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"Make the secret a lot more trouble than the trick seems worth. You will be fooled by a trick if it involves more time, money and practice than you (or any othe

by sedev 15y ago

"Make the secret a lot more trouble than the trick seems worth. You will be fooled by a trick if it involves more time, money and practice than you (or any other sane onlooker) would be willing to invest. My partner, Penn, and I once produced 500 live cockroaches from a top hat on the desk of talk-show host David Letterman. To prepare this took weeks. We hired an entomologist who provided slow-moving, camera-friendly cockroaches (the kind from under your stove don’t hang around for close-ups) and taught us to pick the bugs up without screaming like preadolescent girls. Then we built a secret compartment out of foam-core (one of the few materials cockroaches can’t cling to) and worked out a devious routine for sneaking the compartment into the hat. More trouble than the trick was worth? To you, probably. But not to magicians." Does anyone else see a strong isomorphism between that and the advice Seth Godin usually gives? It definitely seems like something an entrepreneur or marketer could learn from - like a way to delight people.

bostonvaulter2 15y ago
I do, in fact it reminds me of Apple's recent presentation to Gruber that was so well rehearsed even though the audience was a single person: http://daringfireball.net/2012/02/mountain_lion http://daringfireball.net/2012/02/mountain_lion
- wtn 15y ago
  I wish Apple would try half as hard fixing the bugs in the software they sell as they do pitching it.
  - wolf550e 15y ago
    They play to their strengths.
zecho 15y ago
There's a grave marker in Los Angeles for Penn and Teller with a 3 of Clubs on it. It's definitely one of their "make a trick a lot more trouble than it's worth" routines. The payoff is featured in one of their videos from the late 80s.
- sp332 15y ago
  They use the 3 of clubs in a lot of tricks, especially when they want to make it clear that they used a card force. Here it is on The Unpleasant World on Penn and Teller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JomTxDb_HfM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JomTxDb_HfM
- anothermachine 15y ago
  Cenotaph, not a grave marker (yet) It's a chapter in How to Play in Traffic: http://books.google.com/books/about/Penn_Teller_s_how_to_play_in_traffic.html?id=rAJWN5mVbWUC http://books.google.com/books/about/Penn_Teller_s_how_to_pla... Pic: http://www.ldphotography.net/Graves/Famous/P/slides/Penn%20and%20Teller.html http://www.ldphotography.net/Graves/Famous/P/slides/Penn%20a...

by sedev 15y ago

bostonvaulter2 15y ago

I do, in fact it reminds me of Apple's recent presentation to Gruber that was so well rehearsed even though the audience was a single person: http://daringfireball.net/2012/02/mountain_lion http://daringfireball.net/2012/02/mountain_lion

wtn 15y ago
I wish Apple would try half as hard fixing the bugs in the software they sell as they do pitching it.
- wolf550e 15y ago
  They play to their strengths.

zecho 15y ago

There's a grave marker in Los Angeles for Penn and Teller with a 3 of Clubs on it. It's definitely one of their "make a trick a lot more trouble than it's worth" routines. The payoff is featured in one of their videos from the late 80s.

sp332 15y ago
They use the 3 of clubs in a lot of tricks, especially when they want to make it clear that they used a card force. Here it is on The Unpleasant World on Penn and Teller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JomTxDb_HfM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JomTxDb_HfM
anothermachine 15y ago
Cenotaph, not a grave marker (yet) It's a chapter in How to Play in Traffic: http://books.google.com/books/about/Penn_Teller_s_how_to_play_in_traffic.html?id=rAJWN5mVbWUC http://books.google.com/books/about/Penn_Teller_s_how_to_pla... Pic: http://www.ldphotography.net/Graves/Famous/P/slides/Penn%20and%20Teller.html http://www.ldphotography.net/Graves/Famous/P/slides/Penn%20a...