Douglas Frazier: Corporate Magician & Keynote Speaker

Douglas Frazier uses illusion to explore how people think and what they choose to see. Through storytelling and psychology, he reveals how attention can be shaped, directed, and quietly undone. What he’s really doing is loosening certainty. We talked about focus, invisibility, and what it means to make something vanish on purpose.

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What do you think people are really looking for when they watch something disappear?

When people watch something disappear, whether it’s a coin, a card, or a limiting belief, they’re not actually looking for the vanish. They’re looking for permission. Permission to suspend certainty, to step outside their routines, and to momentarily let go of the mental rigidity that keeps them safe but often stuck. Disappearance isn’t about loss, it’s about the possibility that something else might appear in its place.

In corporate rooms and leadership workshops, when I make an object vanish, I’m really helping people release the invisible stories they’ve been holding too tightly: “This is just the way things are.” “We’ve tried that before.” “We don’t have the resources.” The disappearance offers a clean slate, a brief moment when their thinking loosens and curiosity re-enters the conversation. Not everything valuable is visible, and not everything invisible is empty. Sometimes when something disappears, what people are really searching for is the space to imagine what comes next.

Do you think wonder can exist without being fooled?  

Absolutely. In fact, the deepest wonder has nothing to do with deception and everything to do with the innate desire to see familiar things differently. Being fooled may trigger surprise, but wonder goes further. It shifts perspective. It activates curiosity, humility, and the willingness to not have all the answers.

In The Wonder Effect™ framework I teach, wonder is a deliberate choice, not a passive reaction. You can feel wonder even when you understand the method behind something, because the power isn’t in the mechanics; it’s in the meaning. A great leader, a profound story, a breakthrough idea, none of these require trickery, but all of them require openness and a commitment to possibilities. The critical aspects of our mindset and attention shape our reality more than the visible characteristics that are first observed. Wonder emerges when we stop needing certainty and start embracing possibility. It thrives whenever we step into curiosity instead of conclusion.

Do you think magic still works in a world where everything can be explained or Googled?  

More than ever. Magic doesn’t survive in spite of Google. It survives because Google can’t touch wonder. In a world where answers are instantly accessible, the real scarcity is experiences that bypass the analytical mind and connect directly to emotion, imagination, and meaning. People don’t crave the unknown because they lack information. They crave it because they’re overloaded with it. Magic works today because it interrupts the constant stream of facts, data, and opinions. Even if someone believes they could “Google the secret,” the emotional response, the spark, the reset, the pause, is something technology can’t replicate. And the few who do search for secrets often find the explanations disappointing. The method is never the antidote to the mystery, it’s merely a doorway to appreciating awe on a deeper level.

We live in a culture obsessed with what is visible and measurable, yet the forces that genuinely move us – trust, connection, curiosity, courage – are invisible. My goal as a magician and speaker is not to hide secrets but to reawaken senses dulled by over-explanation and amplification. 

How do you measure success when the product is an emotion?

When your product is an emotion, success isn’t measured by applause. It’s measured by alignment. Did the experience shift how people think, connect, or carry themselves back into their work and lives? Did it help them see possibilities where they previously saw limits? Did it open space for a different conversation, a different decision, or a different belief?

During my keynotes, I measure success by what I see in the room: shoulders dropping, guardedness dissolving, questions emerging that weren’t accessible moments before. They start collaborating not because they were instructed to but because something inside them shifted. I don’t leave them with “takeaways” on the last slide of a PowerPoint. That’s a lecture. Lectures teach but doesn’t change behavior.

What do you wish people understood about magicians that they usually miss?   

I wish more people understood that magicians aren’t in the business of tricking. They’re in the business of revealing. The illusion is a tool, but the purpose is transformation. A good magician doesn’t hide reality but reframes it, showing people that their assumptions are often their greatest limitations. Many assume magic is about secrets, but the real craft lies in psychology, connection, timing, and the intentional shaping of human experience.

The most meaningful parts of any moment are invisible – the mindset behind it, the narrative we bring to it, the attention we choose to give it. Magicians help people rediscover their capacity for wonder not because I fool them, but because I remind them how much they miss when they assume they’re seeing everything. The trick ends in a second; the insight can last for years.

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When Douglas talks about magic, he isn’t describing a secret. He’s describing the moment people loosen their certainty and see differently. For him, illusion isn’t concealment. It’s a way of opening the mental space where wonder, alignment, and insight can finally surface.

Learn more about Douglas at:

• Website

• Youtube

• LinkedIn

• Speaker Profile