In September 2014, I received an email After the show, I shared my doubts with

By Joshua Jay from Dr. Lisa Grimm, who asked me to Dr. Grimm about some of the fundamental
perform magic and speak in her college “truths” in magic that I had become skeptical
classroom. Dr. Grimm is a researcher and about. How much do people care about the
Professor of Psychology at The College of secrets? What makes for strong magic? Are
New Jersey, where she also conducts research people really as fooled as we think they are? I
As magicians, we deceive our on human cognition. She wanted an insider’s had dozens of questions. While she didn’t know
audiences. But are we deceiving perspective from a magician. She believes — the answers, she had a path to finding them:
ourselves? Are there things — big correctly, I think — that magicians have a lot statistics, experimentation, and analysis.
things — that we get wrong about to offer the field of psychology, and vice ver- Our collaboration began in January 2015
our craft? And more importantly, are sa. It sounded like a fun gig, so I booked it. and continues today. In partnership with Dr.
there things our audiences can tell I opened with some magic, then spoke to Grimm and The College of New Jersey, we
us that we aren’t asking? the group. I always use the same talking points have designed experiments to gather quan-
The answers, it turns out, are for speaking engagements: the basics of misdi- titative and qualitative data on the topics of
“yes” and “hell yes.” rection, and why magic is important. I spoke to magic, magicians, and deception.
“Magic by the Numbers” is a students about why people love magic and why “Magic by the Numbers” uncovered
new research study about magic, and they are fooled by it. I explained that audienc- enough information to fill a book. But what
I’m proud to be a part of it. The goal es, as Jerry Andrus put it, come to the wrong exactly did we find?
of “Magic by the Numbers” is to get conclusions for the right reasons. Some of our findings revisited what we
into the minds of people who watch But as I spoke, I could feel an existential thought we had right, like whether women
magic. Magicians have written plenty crisis coming on. I was sharing these thoughts like magic more than men (they do) or what
about what they propose makes for because I believed them, and my beliefs were the most commonly thought-of cards are (red
good magic. But what do audiences confirmed by everything I have read or been Threes). When people close their eyes and
really look for in a magic effect? told by wiser magicians. But where did they think of a magician, what kind of person do
To find out, I collaborated with a get their information? Could they be partly they picture?
major academic institution and an or entirely wrong? What if we magicians are We also tested things that, until now,
accomplished team of psychologists the ones making inaccurate assumptions — magicians have only guessed at. For example,
and scientists. And it all started with jumping to conclusions about our audiences? when participants view the exact same clip
a phone call from a stranger. What matters in a magic trick? Do we of an effect, enjoyment is higher when the
understand magic as well as we think we do? performer is introduced with accolades —
Suddenly, in front of 100 students, I was awards, TV credits, high fees, etc. Did you
filled with doubt about the very subject on get that? The same clip is enjoyed 52 percent
which I was supposed to be an expert. So more if people think they’re watching some-
I did what any magician would have done: one great. An ounce of reputation is worth a
more card tricks. pound of presentation.
01 MAGIC • SE P T E MBE R 20 1 6
 Who Did We Study?
To me, what makes “Magic by the Numbers” particularly
helpful is the perspective. There have been numerous recent studies
involving magicians, but the perspective (and the intent) has been
different. Previous studies on magic have always been conducted by
scientists — from the outside looking in. But without a magician’s
perspective, I have always found their findings underwhelming.
I am not aware of a single systematic study conducted for the
magic community. Until now. Here, we are examining magic with the
specific intention of learning how to better deceive and entertain our
audiences. It’s an insider’s look inward.
“Magic by the Numbers” is a comprehensive study designed by
myself, Dr. Lisa Grimm, and her research team, led by Nick Spanola
at The College of New Jersey. The study involved 526 participants:
482 from the United States and 44 from Europe, Latin America, and
Asia. The ages ranged from 18 to 80; the average age of the people
we tested is 30.8. We were unable to include children in our study,
even though young audiences are a particularly important segment of
We tested the effects of scale and prox- the population. Most participants were paid to complete the survey,
imity on magic. Do people prefer you to making this the only scenario I’m aware of in which magicians paid
vanish a helicopter on a far-off stage or to the audience to watch magic.
vanish a coin right under their noses? (Scale My background is in writing, not science, so I initially was con-
matters more to most people than proxim- cerned that 526 people was not a large enough sample size. However,
ity.) Is it stronger, in the audience’s mind, Dr. Grimm correctly points out that most studies of this nature use
to vanish, change, or produce something? fewer than 200 participants.
(Changes test strongest.) What kind of trick Here is how the process worked: in conversations with Dr. Grimm,
is least memorable to audiences? (Card I outlined questions or areas I wanted to test. With her research
magic, sadly.) team — and a big nod to Dr. Grimm’s assistant, Nick Spanola — Dr.
Audiences of different backgrounds have Grimm formulated ways to test for answers that eliminated bias.
different tastes, and we tested for this, too. Controls were used when possible, and A/B formats were often used
A person’s gender, age, and even religious to compare one result to another.
background affect how much they like Much of the magic shown to participants was clips of my perfor-
magic, and what kind of magic they like mances or tricks that we video recorded in a studio. We also used
best. We’ll explore the baggage our audi- several well-known magic clips from other magicians. We chose clips
ences bring to a magic show, and what we with a history of high click rates and good reviews, to ensure we
can learn from this. showed magic that resonates with the public.
At the core of our study is the shocking (Note that on the subject of gender and accolades, the sample size
revelation that what people like most and was slightly smaller and was tested later in our study.)
least about magic is not what you might
expect. In all, we tested for 54 questions I
developed with Dr. Grimm and her research
team. Some of the answers confirm what
magicians have known for years, and in these Special thanks to the following people, who offered their assistance with
cases, we now have evidence for our claims. the article and the analysis. Simon Aronson, Kent Axell, Eli Bosnick, Rod
But in an alarming number of cases, what Doiron, Andi Gladwin, Harrison Greenbaum, Anna Jay, Raj Madhok,
we’ve been taught is dead wrong. Mike Vance, Ken Weber, and Gabriel Zucker. Thanks also to Dr. Lisa
I’ll take you through our findings one Grimm’s research team at The College of New Jersey: Heather Bruett,
topic at a time and, wherever possible, I’ll Jess Cassera, Rachel Dickler, Andrew Edelblum, Danny Gallagher, Erin
offer some analysis on how we might use Largey, Stephanie Mallinas, Alexa Nagasue, Adam Oppenheimer, Kaly-
this information. These answers are tools for ani Parwatkar, Christian Sabella, Nick Spanola, and Tom Weiss.
entertaining the public, so a good place to
start is by asking the public what entertains
them.
M AGIC • SEPTEM B ER 2 0 1 6 02
 How Much Do People Like Magic?
We started out by asking people to rank 81% See a film
their interest in a range of entertainment.
And much like studies that found that pizza
is addictive or that people buy more food 70% Go to a concer t
when it’s cheaper (both real studies), we
found exactly what we expected: people 65% See a comedian
would rather see a movie, go to a concert, or
enjoy a comedian than see a magician live.
We also wanted to determine whether the 59% See a magician live
environment played a role in the enjoyment
of magic, so we tested for both seeing a magi- 54% Go to a par ty
cian live and watching magic on television.

45% Attend a play

Here are the results, ranking
people’s enthusiasm for each 31% Watch a magician on television
type of entertainment:
3.6% Go to the dentist
But wait, you’re thinking, this doesn’t
take into account who is doing the magic. A they see your show. And how someone feels the people who are performing it.
great performance of magic can change some- about magicians does affect how that person I was also glad to see people would rather
one’s perceptions of magicians forever. will enjoy your show. In other words, this watch magic on TV than visit the dentist.
That’s true, but that’s not what we’re test- data matters to all of us. Had we found the opposite result, I would
ing. Here, we are only interested in a person’s Right off the bat, we’re confronted with have to quit this study, quit magic, and learn
preconceived notions of magic. Seeing a great the unwelcome fact that most people would how to fill cavities. Thanks, percentages.
magician can be much more enjoyable than a much rather watch a film than see magic. Many of us lament the difficulty of
bad film or a lame party, but we’re trying to Magic ranks just fourth on this list of prefer- performing live when we’re competing with
get into the headspace of people before the ences, and seventh if the magic is on televi- over-the-top (read: stooged) online magic.
show starts. You might be the best (or worst) sion. On the bright side, people like magic But we can take comfort in the fact that by
magician on Earth, but that won’t change more than they like parties. This means that a significant margin, people would rather
how your audience feels about magic before people enjoying magic are just as antisocial as watch magic performed live than on a screen.

Where Are People Seeing Magic?

If it’s not live magic people are watching, where are people viewing whether people would rather watch a supermarket prank, a magic
their magic? Unsurprisingly, it’s the Internet. Justin Flom, Lu Chen, levitation, a record-setting fast car, or rare footage of a snow leopard.
and Rick Lax have garnered tens of millions of hits with viral magic We didn’t ask them about porn, mostly because we knew it would
tricks that get bounced around the world; even my grandma forward- win singlehandedly. (You decide whether or not the pun was intended.)
ed me the clip of Dan Zaleski doing magic for an orangutan. Accord- These results are encouraging. Magic beats everything except the
ing to iTricks.com, this was the most viewed magician clip in 2015, prank video, and it’s a very close second. This does not mean that
with fifteen million views and counting. Many of us have performed most people enjoy humor more than magic, but merely that most
for thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people, but you people think they would enjoy humor more than magic. More testing
would have reached more humans if you uploaded a performance for is required, and it’s something I would very much like to explore.
just one ape.
How does magic rank in terms of watching clips on YouTube? Analysis: Magic fares well in online
First, we analyzed the kinds of videos that get the most views, and
we determined that pranks, technological marvels (robots, car crash- viewing, but not as well as the promise of
es, fast planes, etc.), and animal videos fared the best. So we asked something funny.
03 MAGIC • SE P T E MBE R 201 6
 What Do People Love (and Hate) ?
We now come to the centerpiece of the subtle but important distinction between en- With some classics, there is no surprise:
study, the part that I was most curious aboutjoying not knowing and enjoying the thrill of think of the Linking Rings or Coins through
before the study and most surprised about af-“solving” a magic trick, which is the focus of Table. Amazing? Yes. Surprising? Not so much.
terward. What do you like best about magic Dr. Grimm’s current research.) Showmanship This result yields two findings. First, tricks
shows? And the dreaded she’s-just-not-that- was what six percent enjoyed most, and six that inherently lack surprise can generally be
into-you follow-up, What do you like least percent named “skill” as their favorite aspect. improved by adding something unexpected.
about magic shows? But none of these important qualities was Second — and perhaps most importantly —
This was the most challenging data to the most popular aspect of a magic show. tricks that audiences have seen so many times
analyze because it wasn’t a multiple-choice Any idea what is? that they are no longer surprising should be
question; instead, it’s an open response. We Surprise! Twenty-five percent of people, in avoided. The Zombie Ball and Sawing a Lady
wanted each participant to speak freely and their own words, like the element of surprise in Half used to be surprising to the audi-
without limitation. We didn’t want them to best. People of all backgrounds, genders, and ences that first witnessed them, but as these
choose from a list of five options or emo- ages valued surprise more than they valued routines descend into cliché, they lose the
tions, but rather to let them unload their being amazed. element of surprise that our audiences crave
thoughts to us without constraint. This revelation has caused me to reevalu- so much.
We wanted to know if most people ate my magic. It made me reflect on the tricks The study didn’t test whether any effect
associated positive or negative emotions withI do in terms of where and how often I offer is strong or weak, and I don’t think we
watching live magic. The result was over- my audiences genuine surprise. The answer, should conclude that a magician should
whelmingly positive. Most people approach for most of us, is not enough. only perform tricks with surprise. But if
live magic with a positive mindset and mostly I predicted people would be drawn to your show consists of Torn & Restored
positive past experiences. So far, so good. danger or large props or comedy. I thought, Newspaper, the Zombie Ball, and Sawing
Better still, when we asked people what they to a lesser extent, people loved visual effects a Lady in Half, you are depriving your au-
like least about magic, the most common and the use of borrowed objects, but even dience of what they want most: something
answer was simply, “Nothing.” when presented with these ideas, people they didn’t see coming.
What people enjoy most about magic gravitated more strongly toward surprise, Some performers deal with this by turning
shows was a variety of the things we would or as many put it, “Not knowing what will these clichés on their head, finding ways to sur-
expect: seventeen percent just wanted to be happen next.” prise us within the context of what we’ve come
“amazed,” and fourteen percent similarly The idea that audiences expect a surprise to expect. For example, in Penn & Teller’s
liked the mystery of magic best. Twelve per- is paradoxical, since surprise is the one version of Sawing a Lady in Half, they attempt
cent liked not knowing how the effects were emotion that must, by definition, be unex- to explain the method many already suspect,
done, and ten percent liked trying to figure pected. Much like viewers go to scary movies and end by inadvertently sawing through the
out how the effects were done. (There is a expecting to be shocked, we have found, con- woman’s “actual” midsection, ending with
clusively, that a majority blood and guts scattered around the stage. The
of people watching magic ending certainly comes as a surprise.
expect the unexpected. As Now the bad news. What people dislike
playwright William Gold- about magic shows is equally unexpected
man wrote, “You must and almost unanimous in our study. People
surprise an audience in an dislike when magicians do the same tricks.
expected way.” They used phrases like “cliché,” “repetitive,”
How each person and “old tricks.”
defines surprise is slightly I was convinced that what people would
36% 32.5% different, of course. But dislike about magic shows was the magician.
Supermarket Levitation people’s answers tend to I figured most people would find magicians
Prank Video support the idea that a sur- unfunny and unlikeable (and some did), or
prise occurs when a plot that they would find most magic presenta-
twists unexpectedly. When tions dorky and outdated, even cheesy (you
12% 18.1% you lift the cup, there is
a live chick. When you
know who you are, fedora-and-suspenders
guy). But given the opportunity, few people
Record-Setting Snow whisk away the handker- expressed these sorts of things. Thirty-four
Automotive Leopard chief, a bottle has ap- percent (which was the most popular re-
peared. You shuffle a pack sponse) were concerned about the repetitive
1.4% No Response of cards and then, without nature of a magician’s material.
warning, throw it into the This casts a shadow over a sacred tenet
air — and the chosen card of magic: “Do the classics.” “The classics
sticks to the ceiling. are classics for a reason,” and “you can’t go
M AGIC • SEPTEM B ER 2 0 1 6 04
wrong with the classics” — as it turns out,
maybe you can go wrong with the classics.
That doesn’t mean everyone on Earth
hates the Linking Rings. There may be people
who love Linking Rings and will seek out
any performance of it. (And if you find that
person attractive and you’re into that kind of
6%   6%  
thing, marry her. Or him.) There will always
34%  
be exceptions, and you might even be the 14%   Performing "old" tricks
exception. The key here is to keep in mind Arrogant or cheesy performance style
that this data suggests what a majority feels Knowing how a trick was done
about various issues in magic, not how we 16%  
Not knowing how a trick was done
think they should feel. 24%   Magic is boring
We can also make a tentative connection
between what people like best and least Did not respond
about magic. Most people like surprise best
and they dislike repetition most. By adding
more surprises into our work, we automati-
cally minimize what sixteen percent of people
said they detest most about magic: knowing
what happens next.
The undeniable truth revealed here is that The data suggests that we should perform “Be original” is an obvious point, but one we
most people dislike the idea of seeing magic material unknown to our audiences, or find can, for the first time, back up with empirical
effects they think they have already seen. ways to frame classic material in a new way. data.

Can I Get A Volunteer?

Do people love participating in magic Mentalists rejoice — mindreading Why is this? The data doesn’t point to any
shows? Or do they despise being put on was the most popular choice by far. Fifty definitive answers. My guess is that min-
the spot? I was curious about this because percent of everyone surveyed wanted to see dreading is the only subgenre in which the
a better understanding of a spectator’s true mentalism over cards, coins, or illusions. participant’s experience is radically different
feelings about participation could change Illusions were the second, cards third and, from observer’s experience. Watching some-
the way we look at choosing and using sadly, just three percent of the public pre- one’s mind being read sounds far less enticing
volunteers. ferred coin magic. than having your mind read.
The answer, as you might expect, is all No matter what response people selected, What kind of people enjoy mindread-
over the place. But the trend is clear: 67 they were then asked whether they would ing most? They are people who are least
percent were very excited about assisting and prefer to observe the trick or to be a partic- interested in watching magic on television
16 percent were mortified by the idea. (Sev- ipant. The goal here is to find out not only and who are least impressed with big props.
enteen percent were indifferent.) The more what kind of magic people prefer, but also Instead, people who prefer mindreading (and
people have seen magic, the more likely they whether certain genres elicit different desires volunteering) prefer proximity. They want to
are to want to help. Incidentally, people who in terms of participation. be close, and they want to experience it for
identify as religious are more likely to want The news gets better for mentalists. People themselves.
to help. They are also more likely to enjoy who like mindreading also overwhelmingly Confidence plays a role, as well. People
your material and to believe that what you enjoy participating. Of those who prefer to who identified themselves as “self-confi-
are doing is real. watch mentalism, twice as many wanted to dent” were eleven percent more likely to
Not everyone wants to help us, but there participate than observe. Contrast this with want to help, and self-confidence is associ-
are plenty of those who do. The moral of this card magic. Of those who love card magic, ated with a higher enjoyment of magic in
story? When looking for volunteers, just ask. just 27 percent wanted to help, while 73 general.
This is the next question we gave to par- percent preferred to watch. In fact, with all If you wish to entice more people to vol-
ticipants: Imagine a magician approaches you other genres of magic, people preferred to unteer, you might consider asking for assis-
right now and offers to show you a trick. What observe rather than help. The only genre tance with a feat of mindreading, or arrange
would you rather see: a card trick, a coin trick, people actively wanted to be involved with is your show so that the participation is focused
a large-scale illusion, or mindreading? mindreading. on the subject of mentalism.
05 MAGIC • SE P T E MBE R 20 1 6
 Think of a...
The next section will be of particular in- the group was asked a control question
Gender
terest to mentalists and close-up performers. (“Please think of any card”), and the other
We asked people to imagine things: favorite half was asked the same question in a slightly
food, any number, any symbol, any playing different way (“Please think of any card, Because we have demographic
card, any color. The images and choices were but not something obvious, like the Ace of information on every participant,
randomized to eliminate as much bias as Spades or the Queen of Hearts”). we are able to revisit our data and
possible, and in many cases participants were This added element, asking them not to test for things like religiosity, age,
invited to write in their answers. think of “something obvious like the Ace or the and gender.
Of the five ESP symbols (Circle, Plus, Queen,” made the data much more predictable. The most useful demographic
Wavy Lines, Square, Star), 37.6 percent chose When you add this phrasing, people thought of discovery is that, in general, women
the Star, and 31.2 percent chose Wavy Lines. a red card nearly seventy percent of the time. enjoy magic more than men.
(Circle was the next most popular, with 12.5 The list of thought-of cards also changed:
percent, followed by Plus with 10.5 percent, 100%  

and lastly Square, which was chosen by just Two of Diamonds 90%   88% 84% 80% 86%
80%  
6.5 percent of the people.) Three of Diamonds 70%  
70% 68%
Three of Clubs 60%  
Men  
Three of Hearts 50%  
40%   Women  
Four of Diamonds 30%  

Seven of Diamonds 20%  

10%  
Seven of Hearts 0%  
Watch
Watch    Comedian   Watch
a aComedian Watch  aa  FFilm
ilm   Watch
Watch  aa  MMagician
agician  

13% 11% 31% 7% 38% This is called semantic framing. The concept
is that different words give us different percep- Part of understanding a person’s
Now to playing cards, which are the tions of events. In this case, if you say to a spec- beliefs in magic is understanding a
results in this section I looked forward to the tator “Think of any card, but not something person’s beliefs outside of magic.
most. If we can gain some simple insight into obvious like the Ace of Spades or the Queen of We asked all participants a series of
which cards most people think of, we can put Hearts,” you can follow it up by making sever- fundamental questions about belief.
this secret advantage to use in a number of al statements with relative confidence: “You’re
useful ways. thinking of a red card. And it’s a spot card. A 24 percent of men and 41
When asked to think of any playing card, Diamond. The Two of Diamonds.” As before, percent of women identify
these are the results: Hearts came in first (36 I don’t suggest you rely on these numbers as themselves as “religious.”
percent), followed by Diamonds (24 percent), an effect, but it’s valuable to know how most
and Clubs and Spades (each at 18 percent). people will think before even they know. 44 percent of men and 72
The most commonly thought-of card was the Here’s another example of semantic fram- percent of women report
Queen of Hearts, followed by Ace of Spades, ing. When asked to think of any color, it’s believing in God.
Seven of Hearts, and Two Hearts. very hard to discern in advance what people
are going to think of. But if you say, “Think Is it possible for humans to
of any color, such as green or yellow,” one “read” the minds of other humans?
color emerges as a clear favorite. Blue was 12 percent of men surveyed believe
18% 36% chosen 33 percent of the time. When blue mindreading is possible, while 10.4
wasn’t chosen, purple and red were the next percent of women surveyed believe
likely favorites. By giving the examples of it is possible.
green and yellow, you effectively eliminate Can people communicate with
those choices, and at the same time cause the dead? Only 12 percent of men
people to choose a color that contrasts surveyed believe so, but 34.3 percent
greatly with your examples. Similarly, if you of women surveyed believe commu-
24% 18% ask someone not to think of an obvious nication with the dead is possible.
card like the Ace of Spades or the Queen Is it possible for humans to do
of Hearts, note that this phrasing effec- “real” magic? 12 percent of men
tively eliminates any Ace or Queen from surveyed believe real magic is pos-
Interesting, I think, but not that useful. being chosen, and it pushes people toward sible, and 14.2 percent of women
But if we change a tiny aspect of how we ask selecting a low-value Diamond. People are surveyed believe it.
the question, we can drastically affect the sensitive to our phrasing; they react to it,
results and learn something useful. and in ways that they might not be aware
We conducted an A/B test in which half of or fully understand.
M AGIC • SEPTEM B ER 2 0 1 6 06
 How Do They Really Feel?
We already explored people’s existing people perceive someone as having virtuosic We tested for different accolades in each
feelings about magic, then took a brief detour skill, would they appreciate and enjoy the clip. Audiences are most impressed by television
into what cards and colors and symbols show more? performances. The other accolades are appre-
people are most likely to think of. So far, our In the case of Ben Earl’s video, partici- ciated about the same. However, magicians in-
study has been concerned with preconceived pants did enjoy the clip more if they were troduced with some kind of accolade (anything
notions of magic. Now we dive into what told in advance that what he was doing was at all impressive) were more deeply appreciated.
aspects of magic people enjoy most after they extremely difficult. They attributed to Ben The takeaway here is that introductions
see it. What do they remember most? What more skill, surprise, complexity, and enjoy- matter. As a convention organizer, I’ve intro-
do they forget? Are they as fooled as we ment when they perceived his talent to be duced many magicians. When I ask how they
think they are? world class. Eighty-five percent of those who would like to be introduced, the majority of
The first experiment we did concerned the thought what they were seeing was difficult performers say things like, “Whatever you
framing of magic performances. It was anoth- wanted to see Ben perform more material. want,” or “Just keep it short,” or “It doesn’t
er A/B test; we divided the population into Only 33 percent of those who were told matter.” If you care about how deeply your
two testing groups. Both groups were shown nothing about Ben’s skill wanted to see more audience appreciates you, it does matter.
the same video: Shawn Farquhar’s FISM-win- material. Quick caveat: This isn’t a license to invent
ning routine, “Shape of My Heart.” The first Certain accolades matter more than credits, just encouragement to use the ones
group was simply asked to watch the video. others, it turns out. What is more impressive you’ve already earned. Sure, you were in the
They weren’t told anything specific about to an audience: great skill, performing on audience for a taping of The Tonight Show.
Shawn or his effect. The second group was television, winning awards, performing for That doesn’t mean you were on The Tonight
told that they were about to watch the World celebrities, or being expensive? Show.
Champion in Sleight-of-Hand Magic perform
the routine that helped him win magic’s
highest honor. Everyone from each group was
then asked to rate their enjoyment of the clip, 6.2  

and to talk about their experiences. 6  

Were people more amazed when they Ben Earl
thought the magician was a world champion? 5.8  

Do accolades matter? 5.6   Has Performed

Yes and no. Shockingly, there was very on National TV: 6.1
5.4  
little difference in how much people en- Is Series1  
Expensive: 5.8
joyed Shawn’s magic. Those who knew his 5.2  
Possesses Great Skill: 5.3
background enjoyed it about the same as 5  
those who didn’t. But that’s not the full story. No Accolades: 5.1
Those who knew his accolades attributed him 4.8  

more credit and skill than those who didn’t. 4.6  

No  Accolades  Stated   Possesses  Great  Skill   Is  Expensive   Has  Performed  on  
People were nearly four times more likely to NaAonal  TV  

click to see more magic from Shawn if they

were presented with his credentials. The
accolades led to a deeper appreciation.
We did a similar A/B experiment with 6  

Benjamin Earl’s fantastic Fool Us video. In

the video, he locates four Aces from a shuf- 5.8  
Shawn Farquhar
fled deck, each in an increasingly impossible 5.6  
way. Group A was shown the video without Performed for
any introduction. Group B read this before 5.4   Celebrities: 5.8
watching: “The following magic trick is Preselected
Series1   by Others: 5.8
performed by magician Ben Earl, one of the 5.2  

finest sleight-of-hand artists in the world. He Has Won Awards: 5.3

is one of only four magicians with the skill 5  
No Accolades: 5.1
required to perform this effect perfectly.” 4.8  
With Shawn Farquhar’s video, we were
testing whether peer selection affected peo- 4.6  
No  Accolades  Stated   Has  Won  Awards   Preselected  by  Others   Performed  for  CelebriAes  
ple’s enjoyment. In other words, if other peo-
ple think this guy is good, he must be good.
With Ben Earl’s video, we tested for skill. If
07 MAGIC • SE P T E MBE R 201 6
 Money Magic
The way magicians and tricks are framed matters, as we have dollars. How did “paying” to watch magic affect the enjoyment?
just explored with accolades and introductions. Next, we wanted to There are two notable results here. The overarching conclusion is that
explore the perceived “value” of a magical experience. people most enjoyed the magic when it was free. No shock there. They
To test this, we divided our participants into four groups. The first were most impressed, attributed the greatest complexity, and were most
group was told to imagine that they encountered a magician on a surprised by the (same) trick when they didn’t have to pay for it.
boardwalk, who performed a trick (which was then shown via video). But it’s also worth noting that of those who “paid” to watch mag-
The other three groups were told the same thing, but they were asked ic, paying more means enjoying more. Those who paid twenty or fifty
to imagine that they paid to watch the magician. Some were told to dollars enjoyed the same trick more than those who paid only five
imagine the fee was five dollars, others twenty dollars, and others fifty dollars. The perception of value is a powerful illusion.

Forgettable Card Tricks

Card tricks are my life. I make my living more stage magic trends abroad. US-based open a lemon and took out a playing card.”
with card tricks. And when I’m not per- participants often referred to effects they had When another element is involved, such
forming card tricks, there is nothing I would seen on television from David Blaine, Ameri- as writing on a card and then changing the
rather be doing than working on a new one. ca’s Got Talent, and Penn & Teller: Fool Us. writing, the recall of the trick’s plot improved
Imagine my disappointment, then, when People also enjoyed tricks with animals. tremendously. We surmise that when people
our study showed that card tricks are the Card tricks were frequently named but no longer categorize an effect as a “card
least memorable genre of magic across all almost never described in any detail. This trick,” they can more easily differentiate it in
ages and nationalities. It boils down to this was so alarming to us that we added a ques- their minds. Also, plots involving cards and
heartbreaker of a statement: If you want your tion to the experiment, asking participants other objects are often easy to describe in one
audience to forget the specifics of what you to specifically describe a card effect they had sentence and are often more memorable than
do in your show, you should do card tricks. seen. Even when prompted, only 27 percent card-only effects. There appears to be a weird
But the news isn’t all bad. People often of participants could describe any card trick but important distinction for people between
liked the card magic they saw. They simply with specificity. The most common response “card tricks” and “tricks with cards.”
couldn’t describe it in any detail. More on was to simply list “tricks with cards.” This conclusion has been extremely hard
this in a minute. What does this mean? It means that to for me to accept, because of my love for card
To test an audience’s recall on magic, most people, card tricks are, categorically magic and my dedication to the genre. But
we asked people to describe magic effects speaking, hard to tell apart. I dislike country facts are facts, and if I’m honest with myself,
they have seen and, separately, their favorite music, so when I hear anything
magic trick. This data is useful because it with a honky-tonk banjo riff — re-
allows us to discern the tricks that stay with gardless of who is singing or tem- Card tricks were frequently
people, even years after they have seen them. po or subject — the only thing I named but almost never
We can see the qualities of tricks that are hear is “country music.” For most
remembered best, and whether we can learn participants, any trick with a pack
described in any detail.
anything about how to make our own magic of cards is just a card trick. And
more memorable. And, if people haven’t seen with a reasonable time lapse, most people my own experiences mirror the data we
much magic before, we can see how they re- will be unable to recall how many cards were found: people do find the intricate plots of
member tricks we showed them earlier in the picked, how you found the card, whether you card magic hard to recall, and tricks that use
survey. A person’s memory of a performance separated the cards by color, or whether you cards and other objects are usually stronger
is, arguably, more important than their feel- dealt yourself four Aces. than pure card magic.
ings during a magic show. Magic shows last There is an exciting exception to this rule. But if you love cards as I do, take solace
an hour. Memories are forever. Most people’s recall for card tricks improved in this important revelation. When asked
People universally remember effects that markedly when another prop or element to name their favorite trick, about twenty
are easy to describe and understand. “He was involved. People recalled card effects percent of people did mention card magic,
made a girl float.” “He told me the day I was best when there was another prop to anchor despite being unable to describe it. Which
born.” “He made a tiger appear from a box.” the memory: “He threw the cards into the prompts the unanswerable question, “If they
Internationally, people remembered larger air and one stuck to the ceiling.” “A card enjoy what you do, does it matter if they
illusions best, which could be attributed to I picked ended up in my pocket.” “He cut remember specifics?”
M AGIC • SEPTEM B ER 2 0 1 6 08
 How Did They Do It?
For centuries, magicians have worried quality in a spectator. We even tend to blame and complexity to the floating lady illusion
about audiences finding out how their tricks ourselves if a spectator seems frustrated when (finally, some good news for the box push-
are done. It turns out that audiences don’t they can’t figure out how a trick is done. ers). Scale, in this case, does matter.
care nearly as much as we think they do. We’ve all heard the phrase “It’s not fun to People also opted to rewatch the stage il-
We showed our group a video of an ap- be fooled,” and some of us believe this. But lusion more and they thought they knew how
pearing helicopter illusion (and controlled the when asked what people love most about it worked less. The illusion fooled them more
test with other similar effects). After the trick magic, nineteen percent of people cite being completely. Forty-three percent of the people
ended, we gave everyone a choice. Would fooled as a positive experience. (Ten percent who watched the card levitation had a guess
they rather watch how the trick was done or of these people are distinguished as loving as to how it was done (and nearly all of them
watch a performance of another trick? We “being fooled,” and nine percent most enjoy guessed correctly: thread).
are giving people a choice to watch magic the act of trying to solve tricks.) Trying to fig- With age, people become less curious
or to scratch the itch and learn how magic ure out a magician’s tricks is, for many, their about how magic works. Across all effects
works. favorite part of the whole experience. tested, older people were less curious about
Sixty percent preferred to watch another We can unpack this concept further. In how effects were done. The average sixty-
amazing magic trick; the other forty percent another experiment, we showed participants year-old in our survey was most likely to be
were more curious to learn how the trick was clips of three different levitation videos: fooled and least likely to offer a solution.
done. To our delight, the people we tested levitating a dollar, levitating a card, and levi- The younger the person, the more likely
were more interested in watching mysteries tating a girl. The dollar levitation was filmed they are to think they know how something
than solving mysteries. extremely close to the performer. The card is done.
We also need to rethink what it means video would be considered parlor magic, and There are two important conclusions to
when someone wants to know how a trick the floating lady was seen from a distance, be drawn here, and both of them may affect
is done. We often take this as a negative as it would be if you watched the illusion in how we think about our magic. The first,
a theater. Afterward, obvious point is this: repeatedly during the
we allowed spectators experiment, spectators nailed magicians on
What do people like most about magic? to guess at the meth- methods involving invisible thread. If you
30%   od for each and to use thread for audiences, be careful you
25%  
25%   rate their enjoyment aren’t fooling yourself. The evidence doesn’t
20%  
20%  
of each performance. preclude using thread entirely, but if you’re
After each trick, doing a floating bill effect, be aware that
15%  
10%   10%   9%   9%  
spectators were almost half the spectators believe they know
10%   offered the chance to how you’re doing it.
5%   2%   replay the video in The most interesting conclusion we can
0%   full or to take a guess draw from this data is that people want to
at the method. The know how something is done when they al-
 

e  
r  

e  

s  

ill  
ed

ip
he

ick
qu

on

Sk
sh
az

order of the videos ready have a suspicion. When people enjoyed

Ot

 Tr
ni

e  D

an
m
/U

ut

m
g  A

er
ed

 O

ow
s  W

changed randomly, in an effect, they were less likely to guess (or

in

re
ct

Sh
Be
pe

gu

ick
ex

 Fi

 Tr

case spectators tended to want to guess) how it was done. When

Un

ow
g  t
e/

yin

g  H

to remember what they had a suspicion about the method, they

ris

Tr

n
rp

wi
Su

no

they saw last more preferred to guess at the method instead of

t  K
No

favorably. watching more magic.

This experiment This means that if our effects are soundly
What do people like least about magic? answers several constructed and highly entertaining, our au-
40%   important questions: diences will be less concerned with methods.
34%  
35%   Are people’s guess- If we are challenging in our presentations,
30%   es at the methods or our tricks have moments that arouse
25%  
24%   accurate? How much suspicion, people will treat our material like
do they care about problems to be solved.
20%   16%  
14%   methods? Is bigger By the way, many times in the survey we
15%  
better? Or is being asked people if they “would like” to watch a
10%   6%   close to the magician video exposing how various tricks are done.
5%   more important? Once they decided this, however, you’ll be
0%   Let’s explore happy to know that they didn’t actually get
Performing   Arrogant  or   Knowing  How   Not  Knowing   Magic  is  Boring   guesses first. People to see how anything was done. We were
"Old"  Tricks   Cheesey   Trick  Was   How  Trick  Was  
Performance   Done   Done   attributed the most interested in the data, but not interested in
enjoyment, surprise, actually revealing methods.
09 MAGIC • SE P T E MBE R 201 6
 Getting Real
In order to enjoy magic, audiences must ead
indr ing
ead
indr ing Whether it’s talking to the dead or moving
M M
suspend disbelief. After all, there is no such objects with the mind, just short of half the
thing as magicians doing real magic. But even 16% 40% participants believe these things might be
something so fundamental as belief in magi- possible. Audience demographics differ wildly

Ab
so igh
cians has never been tested until now. We were bl t be possibl depending on where they are, who you are,

M
lute

e
ly possi

e
interested in finding out how far people would and what you’re doing. But this data suggests
stretch their disbelief, and whether there are al Magic to the dea that in virtually every show you do, some
Re lk
magicians, tricks, or circumstances that cause of your audience believes that what you are

d
Ta
people to believe that what they are seeing is 40% 48% doing is real.
real. Is it possible to pinpoint who is most like-
To begin with, we asked if they think it is Possible Possible ly to believe? A self-identified belief in a God
possible for a human to memorize an entire is positively correlated to belief in talking to
deck of cards. Seventy-three percent of people of people also believe it might be possible to the dead, mindreading, moving objects with
thought this might be possible, and the older move objects with the mind. the mind, and a belief in real magic. But since
the subject, the more they thought it would beliefs are not something we wear on our
be possible. This revelation shows a shocking open-mind- faces, this aspect isn’t particularly helpful in
Then we asked if people think it is possi- edness about the possibilities for authentic choosing volunteers or audience members.
ble for humans to read the minds of others: magic, especially given the complete lack This data could be useful to those who
sixteen percent absolutely did, and forty of evidence to support any of it. But certain believe it’s ethically wrong to claim super-
percent think it might be possible. Nearly 40 performers — Uri Geller, Derren Brown, and natural powers in a magic show, and could
percent think it might be possible to do real David Blaine come to mind — have a perform- equally be used for those wishing to make
magic, and 48 percent believe it may be pos- ing style that is so realistic that many people do their performances appear more like the real
sible to talk to the dead. Thirty-five percent believe that what they are doing is real. thing.

Looking Ahead
I shared our study with a valued friend, mostly because I just To these people, my only response is this: your audiences disagree
couldn’t believe some of the results. He couldn’t either, which is with you.
why he initially rejected the very notion of approaching magic with Even if your only takeaway from the study is to use an introduc-
laboratory coats and clipboards. tion to your show, your show can improve. If your only take-away
“Magic is art, not science,” he said. “If you do market research is to do more card magic with other props, your show can improve.
on what tricks are most popular, you’re making magic for your If you focus on using spectators who want to come onstage with
audience, not art.” you, your show can improve. Small, measurable improvements.
I agree. If everyone only performed magic that audiences And beyond these concepts, there are dozens of other tools for your
identified with, our shows would all look the same: dreadfully safe toolbox, if you are honest with yourself and your magic.
and broad, and risking nothing in terms of experimentation. There In an old musicians’ parable, an orchestra is about to begin a
would be no element of surprise that the audience so clearly craves. performance of Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony,” arguably the most
I believe that the very best magicians explore new horizons, and famous piece of classical music. Backstage, the conductor says, “I
show audiences what they never expected to enjoy or think about. know all of you have played this piece innumerable times, and the
But anyone who entirely rejects feedback from their audience audience has heard it many times. But tonight, I want you to play
is missing an amazing opportunity. Knowing what our audiences for two distinguished guests. The first is a little boy who is hearing
think about magic is important. Understanding how our audience Beethoven’s ‘Fifth’ for the first time. The second is an old man, who
thinks about magic is invaluable to anyone wishing to improve. will be hearing it for the last time.”
This study is no different from a thumb tip or a card force or a I think about this sometimes before a show, for motivation.
comment from someone after your show. They are tools, and the But our study confirms that it’s also quite literally true. Of the
best magicians use every tool available to them. 526 people who participated in our study, 28 percent have never
Other magician colleagues rejected these results because they seen a magician live. This is shocking to me. For 49 percent of our
clearly conflicted with something in their own experience. “I do participants, more than a year has passed since they have seen a
only card magic, and I get amazing reactions,” someone told me. magician live, and only 23 percent have seen a magician within the
“My show has been filled with the classics for longer than you’ve last year.
been alive and I’m not changing a thing,” another one wrote. “Peo- When you look out into the audience at your next show, remember
ple hate being fooled. We’ve known that for years,” said another. that for many of them, you are the first magician they have ever seen.
M AGIC • SEPTEM B ER 2 0 1 6 10