3 Magic Lessons from Steve Jobs (EMJ)
This article is a part of the Essential Magic Journal series, written primarily for magicians.
Apple is the largest company in the world, and so much of its success is thanks to Steve Jobs and his masterful presentations. I think magicians can learn a lot from studying Jobs’ keynotes. Even though a card trick and a tech product launch are very different, we’re doing the same thing: sharing something we want them to understand and care about.
Lay out a theme, and reinforce it.
One of Steve’s presentational mantras was to share a specific theme, then repeat it throughout his presentations—one of the most iconic came in 2007, when he said “Today, Apple reinvents the phone.” When the media was reporting on the new iPhone, of course they mentioned its new features and joked about Steve’s public prank call to a local Starbucks, but their stories all echoed Steve’s main theme—Apple just reinvented the phone. Our audience becomes our press, and how we present our magic will help them form stories about what they saw. Your ambitious card routine may have a theme of “hand-is-quicker-than-the-eye sleight of hand” or it may be “this pesky thing just won’t stay lost!” Like the revolutionary iPhone, whatever themes we lay out and reinforce will inform what stories our audience will tell.
Keep it simple.
Steve Jobs was famous for simplifying everything at Apple. When he returned to Apple in the 90’s, he turned the company around by simplifying their complicated product line into just 4 computers; later, he insisted on an iPod with no buttons, giving birth to the now-iconic scroll wheel. Magic is also more impactful and more successful when we get rid of the clutter—simple props, with minimal procedure, and an effect that could be described in one sentence. Applying Steve’s famously strict standards for simplicity can make you stand out in a sea of confusion (which the Professor reminds us “is not magic”).
Make them care.
No one left an Apple keynote feeling like they had merely seen the latest tech news; they left feeling inspired and excited, like they had just witnessed a defining moment in history. Whatever the product, Steve knew how to tell a personal story about any device, while other tech executives ramble through a list of specs and features. Consequently, people continue to care deeply about Apple products, while other computers and phones are largely forgotten. Your magic doesn’t need a serious or revolutionary story to be engaging and interesting. If you can make it feel personal and real, if you can make them care and feel invested, then they will no doubt love and remember the magic you share.
“This is a very complicated world, it’s a very noisy world. We’re not gonna get a chance to get people to remember much about us. So we have to be really clear on what we want them to know about us.” - Steve Jobs
