8 posts in this series
I spent six months perfecting a routine that never got more than polite applause. The thought of cutting it felt like throwing away all that work. That feeling has a name, and it is lying to you.
Read MoreFor two years, I was convinced my practice method was effective. I had evidence. Lots of evidence. The problem was that my brain had been curating that evidence without telling me.
Read MoreSix months into learning card magic, I was certain I was good. Not just improving -- actually good. It took a single video recording in a Salzburg hotel room to show me I was trapped in the most dangerous cognitive bias a performer can have.
Read MoreKen Weber insists that performers must watch themselves on video at least five times before they believe what they see. I thought that was overkill until I discovered that every viewing peeled back a different layer of self-deception.
Read MoreI spent months learning a technically demanding card routine when a far simpler effect would have gotten a stronger reaction. The bias toward complexity is one of the most common traps in magic, and it is rooted in the performer's ego, not the audience's needs.
Read MoreI performed the same card routine for over a year, convinced it was my strongest piece. When I finally asked someone to tell me honestly, I discovered that familiarity had blinded me to something every audience member could see.
Read MoreEvery time I considered adding a simple, direct effect to my set, a voice in my head said it was not enough. Not impressive enough. Not worthy of performance. That voice was a cognitive bias, and it was costing me the strongest reactions of my career.
Read MoreI told myself I would have a polished thirty-minute show within a year. Three years later, I was still refining it. The planning fallacy does not just affect project timelines -- it fundamentally distorts how we think about mastery.
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