As a kid, I always was obsessed with Houdini.

It was just like a digital fixation with cards and math and science and then I started to look at images of great magicians from Houdini down the line.

To most magicians, cards themselves are marvels...For one thing, they feel special in your hand. Touching them, holding them, shuffling - the whole process is almost poetic. If you're in a room full of magicians and someone just mentions the word cards, within seconds, everyone is digging into their pockets and pulling out a deck of cards. It's one of the most amazing feelings ever.

I'd go to Coney Island to hang out, and I saw a magician doing a rope trick on the boardwalk. I was fascinated. I guess that's how it started.

In truth, the only restrictions on our capacity to astonish ourselves and each other are imposed by our own minds.

I have not had time to reflect on my own truths in many years.

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.