#306: What a Magician Can Teach You About Being More Successful

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2017

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

My guest today is David Kwong. He’s a magician, New York Times crossword creator, and now author of the book "Spellbound: Seven Principles of Illusion to Captivate Audiences and Unlock the Secrets of Success. Today on the show, David and I discuss how several key principles from magic can be applied beyond the stage and make you more successful in business and life. We’ll learn what it means to “load up” in magic and how Richard Branson used that principle to start Virgin Airlines, and why storytelling is key for executing both a successful magic trick and a successful business. We also discuss how magicians plan for tricks gone awry and the lessons non-magicians can take from that preparation. We even get into the mutual admiration Theodore Roosevelt and Houdini had for each other and how Houdini personified Roosevelt's ideal of living "the strenuous life."

Transcript

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0:00.0	[♪ INTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪
0:13.9	[♪ INTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪
0:14.9	Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:18.1	Well, almost every boy goes through a magic phase at some point in his life.
0:21.9	I know when I was eight, I was convinced that I was going to be the next David Copperfield.
0:25.6	Besides walking away with some cool tricks to do at parties
0:28.6	where I've been pressured nieces and nephews with,
0:30.4	my guest today says your childhood magic phase can impart some important lessons
0:33.9	on being successful as an adult.
0:36.0	His name is David Kwan.
0:37.2	He's a magician, New York Times crossword creator, and author of the book Spellbound.
0:41.5	Today on the show, David and I discuss how several key principles from magic
0:44.3	can be applied beyond the stage and make you more successful in business and life.
0:48.2	We'll learn what it means to load up in magic and how Richard Branson used that
0:51.3	principle to start Virgin Airlines.
0:52.7	Why storytelling is key for executing both a successful magic trick and a successful business.
0:57.2	We also discuss how magicians plan for tricks gonna rye and the lessons
1:00.2	non-magicians can take from that preparation.
1:02.3	And we even get into the mutual admiration of Theodore Roosevelt and Houdini
1:05.6	that they had for each other and how Houdini personified Roosevelt's ideal
1:09.0	of living the strenuous life.
1:10.5	Really fun show packed lots of action will take away.
	...

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