4 ms·

Reminds me of a quote from Teller of Penn & Teller (the magicians). I can't find the reference at the moment, but the point is that much of the time, tricks are

Reminds me of a quote from Teller of Penn & Teller (the magicians). I can't find the reference at the moment, but the point is that much of the time, tricks are only mysterious because most people are unable to imagine that maybe you just spent 6 hours a day for a month getting ready for it.

mike 14y ago
Are you thinking of the quote from this article? http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Teller-Reveals-His-Secrets.html http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Teller-Reveals-Hi... "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."
adwf 14y ago
I read something similar in this interview: http://www.esquire.com/features/teller-magician-interview-1012 http://www.esquire.com/features/teller-magician-interview-10... "Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect"
- gliese1337 14y ago
  Yup, that's the one I was looking for. Thanks!
- kamaal 14y ago
  No wonder most successful people just look lucky to the masses. Because they achieve feats which can't be achieved with ordinary efforts. If you go by the normal effort, it isn't surprising successful people look lucky, just like magic.
adamnemecek 14y 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." [1] [1] http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Teller-Reveals-His-Secrets.html http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Teller-Reveals-Hi...
kamaal 14y ago
David Blane has a very interesting TED Talk on this, in which he shares how much preparation goes into doing some of his endurance tricks. At the end of the talk he actually breaks down. Its one of my best TED Talks, I watch it almost every week to remind that even the most magical thing is hardly magical when you look at the effort that goes behind it.
- andrewaylett 14y ago
  Linky: http://www.ted.com/talks/david_blaine_how_i_held_my_breath_for_17_min.html http://www.ted.com/talks/david_blaine_how_i_held_my_breath_f...

mike 14y ago

Are you thinking of the quote from this article? http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Teller-Reveals-His-Secrets.html http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Teller-Reveals-Hi... "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."

adwf 14y ago

I read something similar in this interview: http://www.esquire.com/features/teller-magician-interview-1012 http://www.esquire.com/features/teller-magician-interview-10... "Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect"

gliese1337 14y ago
Yup, that's the one I was looking for. Thanks!
kamaal 14y ago
No wonder most successful people just look lucky to the masses. Because they achieve feats which can't be achieved with ordinary efforts. If you go by the normal effort, it isn't surprising successful people look lucky, just like magic.

adamnemecek 14y 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." [1] [1] http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Teller-Reveals-His-Secrets.html http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Teller-Reveals-Hi...

kamaal 14y ago

David Blane has a very interesting TED Talk on this, in which he shares how much preparation goes into doing some of his endurance tricks. At the end of the talk he actually breaks down. Its one of my best TED Talks, I watch it almost every week to remind that even the most magical thing is hardly magical when you look at the effort that goes behind it.

andrewaylett 14y ago
Linky: http://www.ted.com/talks/david_blaine_how_i_held_my_breath_for_17_min.html http://www.ted.com/talks/david_blaine_how_i_held_my_breath_f...