My Polish collaborator, Wojciech Napora, and I have just released the culmination of some of our research exploring the personalities of FISM award-winning magicians. We are proud that the work is being featured in the top-tier journal, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Wojciech spearheaded this work during the pandemic, when he personally recruited 50 FISM winners to participate...No small feat! https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000745

Back during pandemic times, I was awarded a sabbatical from Carthage College. Part of my sabbatical project involved gaining some training in qualitative research methods. This week, I published my very first paper using those methods. The paper, entitled "Identifying the Boundaries of Magic: A Qualitative Study of Expert Magicians" was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Performance Magic. My collaborators, Sarah Tuchel, Gustav Kuhn, Dan Simons, and I set out to understand expert magicians' attitudes about where magic ends and other performance arts begin. Interviewees included: Joe Diamond, Jamy Ian Swiss, Carisa Hendrix, Jeanette Andrews, Tom Stone, and David Parr. Video from the interviews is available on Science of Magic Association website at: https://scienceofmagicassoc.org/blog/2024/7/1/interview-series-on-magic-misdirection

Sarah Tuchel and I presented this work at the 2023 British Society of Aesthetics workshop on the "Art & Aesthetics of Illusion." You can view a video version of that presentation here.

In April, the Carthage Adventures in Fandom & Cosplay club hosted their annual CarthageCon event (inspired by Comic Con). I was invited to put together a panel to discuss something in the realm of magic, and I landed on a discussion of why magic sucks. Of course, I don't actually think magic sucks (although a lot of it is subpar). I invited Victoria Richter (a student who has taken my Cognitive Science of Magic class and who has seen LOTS of good magic) and John Sturk (the current national president of the Society of American Magicians) to join me on the panel. We discussed some of the historical barriers of entry to the magic community, including magic's whiteness and maleness. We also addressed how many of the tropes of magic are deeply grounded in misogyny. However, we also talked about current trends in magic, including DEI committees and movement towards audience-centric, narrative-driven magic...magic that makes you feel something. John Sturk talked about his experience on the panel in his monthly column in M-U-M Magazine, the official publication of the Society of American Magicians. You can read his piece here.

Friend of the MAGI-Lab, Joe Diamond, will appear on an episode of "Penn & Teller Fool Us" on Friday, February 2nd. If you want a peek behind the magic curtain, join Joe and me for a Q&A at the Stage Left Cafe in Woodstock, IL on the evening of Tuesday, February 20th. The event is free and open to the public! More info on the Facebook event page here: https://fb.me/e/4nPhM8Xtp

2/21/2024 Update: Video from the event is available at https://fb.watch/qmi77IOsBS/.

I had the pleasure of serving as the illusion consultant for a recent production of "Carrie, the Musical" at Carthage College. We did some fun stuff, making a chair levitate and a statue of Jesus float through the air. A faculty respondent for the Kennedy Center / American College Theatre Festival saw the show and issued a Certificate of Merit for our work!

"Martin McClendon, William Newcomb, Anthony Barnhart - Illusions and Special Effects - These were a collaborative creation to make this story magical. It is deserving of recognition."

Today, September 2, 2022, is World Magic Day. Coincidentally, it also marks the release of a special issue of Vanish Magazine devoted to the interaction of science and magic. The issue includes a piece by me, exploring the pedagogical value of using magic in the classroom. It also includes pieces from many of my friends and colleagues, including Gustav Kuhn, Jason Leddington, Jeanette Andrews, Jamy Ian Swiss, and Richard Wiseman. The issue is free to download at https://joom.ag/IjId.

It's been three years since I hosted the Science of Magic Association conference in Chicago. After our pandemic-induced hiatus, the SoMA committee is excited to host our third biennial(ish) conference in London next month. For my part, I will be presenting data from my newest publication, in press at Psychology of Consciousness. It will be officially released in September, appearing in a special section devoted to understanding consciousness through the science of magic. We have an incredible line-up of peer-reviewed presentations and keynote addresses. You can peek at the conference program here. See you on the other side of the pond!

Update: Video from my presentation at #SoMA22 appears below.

I had the pleasure of moderating a rich conversation on magic and creativity for the Science of Magic Association. My panelists were an international group of magicians and creativity researchers including David Parr, Cyril Thomas, Matt Pritchard, and Amory Danek. The video is available below, and accompanying content is available at https://scienceofmagicassoc.org/blog/2021/8/23/magic-creativity-webinar.

I was interviewed on the Society of American Magicians "Backstage" podcast. It was a really fun chat about the history of interaction between scientists and magicians. Enjoy! ​