Writing is the only thing in my life that doesn't get easier. It just doesn't.

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.

Not only do I lie, I take real pleasure in lying, in the transmission of magic effects.

That's one of the ways language evolved, by some very obscure form becoming common usage. And I must say that I'm very intrigued by use of language and slang, and criminal underground terms.

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.

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

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