Magical
How Magic and its Star Performers Transformed the Entertainment Economy
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Narrated by:
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Joel Daffurn
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By:
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Bharat Rao
About this listen
Are you ready for some magic?
There are solo magicians today who are making over $20,000 per performance, while those in the big leagues routinely bring in over $20 million a year. How did they get there and what are the keys to their success? What skills and techniques do they possess and deploy that can be easily adapted for your own personal use? In this audiobook, you will learn of the key attitudes and practices that propel their success, as well as the path they have paved for other magicians and performers hoping to gain an entry into this competitive yet lucrative industry.
We look at the magic industry through the lens of two of its most celebrated performers, Penn and Teller, who are not just magicians and entertainers, but also smart entrepreneurs running a global entertainment business. In parallel, we look at how the field of modern magic has evolved since its inception, what the outlook is for its future in our global, interconnected, always-on economy. We consider the successful careers of legendary magicians like Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, Harry Houdini, Dai Vernon, Doug Henning, and others, and how they have shaped the growing magic industry and made it a force to be reckoned with.
Through shows like Penn and Teller Fool Us, America's Got Talent, Britain's Got Talent, and The World's Best, and through social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, contemporary magicians have an unprecedented opportunity to make themselves known to a global audience. The success secrets followed by the likes of Penn and Teller, David Copperfield, David Blaine, Criss Angel, and newer stars like Shin Lim, Dynamo, and Ryan Hayashi, both as professional magicians and business owners, can be applied by entrepreneurs, business people and self-starters everywhere who want to make a mark in their careers. Through constant efforts at design, experimentation, prototyping, and field testing with peers and live audiences, these performers have been fine tuning their craft for decades. With their passion, perseverance, commitment, and unique and creative ways of identifying and solving problems, these trailblazers show the way for a better - and more magical future.
In this audiobook, you will not only learn how these stars successfully overcame their challenges, but also how you can transform your approach to magic and business.
©2019 Bharat Rao (P)2019 Bharat RaoListeners also enjoyed...
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Be Our Guest
- Perfecting the Art of Customer Service
- By: The Disney Institute, Theodore Kinni
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Exceeding expectations rather than simply satisfying them is the cornerstone of the Disney approach to customer service. Now, in honor of the 10th anniversary of the original Be Our Guest, the Disney Institute, which specializes in helping professionals see new possibilities through concepts not found in the typical workplace, is revealing even more of the business behind the magic of quality service.
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Too long and repetitive
- By M. Decker on 03-11-16
By: The Disney Institute, and others
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In Pursuit of Elegance
- Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing
- By: Matthew E. May
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In this thought-provoking exploration, Matthew May defines elegance as the elusive combination of unusual simplicity and surprising power, and pinpoints the four key elements that characterize it: seduction, subtraction, symmetry, and sustainability. In a story-driven narrative that sheds light on the need for elegance in design, engineering, physics, art, urban planning, sports, and work, May offers a surprising array of stories that illustrate why what's "not there" often matters more than what is.
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I love elegance, but this book isn't elegant
- By Oliver Nielsen on 06-26-11
By: Matthew E. May
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Fascinate
- Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation
- By: Sally Hogshead
- Narrated by: Sally Hogshead
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Why are you captivated by some people but not by others? Why do you recall some brands yet forget the rest? In a distracted, overcrowded world, how do certain leaders, friends, and family members convince you to change your behavior? Answer: fascination, the most powerful way to influence decision-making. It's more persuasive than marketing, advertising, or any other form of communication. And it all starts with seven universal triggers: lust, mystique, alarm, prestige, power, vice, and trust.
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Hog your Head with Fascinate!
- By Lanie Evans on 01-19-11
By: Sally Hogshead
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Disruptive Marketing
- What Growth Hackers, Data Punks, and Other Hybrid Thinkers Can Teach Us About Navigating the New Normal
- By: Geoffrey Colon
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Colon
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Now that 75 percent of screen time is spent on connected devices, digital strategies have moved front and center of most marketing plans. But what if that's not enough? What if most people ignore company messages? What if consumer engagement never goes further than the "like" button? A sobering reality is hitting marketers. Technology hasn't just reshaped mass media, it's altering behavior as well. And getting through to customers will take some radical rethinking.
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Needed. Valuable. Welcome contribution.
- By Oliver Nielsen on 04-26-17
By: Geoffrey Colon
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Originals
- How Non-Conformists Move the World
- By: Adam Grant, Sheryl Sandberg - foreword
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Susan Denaker
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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With Give and Take, Adam Grant not only introduced a landmark new paradigm for success but also established himself as one of his generation’s most compelling and provocative thought leaders. In Originals he again addresses the challenge of improving the world, but now from the perspective of becoming original: choosing to champion novel ideas and values that go against the grain, battle conformity, and buck outdated traditions. How can we originate new ideas, policies, and practices without risking it all?
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Interesting, but not science
- By Lloyd Fassett on 03-14-16
By: Adam Grant, and others
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Buying In
- The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are
- By: Rob Walker
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Marketing executives and consumer advocates alike predict a future of brand-proof consumers, armed with technology and a sophisticated understanding of marketing techniques, who can effectively tune out ad campaigns. But as Rob Walker demonstrates, this widely accepted misconception has eclipsed the real changes in the way modern consumers relate to their brands of choice. Combine this with marketers' new ability to blur the line between advertising, entertainment, and public space, and you have dramatically altered the relationship between consumer and consumed.
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Lets you in on the secret...
- By Jeff on 07-06-08
By: Rob Walker
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Yes, And
- How Improvisation Reverses ""No, But"" Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration--Lessons from The Second City
- By: Kelly Leonard, Tom Yorton
- Narrated by: Alan Winter
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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The Second City has launched the careers of celebrated comic performers such as Tina Fey and Stephen Colbert and produced award-winning content. But it's the actual improvisational process developed and honed over the years by The Second City that has become its legacy. Players master an ability to cocreate in ensembles using philosophies that celebrate a "yes, and" approach.
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The Title is all you learn from the book
- By T. Bennett on 05-21-15
By: Kelly Leonard, and others
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Group Genius
- The Creative Power of Collaboration
- By: Keith Sawyer
- Narrated by: Jonathan Marosz
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In this authoritative and fascinating new audiobook, Keith Sawyer, a psychologist at Washington University, tears down some of the most popular myths about creativity and erects new principles in their place. He reveals that creativity is always collaborative: even when you're alone. Sawyer's audiobook is filled with compelling stories about the inventions that changed our world.
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Worth reading
- By Glenn on 12-29-10
By: Keith Sawyer
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Glimmer
- How Design Can Transform Your Life and Maybe Even the World
- By: Warren Berger
- Narrated by: Ax Norman
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The first book to reveal how thinking like a designer can help solve the greatest challenges we face in business, society, and our daily lives. What can we learn from the ways great designers think-and how can it improve our world? In this highly original book by journalist Warren Berger, in collaboration with celebrated designer Bruce Mau, ten groundbreaking principles of design are shown in action-addressing business, social, and personal challenges and improving the way we think, work, and live.
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not for those who know about design thinking...
- By Pierre on 09-06-10
By: Warren Berger
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Becoming Facebook
- The 10 Challenges That Defined the Company That's Disrupting the World
- By: Mike Hoefflinger
- Narrated by: Nicholas Techosky
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Facebook's founding is legend: In a Harvard dorm, wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg invented a new way to connect with friends...and the rest is history. But for the people who actually molded this great idea into a game-changing $300 billion company, the experience was far more tumultuous and uncertain than we might expect. Mike Hoefflinger was one of those Facebook insiders.
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mainly a tribute to the success of FB
- By Anonymous User on 10-07-18
By: Mike Hoefflinger
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Uncertainty
- Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance
- By: Jonathan Fields
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Jonathan Fields knows the risks - and potential power - of uncertainty. He gave up a six-figure income as a lawyer to make $12 an hour as a personal trainer. Then, married with a three-month old baby, he signed a lease to launch a yoga center in the heart of New York City...the day before 9/11.
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Distracting Narration
- By Mike on 01-03-12
By: Jonathan Fields
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Simple Rules
- How to Thrive in a Complex World
- By: Donald Sull, Kathleen M. Eisenhardt
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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We struggle to manage complexity every day. We follow intricate diets to lose weight, juggle multiple remotes to operate our home entertainment systems, face proliferating data at the office, and hack through thickets of regulation at tax time. But complexity isn't destiny. Sull and Eisenhardt argue there's a better way: by developing a few simple yet effective rules, you can tackle even the most complex problems.
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If you are in any sort of leadership position or plan to be, read this book
- By Rex on 06-09-15
By: Donald Sull, and others
What listeners say about Magical
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Chris Trapani
- 09-25-19
Magic History Lesson
This book was a great history lesson on magicians but but not sure in went into details of how they really changed the entertainment economy. It is always interesting to see how things are done differently in other industries and see if you can chose the best practices to incorporate in you work!
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- Bala Mulloth
- 03-19-19
Stellar!
The trick of this book is how it connects magic to so many seemingly unrelated topics. From marketing to corporate innovation to entrepreneurship, Rao convincingly makes the case that there's a lot to learn from magicians. In particular, those who've had blockbuster success reinventing themselves and the age-old art of magic itself.
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1 person found this helpful
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- James Marsh
- 06-21-19
Entertaining, Educational and Empowering
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
Bharat Rao performs a feat of magic in this book: he teaches about the roots, history and evolution of stage and close up magic, informs about some of the seminal performers and what made them stand out, explains everything so even a lay person can follow along and showcases attributes, techniques and qualities that one could use for the betterment of their own professions and lives. He balances all of this while keeping the writing clear, easy to follow and fun! His writing is polished without ever drawing attention to itself. After finishing the book I had to look up some of the recent performances that were described and watch them on Youtube.
Joel Daffurn turns in an excellent narration with a nearly audible smile as he explains with a flourish some of the tricks and performances that have stood out. He has an infectious enthusiasm in his voice and easily carries you on the journey of the text.
If you have any interest in or appreciation for performance magic then you are in for a treat.
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- Navil
- 03-16-19
Comprehensive, insightful and all-around excellent
This book gives some very strong insights into the modern magic landscape. Rao does an excellent job of explaining that the magic industry of today is bolder, classier, and higher-grossing than that of yesterday, all the while expertly blending insight with the scientific and cultural explanations behind the popularity of magic. I was very pleased to find interviews with Ryan Hayashi and other rising performers, which add a lot of depth and real-world commentary that Rao further builds on with hard facts. An all-around good read, and Joel Daffurn's narration is clear and understandable. Totally would recommend to anyone looking to get a new perspective on a timeless entertainment form.
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1 person found this helpful
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- MemorizingPharmacology
- 06-19-19
Really well researched, narrated, and written
Overall, a really great non-fiction book brings you the excitement that someone who is in the field has even though you are outside the field. Magical creates a feeling that you are part of the magician community and even if you are not, how you would become part of it. The references to pop culture make sense and show how magic is on the rise and becoming a strong part of our culture. While the only word that alludes to business is "economy," it's really a great primer for those who want to get inspired by some great stories of success, perseverance, and partnerships. Magical rises to a level of writing that allows the narrator, Joel Daffurn adds so much to the work with his spot on inflection and pleasant voice. It's relatively easy to see who has extensive experience or formal training and Joel clearly has. The story is one that you'll continue to listen to just because they are so engaging and who doesn't want to know how magicians do their tricks?
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