The Chinese general Sun Tzu said that all war was based on deception. Oscar Wilde said the same thing of romance.

Art is a deception that creates real emotions - a lie that creates a truth. And when you give yourself over to that deception, it becomes magic.

About three years ago, I started an exercise in openness and inclusiveness to create new digital tools for magic - tools that could eventually be shared with other artists to start them off further on in the process and to get them into the poetry faster.

Magicians will always tell you the trick is the most important thing, but Im more interested in telling a story.

Magicians are typically introverted; they don't tend to work with others, but I work with software programmers, composers, designers, so it's a very diverse group and the result is always more interesting than something I could have done by myself.

We willingly enter fictional worlds where we cheer our heroes and cry for friends we never had.

The tricks of magic follow the archetypes of narrative fiction — there are tales of creation and loss, death and resurrection, and obstacles that must be overcome.