Thoughts from The Business Magician
Kostya’s Blog
Virtual Magic Shows: A Message For My Colleagues
Kostya Kimlat is leading the way in the new medium of virtual magic shows. Here is his advice for his colleagues.
How a young magician become the world's most famous hacker
Kevin Mitnick is a “white hat” hacker who abides by the law and breaks into computer systems to help corporations and organizations figure out the weak spots in their security. Before that, the FBI had called him the “most wanted hacker”, and arrested him for 5 years, keeping him in isolation, afraid of what he could accomplish even from his jail cell. And before that, he was a budding magician.
Why I Lie To Children
Last week, I spent a couple of hours lying to children. It’s the most beautiful lie I can create and I’m hoping they believe it completely. Let me explain…
These kids are usually ages 5 to 18 and they’re patients at a local children’s hospital — Nemours Children's Hospital — where I perform monthly magic. I stop by the individual rooms and each child gets to experience their own personal show.
When the kid is the right age, I ask them to participate by putting their initials on a quarter, or make a drawing of a smiley face or a butterfly. Then I ask them to clutch the coin in their fist and imagine themselves getting stronger and stronger.
The Perception of Magic in Culture is Changing
The zeitgeist is changing. In today’s social world magic is cool and popular.
And in my real-world performances people are approaching me before I approach them, asking to see some close-up magic.
I think what's most important is that people are starting to understand that magic takes skill. They understand now that I am not some charlatan pretending to have powers. Because I have made the choice to highlight my technical ability instead of a mysterious force, people are more open, accepting and interested. They’re not scared of magic, they dig it. And while they still incessantly make jokes about me taking their watches and wallets, they now have a positive correlation to magic.
Lifestyle Changes That Last, Like Magic
Practicing magic for 20 years has taught me that practice never ends. You're constantly refining ideas, perfecting techniques. The levels of learning make themselves very clear.
I’m starting to see that the positive strides I’ve made in changing certain behaviors have each taken a year or more to develop. And they follow a pattern similar to the one that comes when anyone goes for a lifestyle change.
I find something I want to change, I find a reason why I want that, I learn how I can accomplish it, and then I am disappointed at myself and disapprove of my inability to do so easily. I then forget about the goal, and the efforts leave my conscious thoughts.