For years Dent has been working via our conferences, dinners, and seminars to cross-pollinate ideas and technologies across unrelated disciplines in order to foster “combinatorial creativity.” These evening gatherings in Boston allow passionate people of varied professions and interests to engage in a social and collaborative environment.
On Thursday, September 20th, 2018, join us in downtown Boston for food, drinks, and an experience you won’t want to miss.
This is an evening, magic- and business-themed event beyond the usual drinks-and-speaker. The Magician’s craft serves as more than mere entertainment. In the academic realm, the lessons of deception and showmanship are used to enlighten numerous fields including neuroscience, anthropology, interface design, engineering, and many more.
At this fun and educational gathering, we will bring together some top magicians and magic enthusiasts to present and talk about how principles of deception and trickery help them enlighten and inform outside the world of magic. In addition, at the end of the night we will be teaching all attendees a trick or two that they will be able to perform themselves.
Performers and Presenters
Dan Novy is a Research Assistant at the MIT Media Lab and is co-instructor of the Media Lab’s “Science Fiction-Inspired Prototyping” and “Indistinguishable From Magic” classes. Dan is an Emmy- and Visual Effects Society Award-winning VFX technical supervisor, transmedia experience designer, and artist. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he received a BFA in theatre and an MA in theatre history, with a double emphasis in the technical history of the theatre and shamanic ritual performance in pre-agrarian societies. He is the former chair of the Visual Effects Society’s Technology Committee, and a former visiting scientist at Magic Leap.
Outside of onstage performance, there are few places where the arts of deception and mystery are more integral to pleasing audiences than in the design and execution of escape rooms. One of the best-known escape room locations in Boston is Boxaroo, and they’ve recently announced a new “Mystery of the Magician’s Study” scenario. We will interview Boxaroo principal Victor Hung, an MIT computer science grad, about how they design challenging and deceptive (but psychologically rewarding) entertainment.
In addition to our interviews, we will have a special performance from U.K. based magician Ed Sumner. Ed is a member of the Magic Circle and is an expert close-up performer. With a background as a stand up comedian, his magic is best described as a fusion between the two art forms. Whether it’s mix and mingle magic or a stand up cabaret show, Ed is most comfortable when he’s meeting people and making them laugh. His corporate clients include DHL, JCB, Heineken, GAP, Selfridges, Living TV, Eon Energy, Ernst and Young, Internet Central, The Mayor and Mayoress of Birmingham and many more.
Steve Broback is cofounder of Dent and before becoming a tech conference organizer was an award-winning professional close-up magician for many years. Steve has had the honor of performing as the opening act for magician Harry Anderson and has entertained several noteworthy clients including Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Come make new connections and gain insights through a unique evening experience.
Sponsored by Carbonite
This Dent:Live evening was hosted at Carbonite HQ, 2 Avenue de Lafayette, Boston. Our thanks to Carbonite for opening their doors to the Dent community and making these Boston gatherings possible. The Dent:Live podcast series was sponsored by Wool & Prince.
