Renowned magician and New York Times crossword constructor David Kwong AB '02 invites you to step into the mysterious, historic world of the Riverbank Estate, the “cradle of cryptology,” reimagined at The High Line Hotel’s gothic Hoffman Hall. Guests will experience mind-bending illusions, and solve entertaining riddles and puzzles. The Enigmatist will blur reality and fiction—and leave you in awe of Kwong’s secret talents.

What’s Riverbank? It was a real-life bizarre and fantastical estate, established in 1908 by eccentric multi-millionaire George Fabyan, where he and cohorts William and Elisebeth Friedman pioneered the science of cryptology. This team went on to lead the American military’s code-breaking efforts in World War I and II, and eventually form the foundation for the NSA.

Shows will be Fridays and Saturday nights throughout January 2019.

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David Kwong is a magician and cruciverbalist (crossword constructor) who mixes puzzles and prestidigitation. Kwong was the head magic consultant on the worldwide hit film Now You See Me and is the secret code consultant for NBC’s Blindspot. A TED Talk favorite, Kwong recently published Spellbound: Seven Principles of Illusion (HarperCollins), which breaks down the neuroscience of how your brain is fooled.