CHICAGO — In an unassuming red brick building situated on the corner of North Wolcott and West Lawrence Avenues in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood is Magic, Inc., the oldest magic shop in North ...

To help pay for his undergraduate education, Elias Garcia-Pelegrin had an unusual summer job: cruise ship magician. “I was that guy who comes out at dinnertime and does random magic for you,” he says.

Magic tricks can teach us about how the brain works. Magic capitalises on very specific blind spots in people’s attention and perception so the techniques that magicians use to trick audiences are ...