The eLearning Guild Podcast: Penn Jillette on Creativity and Magic

Welcome to The eLearning Guild Podcast, where we chat about the current trends that influence learning, performance, and technology.

In this episode we chat with Penn Jillette of the world famous magic duo Penn and Teller. Penn is the opening keynote at DevLearn 2016 Conference & Expo taking place November 16-18 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In our conversation, we discuss how Penn got his start with magic, how he was able to learn about and perfect his craft, how he and Teller develop the creative ideas for their show, and more.

Here are a few highlights from our conversation:

“I’m more interested in the truth than the magic.”

“When they are rating a pilot, they don’t ask you anything except how much time you’ve spent behind the controls of a specific aircraft. All they care about is flight time.”

“I found out that the [tricks] I was doing [were] less interesting than the stories I was telling.”

“The fun part is creating [the trick]”

“Teller and I try to start with an idea. We try to start with an abstract, emotional or philosophical idea that we want to represent.

“I’ve been really fascinated lately by the idea of failure – working really hard at something and not succeeding.”

To learn more about the keynote that Penn is giving at DevLearn, or any of the other sessions taking place at the conference this November, please visit the DevLearn 2016 Conference & Expo website.

And be sure to check out all episodes of The eLearning Guild Podcast for more guests, tips, and learning.