The Magician’s Keynote · Boston
Hidden in Plain Sight
Designing moments worth retelling
A keynote where the room experiences the impossible before the curtain gets pulled back. Five principles for moment design people can’t stop talking about. Not a magic show; a method your team leaves using.
Check availabilityRooms worked
A few of the rooms this work has been featured in; from a dinner for eight to a ballroom of eight hundred.
Boston Bruins · Tufts University · Boston College · and rooms like yours
The talk
Why a magician gives keynotes on attention
People ask what a magician is doing giving keynotes. The honest answer: I guide a room’s attention for a living, and I’ve learned where it actually goes — not where people think it goes. That gap is where every memorable moment gets built.
The experiences people remember aren’t the expensive ones. They’re the ones that catch them off guard, or show them something in front of them the whole time. Those are the moments people retell, and retelling is how ideas travel through an organization.
This talk is about the craft behind moments that stick — the same invisible work that goes into a magic trick. Your audience experiences it live, before it’s explained. Then the curtain gets pulled back. It isn’t a magic show. It’s a method, proven in the room before it’s handed over.
The principles came from twenty-two years of performing, failing, and figuring out why some moments land and others disappear. I didn’t set out to build a framework. The principles just kept showing up.
The framework
Moment Architecture: five principles for moments worth retelling
The Frame
What changes when you widen the lens.
The Spotlight
Where attention actually goes.
The Load
All the invisible work before anyone sees a thing.
The Misdirect
Solving the problem nobody sees.
The Reveal
Slightly different timing completely changes the feeling.
The person on stage
An experience designer who uses magic as a medium
Twenty-two years in, I’ve worked TEDx stages, corporate ballrooms, and one nerve-wracking night performing for Penn & Teller on national television. Somewhere along the way it clicked: the thing that makes a trick land is the same thing that makes any moment worth retelling.
That realization became this talk. I built it so your people don’t just watch it happen. They leave knowing how to do it themselves.
Members called to let me know how much they enjoyed it.David Fechtor, Director · Tufts University
What your team leaves with
A process, not a memory of being entertained
Your teams leave with Moment Architecture as a working method. Something they can point at during the next pitch, the next launch, the next customer moment. It takes hold because they watched it work on themselves an hour earlier.
| Format | Length | What your team leaves with | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keynote | 60 min | All five principles of Moment Architecture, demonstrated live. | Conferences & all-hands |
| Keynote + Q&A | 90 min | The full talk, plus room to dig into your context. | Summits & leadership offsites |
| Workshop | Half / full day | Teams apply the five principles to their own projects. | L&D & team intensives |
| Custom | Scoped to you | Built around your industry, audience, and goals. | Series & unusual briefs |
Pre-event consultation included with every format. Keynote engagements begin at $7,500, scoped to your event and quoted after the strategy call.
See it work
Two minutes is enough to know
How booking works
Three steps, and you know where you stand at each one
Reach out
The form takes two minutes. A date and an email are enough to start.
Strategy call
Thirty minutes, no obligation. You leave with a written proposal and a date held two weeks.
Written for your room
Over two to four weeks I build the talk into your context. Slides and takeaways included.
Questions bookers ask
Frequently asked
Is this a magic show or a keynote?
It’s a keynote. The magic is the proof, not the point — the same craft that makes a trick land becomes a method your team can use the next morning.
What does it cost to book Evan?
Keynote engagements begin at $7,500, scoped to format, location, and audience size. Send your dates and you’ll get a written quote built for your room.
What does Evan speak on?
Attention, experience design, and the craft behind moments people retell — through a five-part framework called Moment Architecture. It fits sales kickoffs, L&D events, CX and product summits, and leadership conferences.
Where is Evan based, and does he travel?
Boston-based, available for corporate events and conferences across the US and internationally.
How far ahead should we book?
Popular dates fill months out, especially in kickoff season. The sooner we talk, the more flexibility on date and format.
For planners
The short version, for forwarding
- Who
- Evan Northrup — keynote speaker, TEDx, national TV (Penn & Teller: Fool Us), 22 years on stage.
- The talk
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Designing Moments Worth Retelling. A framework — Moment Architecture — for experiences your audience can’t stop repeating. Not a magic show; a method they leave using.
- Formats
- 60-min keynote · 90 min + Q&A · half- or full-day workshop · custom.
- Logistics
- Based in Boston, travels worldwide. One mic, a confidence monitor if available, a table. Insured, contracted, easy on production.
- Fee
- From $7,500. Reply within one business day.
Book the talk
Tell me about your room
Send the date, the audience, and what you’re trying to have them remember. You’ll hear back within one business day — from me, not an assistant.
Keynote engagements begin at $7,500. Every format includes a pre-event strategy call.