Teller Reveals His Secrets (In Sum: It's Science!)

Teller, of Penn & Teller, wrote a couple of pieces for Smithsonian Magazine on magic, including one in which he spills his guts on how magic works. I won't give any of his secrets away, which involve exploiting pattern recognition, making tricks seem a lot more trouble than they're worth, keeping people laughing so they won't think critically, keeping the "trickery outside the frame," combining multiple tricks, letting you fool yourself, and letting people believe they're acting freely, but I will say I admire these guys as they are incredibly skilled, smart, funny, open minded, and willing to not only share their stuff but debunk others who engage in nonsense and hocus pocus.

I only wish they were as diligent about knowing how government and the law really work rather than trusting superficial understandings and gut judgments. But I digress.

Anyway, while I'm at it, there's also a great set of links at MetaFilter about the Harry Houdini who not only was one of the greatest magicians of all time like both Penn Jillette and Teller, but also shared some of their enlightened views.