The Unwritten Rules of Magic

EPISODE 111: Inside the illusion industry.

A couple weeks ago, in Washington, D.C., I found myself being tricked by a magician named David Kwong.

In this video, you can see David reading the mind of SportsCenter anchor Kevin Negandhi. (Kevin’s secret words, for the record: “Bryce Harper” and “throughout.”) But even more clearly, you can see the rest of us at the table freaking out:

If you’re a sports fan, you’ve seen stuff like this before. There’s currently a guy named Oz the Mentalist, for instance, who’s been blowing the minds of football locker rooms. Before that, David Blaine did the same.

But a huge reason I wanted to talk to David Kwong, in particular, is because he’s not like those guys — or most magicians.

David does not want you to believe that he has supernatural powers. He very openly admits, for instance, that he isn’t an actual mind-reader.

What he loves, instead, is the art of fooling people and solving puzzles. To the point where David is now the author of a forthcoming magic book (How To Fool Your Parents) and one of Hollywood’s go-to magic consultants: people who professionally help movies fool you.

Which is a very tricky business. You may recall the old saying that a magician never reveals his secrets. That’s in large part because magic is, well, a business. Which made me want to know how David gained access to such secrets, in the first place. How the illusion industry polices itself like Major League Baseball. And the apparently dangerous line being teaching and exposing.

DKN/YOUTUBE SPOILER ALERTS:

Effortfully,

Pablo