Podcasts about fooling houdini

Magician and author Alex Stone joins host Lynn Vartan in the studio to talk about magic, its history, and its effect on the mind and psyche. They also discuss some of the characters and research for his book “Fooling Houdini: Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind.” Enjoy!

OMG! It's here! This is officially Episode 1! This week I chat with my dear friend Sarah Shay about a little-seen 80's film called "The Wizard of Speed and Time." You also get a reviews of "Fooling Houdini" and "King of Thieves." For good measure I've thrown in a brand new song called "Galodny The Russian Whale," and my (spoiler-free) review of Avengers: Endgame!

Episode 1-44: Overstuffed Wherein I review: 161. Universal Harvester by John Darnielle 162, The Labyrinth Index (Library Files #9) by Charles Stross 163. The Three Sacred Cities (Jack West Jr. #5) by Matthew Reilly 164. Dark Sacred Night (Harry Bosch #21, Renee Ballard #2) by Michael Connelly 165. Fooling Houdini by Alex Stone 166. Target: Alex Cross (Alex Cross #26) by James Patterson 167. The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers by Thomas Mullen 168. The Beast of Barcroft (Fatal Folklore Trilogy #1) by Bill Schweigart 169. Northwoods (Fatal Folklore Trilogy #2) by Bill Schweigart 170. Bill, the Galactic Hero (Bill the Galactic Hero #1) by Harry Harrison

The author of Fooling Houdini tells all about about using memory in magic.

The author of Fooling Houdini tells all about about using memory in magic.

In his book Fooling Houdini: Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind (reviewed here), Alex Stone starts by recounting his tragically humiliating disqualification at an international magic competition. So ashamed was he by the unceremonious ejection from the stage that he gave up magic and pursued a post-grad degree in physics. Eventually the lure of the conjuring arts called him back, but this time around, Stone got serious. He sought mentors, practiced incessantly, researched magic history, and read up on the psychology of deception and the limits of human perception.

A few weeks ago, I was browsing a book store – yes, I still do that – and I stumbled on this book called “Fooling Houdini” by Alex Stone. The title grabbed me by throat and said, “Take me home.” So I did. As I started reading the book, I realized something: I needed to […]