Skip to content

Today will have nothing to do with money and everything with MAGIC

Personal finance is important but sometimes you just have to take a break, especially as many of us are self-isolating, and check out something new.

Here’s something new…

I love magic. My son and I have been voraciously watching Penn and Teller’s Masterclass and learning classic tricks like the French Drop. So much so that one of my wife’s favorite jokes now is to call everything the French Drop.

Small sleight of hand? “Is that the French Drop?”

The smell of pancakes in the morning? “Is that the French Drop?”

Knock at the door (which is rare now)? “Is that the French Drop?”

The only response she ever gets is our son’s groaning.

It’s only a matter of time before he discovers the most famous of magicians, Harry Houdini.

Harry Houdini and the Art of Escape [The New Yorker] – “Starting in San Francisco, in 1899, he often stripped naked in his handcuff routines. He was short but handsome, beautiful, even, with a wide brow, glittering dark eyes, and muscular arms, shoulders, and thighs. He would appear at some grim local jail or state prison, take off his clothes, and, to establish that he wasn’t hiding something on his person, undergo an intrusive inspection by a local medical examiner or police surgeon. He would then have himself locked in a cell, encumbered with shackles, and would emerge a short time later, holding them in his hand.”

How Magicians Trick Your Brain [Scientific American] – “They hijack its limited ability to deal with perceptual ambiguity.”

This lines up nicely with this next TED Talk which features one of my favorite pickpockets magicians. (I’ve shared an article about Apollo Robbins before)

Have a great day and don’t try any of these tricks on your loved ones. 🙂