Thomas Fraps

Magician

Thomas Fraps

MC

Speaker

thomas FRaps

Thomas Fraps is a professional magician, ex-physicist and grown-up. He struggled with reality for the first 30 years of his life but finally won. Since then he travels the world as a professional magician and turns the laws of nature upside down (which he first studied as a physicist). Especially his alter ego "The False Expert", a special surprise speaker , delights and amazes audiences, at scientific conferences, corporate functions and business meetings worldwide, e.g. at an international medical congress in Munich, a supercomputer-conference in San Diego, a neuroscience meeting in Edinburgh or a corporateevent in NYC. The false expert knows everything about nothing and proves it with increasingly weird slides until the bluescreen of death ends the playful hoax and he reveals his true identity as an expert in entertaining deceptions, illusions and impossibilites.
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Magician & Grown-up

False Expert, MC, Speaker and Author

His background as a physicist brought Thomas Fraps not only a two-year stint as the host of a science show on German TV, but also a portrait in the scientific journal "Nature" in 2005 (so far the only professional magician to receive this one page real estate). Since 2008 he collaborates with psychologists and brain scientists in London and Munich who design lab-experiments using magic to learn about human cognition and perception mechanisms. He is the co-author of several scientific papers and book chapters. He gives public talks on the history and art of magic, the deceptive tricks of the brain and has won awards at the World Championship of Magic in 2000 and was awarded "Lecturer of the Year" by the Academy of Magical Arts and Sciences in Hollywood (with his fellow magicians from the ensemble "The Flicking Fingers"). 
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Shows, Talks & Testimonials

The False Expert / MC / Magic / Talks

Shows

Corporate Events / Conventions

Thomas Fraps wants his audience to experience the joy of the illusion of impossibility and likes to share the feeling of astonishment wherever he performs: at international conventions, corporate functions, or during a theatrical full-evening show and small private parties. As a magician and MC, or in his role as a special keynote speaker and "False Expert" , Thomas Fraps provides entertaining magical experiences which will be remembered long after the event. The playful illusions of impossibility are a memorable and creative impulse for all kinds of events and audiences. They increase the level of attention and communication and even stimulate creative thinking (according to recent studies).
"Despite other excellent presentations, Thomas` show remained the main topic of conversation throughout the whole conference. Moreover, it brought a corporate feeling and good spirits to the meeting, and that is exactly what it was meant for." - Prof. Dr. Thomas Klopstock, Department of Neurology, University of Munich" more...

Talks

The Tricks of your Brain

An astonishing talk with many Aha-moments for all owners of a brain - Magicians amaze their audiences already for centuries with their seemingly impossible illusions. For about a decade now neuroscientists throw an experimental view inside the psychological bag of tricks of magicians. Thomas Fraps was part of several of these experimental studies more ....

His interactive talk illuminates the psychology of deception, it's applications from serious cases like fake news and art forgery to a more playful use in theatre, film and magic. En passant the talk shows that the knowledge of these principles doesn't prevent you from being deceived by them. There is no foolproof protection against deception. An informative, inspiring and amazing talk, leading to a higher activation of your brain, thanks to the increased levels of dopamine, Aladin and Merlin!

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Testimonials

Corporate Theatre Press TV
Berkeley National Laboratory

"Dear Thomas, I would like to thank you once again for adding a much-appreciated talk to the schedule at our recent SciDAC (Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing) conference in San Diego. Your talent for quickly picking up on the jargon of the conference and seamlessly integrating it into your presentation added greatly to the surprise of attendees as they gradually realized what was going on. As evidence of how convincing you were, more than one attendee was actually taking notes at the start of your talk. Even some of our most skeptical experts admitted they were taken in by your slides. As you know, technical conferences can seem a little dry after several days, and many attendees were both engaged and energized after your session. In fact, they kept talking about it until the end of the conference. I am happy to recommend your services to any conference looking for a way to add some spark to the program. Again, many thanks. " - Prof. Horst Simon, SciDac Chair

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The Magic Castle, Los Angeles

"Dear Thomas, what an honor to have you here this week. We hope to see you back in one of the showrooms again. On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are grateful for your participation of making the Academy and its clubhouse the Magic Castle, one of the best magical places in the world. Thank you again. Sincerely Dale Hindman, President

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AdVA Optical

"We have successfully used Thomas Fraps for our corporate events in Munich and New York since 2011. As a fake expert, he managed to captivate a room full of 200 attendees with his humour and tricks. Our international delegates were always eager to return to the conference room after breaks to avoid missing one of his performances as an MC. In short, he is a great partner to work with. I have no hesitation in recommending Thomas and his surprising skillsett as an illusionist and fake expert for any event.  - Stephan Rettenberger, VP Global Marketing ADVA

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Novo Nordisk Foundation

"Your performance added a real spark to the program and was the perfect finale after four intensive days with scientific presentations and discussions. I am happy to recommend your services to any conference looking for a fun but intelligent way to spice up their event."  - Jesper Velgaard Olsen, Vice Director NNF Center for Protein Research, Kopenhagen

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