Dai Vernon, the greatest sleight of hand figure in the history of the art, rarely performed. But he invented magic and had an enormous influence on the whole range of sleight of hand. And so often the magic he was doing was to fool other magicians.

I think a lot of people just assumed I came to L.A. to do more television and get into show business.

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

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.

Every acting gig isn't the same, every writing job isn't the same, every live performance isn't the same - the challenge is the level of difficulty or ease, and that may vary.

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.

I'm probably the only kid in history whose parents made him stop taking music lessons. They made me stop studying the accordion.