David Kwong is a mentalist and New York Times crossword puzzle constructor.

Why you should listen

David Kwong believes that all magic tricks are puzzles designed to fool your brain. With his expertise in secret codes and mentalism, he delights and challenges audiences around the world with his intellectual brand of enigmas and magic. A veteran "cruciverbalist" (crossword puzzle constructor), Kwong creates puzzles for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal. His one-man magic and puzzle show, The Enigmatist, has sold out theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

In his book, Spellbound: Seven Principles of Illusion to Gain Influence, Captivate Audiences, and Unlock the Secrets of Success, Kwong shows how to bridge the gap between perception and reality to increase our powers of persuasion. He also regularly speaks and performs at companies around the world and consults for Hollywood. He was the head magic consultant on the hit film Now You See Me and has also worked on The Imitation Game, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and The Afterparty on Apple TV. His kids book of magic tricks, How to Fool Your Parents, is publishing in 2024 and his magic show with AI is called Mentalist vs. The Machine.

David Kwong’s TED talks

More news and ideas from David Kwong

News

Flipside futures: The talks of TED@BCG 2023

November 16, 2023

Today is good, but tomorrow can always be better. There are new possibilities for our future if we use our uniquely human creativity. In a day of talks and performances, 16 leading minds gathered to flip expected thinking on its head and map out how we might build a brighter future. The event: TED@BCG: Flipside […]

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Live from TED2019

Short talks, big ideas: The talks of TED Unplugged at TED2019

April 17, 2019

In a fast-paced session of talks curated by TED arts and design curator Chee Pearlman and hosted with improv leader Anthony Veneziale, 12 members of the TED community shared ideas in a special format: each had to keep their talks under six minutes, with auto-advancing, timed slides. And yes, the mic does cut after six minutes!

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