Wei Ling Soo, Stanley's on-stage persona, is a reference to Chung Ling Soo, the stage name of William Ellsworth Robinson (1861-1918), a popular magician in the U.S. and Europe for many years. Chung Ling Soo also tried to debunk spiritualists, and even wrote a book about it in 1898. A major difference is how carefully the men protect their Chinese personas. In this movie, people seem to be aware of Stanley's role as Wei Ling Soo. Robinson, very careful to protect his stage persona, lived as Chung, never breaking character while in public. He died on March 24, 1918 when a bullet catch trick went wrong. "My God, I've been shot!" were his last words and the first English words he had spoken on stage in nineteen years.
Stanley gets most of his pessimism and philosophical view points from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who is mentioned more than once in this movie.
At one point, Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth) and Sophie Baker (Emma Stone) are caught in a lightning storm and take shelter in an abandoned observatory. A similar scenario happened in Manhattan (1979), also written and directed by Woody Allen.
Emma Stone considers Diane Keaton, long a mainstay in Woody Allen's earlier movies, to be a major influence on her work.
The paintings in Olivia's London apartment appeared in Gertrude Stein's apartment in Midnight in Paris (2011).