Using “story and technology” to create unforgettable experiences.

Earlier this year Ari Novick was featured on the CW magic themed show Penn & Teller Fool Us and the show made prominent mention about his time as a theme park designer. The concept of the show is that magicians perform a trick for world famous magicians Penn Jillette and Teller who then try to figure out how they did it. The trick Ari performed even had a theme park bend on it using the carnival game of rings and bottles as the basis of a prediction trick. Although Ari did not fool Penn & Teller to “win” the game, he certainly still won overall by obtaining great exposure for his new professional magic career. In this article we’ll delve deeper into Ari’s theme park background and the surprising number of connections with magic.

I’ve been a fan of Penn & Teller for years and love watching Fool Us. For those unfamiliar with the show, Fool Us typically features several magicians each week with an intro package on each followed by their trick. The show host then does a short interview of the contestant while Penn & Teller discuss the trick after which they try to explain how the trick was done (typically this is done using code words that the performer will understand, but may be lost on an audience not as familiar with magic lingo). The intro package and post trick interview focused heavily on Ari’s transition from theme parks to professional magician during the pandemic. The show used roller coaster engineering drawings, pictures and videos as background graphics throughout Ari’s segment. It was wonderful to see a theme park designer appear on the show and I immediately did some research on Ari after watching the episode. I reached out to Ari who was gracious enough to speak with me and some of the information in this article was gathered in an interview with him.

Growing up Ari was always interested in theme parks and set his sights on working in the industry. Ari also simultaneously had a love of magic and juggling that began at age 10 with a trip to a magic shop. To pursue his theme park dream Ari got a degree in mechanical engineering and had several engineering related internships including one with Disney. One of Ari’s first full-time jobs was with a Disney contracted engineering firm where he worked on safety related projects for attractions at the Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom. Ari later landed at Universal Creative where he worked as an engineer for 5 years.

During his time at Universal Creative Ari has worked on many projects you’ve probably experienced and several of them are mentioned on his LinkedIn page. One of the projects mentioned prominently was Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon. Ari managed multi-million dollar contracts for ride-action equipment for the ride and supervised overall safety, functionality, schedule, and reliability of the equipment.  Ari also had projects for attractions dealing with everything from syncing on-board audio to restraints to evacuation routes.

One of the first things Ari and I discussed was the relationship between what he did in ride design and now in magic. From Ari’s perspective they’re much more similar than most people would think in that they’re both merging “story” and some form of “technology” to entertain. A good story is essential to an attraction or to a trick in order to provide a context for the audience’s experience of technology. In theme park attractions the technology may be the ride vehicle and practical effects while in magic it’s the underlying method that allows the trick to succeed. Sometimes in theme park rides as in magic it’s best if the technology is essentially invisible to the audience, however, you’re still using story and technology. This was especially evident in some of the rides Ari cited as favorites are dark rides such as Spider-Man at Universal Studios. On Spider-Man a revolutionary “scoop” ride vehicle, screens and practical effects all blend seamlessly to tell an amazing story. Ari mentioned that when he rides a new attraction for the first time he wants to be immersed just like everyone else, then maybe the second time he’ll start looking at the places they don’t want you to look.

Some of Ari’s work on theme parks has yet to be experienced by the public because it is part of the upcoming Epic Universe set to open in May of 2025. Most people who work in the industry have non-disclosure agreements which prevent them from speaking publicly about their work, but Ari’s fingerprints are on one of the coasters and one of the upcoming lands. The era Ari was with Universal Creative was the same time much of Epic Universe was being developed and the project’s slight delay during the Covid closures no doubt played a big role in the layoffs at Universal Creative.

Ari’s life has also in a way come full circle as in January he will again be working with Disney, but this time as a professional magician after interning with them years ago on the engineering side. Ari will be performing magic for guests on the Disney Boardwalk as well as performing for some private events at Disney. This is a transition from Ari working “behind the curtain” at theme parks to now in “front of the curtain”. To Ari though it’s all the same attraction as “people want more and to know more is possible and both theme parks and magic make this happen.”

Being in “front of the curtain” is not without its challenges. When Ari was working on a theme park project he would typically only have responsibility for one specific part such as safety restraints or evacuation. As a magician Ari is responsible for the complete performance and all aspects of planning and execution. Also, where a theme park attraction is meant to be a controlled experience with every ride essentially identical to the last, working with a live audience on stage is a new challenge every time. To use a magic term, the performer needs multiple “outs” in order to handle the unexpected. Magic doesn’t have a computerized control system running a program, it’s 100% the magician making real-time decisions about how to move the performance forward aided by years of practice and experience. In front of the curtain you need to sell yourself and have 100% belief in yourself.

Even though he’s transitioned out of working professionally as a theme park designer, Ari is still a fan of the parks. He currently resides in central Florida which is a theme park mecca. He has his favorites in Orlando like Spider-Man mentioned previously as well as Peter Pan at Magic Kingdom. Ari also counts a couple of coasters in his favorites like Escape from Gringotts, Taron and Phantasialand and Wicked Cyclone up in New England where he grew up, However, like many of us he rides coasters a little less as some of the intense forces are a bit harder to take as we get older. These days he is more likely to be enjoying some of the immersive and exploration driven theming more than the rides. He’s especially a fan of the way so many of the European parks do this.

Ari’s story is a great one of perseverance and not giving up on a dream, or in this case multiple dreams. It’s uncommon for most people to actually achieve their childhood dream job and in this case Ari has not only achieved one childhood dream, but two. Although they may at first seem like very dissimilar careers, for Ari they are quite similar as he’s still using story and technology to entertain. Ari’s shows are designed to be interactive and fun with material appropriate for corporate events, trade shows and family events. You can learn more about Ari Novick on his website (https://www.arinovickmagic.com/) along with information about how you can have him be part of your next event. It will be fun to watch the next chapter of Ari’s story as he continues to use his skills to bring joy and wonder to audiences everywhere.