In this interview, David sits down with comedy magician, author and keynote speaker Robert Strong for a wide-ranging conversation on the neuroscience of misdirection, memory, and audience psychology, drawing surprising parallels between the art of magic and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Strong is a Magic Castle member, longtime Google magic instructor, Penn & Teller: Fool Us alum, and founder of the AI speaker bureau Speak About AI. Strong breaks down how magicians exploit Darwinian attention triggers, false memory creation, and timing windows to create tricks that mystify and delight audiences. The discussion covers close-up magic versus stage illusions, the "applied improv" mindset behind reading a room and recovering from mistakes, and how ballroom dancing sharpened Strong's sense of balance and misdirection. He also previews his upcoming book, The Magic Mindset: The 18 Traits of Great Magicians and Great Leaders, and performs live mentalism demonstrations mid-interview. This episode offers martial artists, magicians, and anyone curious about persuasion, focus, and cognitive bias a rare crossover look at how deception, confidence, and preparation shape performance under pressure.
Contacts for interviewee:
Robert Strong: https://www.strongentertainment.com/
About page: https://www.strongentertainment.com/about
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertstrong
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert_strong/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RobertStrongMagic/
X (Twitter): https://x.com/RobertStrong
The Magic Mindset: The 18 Traits of Great Magicians and Great Leaders (Robert's upcoming book): https://www.strongentertainment.com/
Speak About AI (Robert's company, as founder): https://speakabout.ai/speakers/robert-strong
Magic Castle / Academy of Magical Arts (performing member): https://www.instagram.com/p/CK4wyqLswjT/
Google (teaches magic there, unofficial "Chief Magic Officer"): https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/speakers/383540/Robert-Strong
Clean Comedians (represented speaker/comedian): https://cleancomedians.com/speakers/robert-strong/
Topic Links:
Brian Gillis: https://www.newsfromme.com/2018/07/03/brian-gillis-r-i-p/
Arrested Development: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367279/
Magic Castle: http://www.magiccastle.com
Juan Tamariz: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Tamariz
Penn & Teller: Fool Us: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_%26_Teller:_Fool_Us
Penn & Teller: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_%26_Teller:_Fool_Us
Dwarkesh Podcast: https://www.dwarkesh.com/
Gary Shandling: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002031/
WonderFest: https://wonderfest.org/
Peter Norvig: https://www.norvig.com/
Her (movie): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/
Adam Cheyer: http://www.adam.cheyer.com/
Adopt-a-Pet.com: https://www.adoptapet.com/
The Amazing Randi (James Randi): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi
Exploratorium: https://www.exploratorium.edu/
The Sixth Sense: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/
Music “Disambiguation” by Robel Borja https://open.spotify.com/artist/7j0DUZ79z4edeLkU2H1UoJ?si=eISl0YfaQ-yLThljs48j5A
This episode was directed and presented by Dave Meyer, editor & coproducer by Ryan Turner, producer & marketing Robbie Lockie, music kindly provided by Robel Borja.
