I always read what I write out loud, and I did that long before any radio thing. My editor finds that unusual.

I never talk much about my family, but my grandfather was friendly with these guys, with magicians and ventriloquists on the highest levels, and I was just interested.

Once you get into the era of the printed book, it gets a little easier. After years and years, you make a serious survey of that literature, and then you make it more specific depending on what kind of case appears. I never set out to collect material on cheating at bowling, but I found out that after 20 years, I had a lot of material on cheating at bowling.

Magic is a powerful art that can support a weak performer.

My father was the Formica King of Long Island, and my mother was the daughter of a Bengal Lancer in India.

The pain is bad magicians ripping off good ones, doing magic badly, and making a mockery of the art.

I'm pretty fortunate that I'm in the films I'm in largely because the directors have asked me to be in them. I'd love to do more of them, but the writing and historical stuff I'll probably always do.