There are people who try to figure things out. Often, magic is presented in a way that sets up a challenge that I actually find kind of appalling. You know, "I'm clever, I can do something, and you don't know what it is." And that instills in the audience the idea that, "Yes, I do. You're not that clever."

I love amazing people. I love dazzling them. That's why I think performing magic is one of the greatest things a person can do.

One of the reasons I don't like to use the word "tricks" , I do think of them as theatrical pieces, and as pretentious as that might sound, there's a real reason for it. It's not the idea of tricking you; it's the idea of taking you along on this particular journey the way you would in any other theatrical situation. But, hopefully, you're going to be fooled at the end.

I suppose that if I could only do one thing, a solid card effect would be pretty high on the list. That's the root of it all, sleight-of-hand. It's certainly the thing I feel most comfortable with.

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

I know absolutely nothing about the 20th Century.

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