Simon Coronel, World Champion of Magic — Quitting the Day Job, The Delights of the Magic Castle, Finding Glitches in Reality, Learning How to Use Your Own Brain, and Worshiping at the Altar of Wonder (#679)
Illustration via 99designs“If there’s no right time, then sooner is better than later.“
— Simon Coronel
Simon Coronel (simoncoronel.com) is legally classified as an “Alien of Extraordinary Ability” by the United States Government for his skills as a magician and illusionist. Simon discovered magic in 1999 as a first-year student at Melbourne University. He then spent five years working full time in management consulting while juggling his “secret” performance career.
He’s currently a jigsaw puzzle designer for The Magic Puzzle Company, which has the #1-backed puzzle on Kickstarter of all time, and is a regular performer at the Magic Castle in Hollywood.
Simon has appeared twice on the hit TV show Penn & Teller: Fool Us. He has won over a dozen international awards for magic, including being crowned the World Champion of Magic in 2022 at FISM, the Olympics of magic.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the interview on YouTube here.
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Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#679: Simon Coronel, World Champion of Magic — Quitting the Day Job, The Delights of the Magic Castle, Finding Glitches in Reality, Learning How to Use Your Own Brain, and Worshiping at the Altar of WonderThis episode is brought to you by AeroPress! If you haven’t tried coffee made with an AeroPress, you’re in for a treat. With more than 45,000 five-star reviews and customers in more than 60 countries, it might be the highest-rated coffee maker on the planet. This press uses a patented 3-in-1 technology that combines the best of several brew methods into one, easy-to-use, very portable device. Because it combines the best of 3 methods, you get a cup that is full bodied, like a French press; smooth and complex, like when using the pour-over method; and rich in flavor like espresso.
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Want to hear a podcast episode with someone Simon once fooled? Listen to my interview with Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller fame) in which we discussed practicing skepticism without cynicism, compensating for weak visual memory, youthful meanderings, making several grand per week as a technically homeless street performer, de-escalating hostility with wits and a milkshake, losing 0.9 pounds a day for four months, hanging out with the legendary Richard Feynman, and much more.
#405: Penn Jillette on Magic, Losing 100+ Pounds, and Weaponizing KindnessWhat was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
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SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Simon Coronel: Website The Magic Puzzle Company Magician Makes History on Penn & Teller Fool Us — Surprise Judgement! | YouTubeCan Simon Coronel Fool Penn and Teller a Second Time? | YouTubeThe Magic Castle | The Academy of Magical ArtsMagic Castle Battles Back From a Halloween Fire. Was it a Message From Houdini? | L.A. WeeklyBest Suits for Men | Hollywood SuitsFaster Than the Eye Can See! | Animation MagazineLiberty Larsen — Growing up in the Magic Castle | Behind the Page: The Eli Marks Podcast18 Best Silicon Valley Startup Movies and TV Shows | ExpressVPN BlogVisit Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaWhat is Neurodiversity? | Harvard HealthKnow Thyself by Meghan O’Gieblyn | The Paris ReviewThe University of MelbourneNokia 3310 Dual SIM Basic Phone | NokiaArchimedes’ Lever: How You Can Move the World | Eric KimIllusionist Wows Glens Falls Audience by Defying Nature | SaratogianComplete List of Winners throughout the Decades | FISM World ChampionshipIn Medias Res | WikipediaThe X-Files | Prime VideoRick and Morty | Prime VideoWhy Olympic Bronze Medalists Are Happier than Silver Medalists | Boing BoingRocky | Prime VideoHow Does a Caterpillar Turn into a Butterfly? | Scientific AmericanAward-Winning Magician Simon Coronel on Paying People to Give Him Negative Feedback | Amantha ImberMuses | WikipediaAll Models Are Wrong | Farnam Street BlogTim Ferriss | TEDDom Chambers Will Blow Your Mind! | America’s Got Talent 2019The World Championship of Magic! (FISM 2022) | Alex BoverSimon Coronel Just Won the Most Prestigious Prize in Magic | Melbourne Magic FestivalFISM World Championship of Magic: Complete Guide (with Categories) | Magician MasterclassImposter Syndrome: Why You May Feel Like a Fraud | Verywell MindFrench 75 Cocktail Recipe | LiquorHow Does a Magician Trick Other Magicians? We Went to Find Out. | National GeographicLet There Be Change | AccentureWhat Is Asperger Syndrome? | Autism SpeaksWhy Autistic People Can Struggle in the Workplace | Psychology TodayCirque du SoleilWhat Are Golden Handcuffs? | InvestopediaBJ Miller — The Man Who Studied 1,000 Deaths to Learn How to Live | The Tim Ferriss Show #153K-Everything: The Rise and Rise of Korean Culture | The GuardianMentalism | WikipediaNeuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) | WikipediaGolden Rule | WikipediaDerren Brown: Miracle | NetflixPenn & TellerSimon Coronel – Seven Secrets of Visual Magic | MAGIC LiveWhiplash | Prime VideoThe Prestige | Prime VideoHiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear by Jim Steinmeyer | AmazonArrested Development | Prime VideoA Magician named GOB | YouTubeThe Incredible Burt Wonderstone | Prime VideoThis Is Spinal Tap | Prime VideoDealt | Prime VideoAn Honest Liar | Prime VideoGospel Magic | WikipediaInfinite Chocolate Illusion Explained | Mind Your DecisionsMagic Puzzles by Magic Puzzle Company | KickstarterMistakes Xerox Made That Led to Its Failure | FailfectionSHOW NOTES[06:12] Radical earliness.[08:23] The Magic Castle.[17:27] Catching the magic bug at age 18.[19:56] Acknowledging neurodivergence.[28:16] Glitches in Reality.[30:53] The road to winning the 2022 FISM World Championship of Magic.[53:04] Workshopping out the kinks before the competition.[57:59] The muse and the Shoot seal of approval.[1:01:31] Gauging audience perception and finding balance pre-game.[1:05:49] The big day.[1:18:45] Categories of stage magic.[1:20:15] Ugly crying through victory.[1:30:10] The immediate aftermath.[1:34:03] A homecoming drink at the Magic Castle.[1:36:37] Why a later start in magic was lucky.[1:39:13] How working at Accenture played into Simon’s weaknesses.[1:45:30] Making the decision to do magic full-time.[1:52:34] Hotbeds of magical innovation.[1:55:57] Mentalism misgivings.[2:01:13] Why learning magic can be so daunting for a beginner.[2:07:29] How Simon teaches magic.[2:10:45] Magic in the media.[2:14:35] Is atheism a prerequisite for the modern magician?[2:16:14] Jigsaw puzzles.[2:23:26] Parting thoughts.MORE SIMON CORONEL QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW“Fear and enthusiasm battled. And fear kept winning.”
— Simon Coronel
“If there’s no right time, then sooner is better than later.”
— Simon Coronel
“Magic is so much broader and so much deeper than people ever realize. There are so many different rooms in the house of magic, you could spend 10 lifetimes on it and not even get close to everything there is to know and learn.”
— Simon Coronel
“If you know how it’s done, that illusion doesn’t happen. And so the tree falls in the woods and there is no sound because there is no magic without the mystery.”
— Simon Coronel
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