, which later would lead to a project with the Harry Potter franchise. Throughout his career, Setteducati developed and licensed puzzles and games to toy companies around the world.
In 1986, he designed a game travel version of the Wheel of Fortune game show, which went onto sell millions of copies, and as well as the travel versions of Jeopardy! and the Dating Game. A year later in 1987, he designed his first magic set with Harry Blackstone, Junior. that was produced by Pressman Toy Company.
In 1994, Setteducati created the "Magic Works" brand for Milton Bradley, an all-time best-selling line of magic tricks that are geared towards children.
Along with Tom Rodgers and Elwyn Berlekamp, Setteducati founded the bi-annual conference, Gathering 4 Gardner, in 1993. Released by Jumbo in 1994, Setteducati"s "Magic Showcase" offered performers instant acts. Setteducati co-created and invented Ji Georgia Zo with Ken Knowlton, a universal jigsaw puzzle system, debuted in Japan and in 2011, it started being distributed by Hasbro in the United States.
In 2013, Setteducati was featured on Public Broadcasting Service Digital Studio series, "Inventors", which is produced by David Friedman.
The Academy of Magical Arts awarded Setteducati the Creative Fellowship Award for 2014, and an honorary lifetime membership to The Magic Castle, Hollywood, California. In March 2012, he was appointed President of the educational non-profit corporation, Gathering 4 Gardner.
Setteducati has over ten thousand pens, he is the largest novelty pen collector in the world.