I got to watch Frank Capra, in his eighties, in action. You read all the stories about Frank Capra fighting with the head of Columbia, Harry Cohn, "It's my way or the highway." I got to watch that. He lambasted me, "You cannot do this. You will fail." Finally, after another hour of conversation, I convinced him to help me write the speech.

It is the unspoken ethic of all magicians to not reveal the secrets.

Never stop listening to your audience.

The audience likes to be taken on new journeys.

Before there can be wonders, there must be wonder.

In magic, it takes two or three years for me to create a 5-minute illusion for me to get it to the level I want.

Everyone was talking about having airplanes disappear. And I said, "Wait, wait, wait. That's what you like? I'd tell you a story about something like my girlfriend leaving me, and the magic was really hard. The airplane thing was comparatively easy, and people liked that thing?" I realized at that moment, the power of the simple idea.