Thoughts from The Business Magician
Kostya’s Blog
Can you transform customer perceptions?
As a magician, I specialize in surprises: creating unexpected experiences and memorable moments. While the unexpected is a great foundation to my art, it is a challenge for my business. People want to buy what they know; what they have seen, heard and touched.
Clients are hesitant to “buy the invisible” – as Harry Beckwith points out in one of my .
Most of the people who hire me, first see me perform at another event. They make the connection that what they have seen me do will be a perfect fit for their business or social event and they contract me to perform. About 80% of my contracts come from people seeing me in person. Booking these shows is a breeze. People have seen it, they know it, they want it, they get it.
What is your perception of money?
In four fascinating interviews, this Esquire article showed how four different men in four different economic standings thought and acted about money, retirement and taxes. This article crystallizes the notion that no matter what our financial reality, it is our perception that impacts our happiness and peace of mind.
Reading the four interviews reaffirms the conclusion made by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton that after a certain amount income does not have a direct impact on a person’s happiness.
Perception Wins Elections
Perception is instrumental to politics and storytelling is a powerful tool used to transform our perceptions. In an election, storytelling and narrative can be the decisive factor in voter turnout and decision making.
With the political campaign in full swing we all need to be reminded of the role that perception plays in creating narratives which then guide our choices. In this Op-Doc produced by The New York Times, political media strategist, Mark McKinnon, explains how “he was instrumental in shaping the way we perceived his candidates and their opponents.”
How a speaker tricks an audience into paying attention
As a speaker, when I walk off stage, I enjoy hearing audience members talk about what stuck out for them or what lessons they took away. Last week I spoke to the salesforce at a franchise business and afterwards a gentleman named Dan greeted me with a hearty handshake and excitedly told me that he was awake the entire time!
“With my attention span, I can’t listen to any speaker for more than ten minutes in a row. You’re the first speaker I’ve listened to for the entire hour and I paid attention the entire time.”
Was it luck that Dan was so engaged? Or was it a good cup of coffee? And was the numberten a random number or was Dan manipulated and controlled against his will to say exactly ten minutes?
This business is blatantly advertising their customer service training.
A new franchise of Wahlburgers is opening up a block away from where I live in Downtown Orlando and last night there was a sign on their door the likes of which you don’t often see.
“Training in Progress. Look forward to serving you soon.”
How would you feel if you saw this sign at your local restaurant? What about your bank? Or your doctor’s office? Would it make a positive difference for you if you knew the staff of the business you are visiting is training their staff so that they can serve you better?
As I continued walking, the next window featured several large sticky sheets covered with words and phrases.
Live in Vegas with Penn & Teller
On Sunday, November 15th, I received my prize for successfully fooling Penn & Teller on their TV show, “Penn & Teller: Fool Us.” I got to perform at their live show in Vegas.
And not just perform, but close their show. It was wild, sitting in the audience, watching them do their craft, laughing and being astonished like everyone else. And then half-way through the show, Penn pauses and says: “By the way, we’re the opening act tonight, so stick around and after we are done, you’re gonna see the performer that fooled us.”
How learning magic helps CEOs run their businesses
In a weekly interview series with business leaders, the New York Times posted a video of Daniel Lubetzky, C.E.O. of KIND, where he talks about his early influence of learning magic and how it impacted him as an executive.
The learning process was an effort that “helped me for the rest of my life,” says Lubetzky. He mentions the skills he developed while learning magic that have been applicable for him in the business world. Lubetzky touches upon several topics that I speak to groups about during my workshops and gives crystal clear examples that any business owner can connect to.
Magic classes for adults begin tomorrow at Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts
This fall, my team of magicians and I will be teaching a Magic Class for adults at one of the most exquisite performing arts centers in the country, the newly built Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts in downtown Orlando.
After an action packed week-long summer session for kids covered by News 13 and FOX 35, we’re doing a special six week session for adults eighteen and up.
Am I risking my career by exposing the secrets of magic?
Will I get kicked out of the magician’s alliance?
Yes. Totally. The secrets I am going to reveal in class will make even Penn & Teller blush.
Watch the Kardashians magically vanish
I just broke my cardinal rule for doing magic on TV.
Don’t do anything new you just came up with last night.
But this… I couldn’t resist.
Here’s how I made the Kardashians vanish for news anchor John Brown, of FOX.
He asked for it.
“Did you really get Penn high?” And Other Frequently Asked Questions
I’m overwhelmed by the positive response to my performance on Penn & Teller: Fool Us. I’ve received emails and calls from around the world from friends and clients and have been following the fascinating online comments and posts from strangers on YouTube, reddit and twitter! Here are my answers to the most frequently asked questions:
Was Penn really mad at you?
The reason Penn was so angry is because he and Teller have done versions of this classic trick themselves.
Why I Performed for Penn & Teller
At the beginning of this year I received an e-mail invitation to perform on Penn & Teller’s hit TV show on the CW network, “Penn & Teller: Fool Us.”
A dozen thoughts went through my head. How do I respond? What do I perform? What will Penn possibly say on national television when he and Teller figure me out? How will he expose me in front of millions of viewers? Then I read the last sentence of the email and all those frantic questions flew out of my mind. “You were recommended to us by Johnny Thompson.” Without a second thought, I responded to say I would do the show.
A Surprise Package from the Carbonaro Effect
There’s an awesome magic show on TV called The Carbonaro Effect.
I tweeted about it because I think it’s great. TruTV responded back and 5 days later I received an awesome gift in the mail.
The gift was a sweet, reversible sweatshirt. And it came with this clever card.
Appearing on Penn & Teller: Fool Us
Tune in to CW on August 17 at 8pm to see me perform for the Las Vegas duo, Penn & Teller.
Here is the trailer where I get to introduce this amazing duo onto the stage.
Welcome
I’m a magician and speaker. Born in Kiev, Ukraine and living in Orlando, Florida. I speak at corporate events, entertain at social gatherings, and specialize in interactive magic. I have shown executives, managers and employees at GE, Apple, SYSCO and NASA how to Think Like A Magician™.
I’m fascinated by the role of perception in our lives. This blog will discuss the art and craft of perception.