My mother was a teacher, and when she wanted to show me art and literature and science, she'd take me to museums, parks and free exhibitions.

As a kid I used to hold my breath longer than anybody else, and then I heard stories about people accidently underwater for 45 minutes - how do you recover from that? It's not a miracle. Something allows us to survive.

Whether you're shuffling a deck of cards or holding your breath, magic is pretty simple: It comes down to training, practice, and experimentation , followed up by ridiculous pursuit and relentless perseverance.

Magic's an art where you use slight of hand or illusion to create wonder. And I was just intrigued with that idea.

I think that when Evel Knievel crashed over the fountain at Caesars, it kind of gave you a credibility and then anticipation for everything he did.

Basically, I was a kid growing up with a single mother in Brooklyn.

We are all capable of infinitely more than we believe.