When I was 16 and wanted to be an actor, people told me to go work at the supermarket.

I was big into mythology when I was a kid - Arthurian legends and Greek mythology, that was kind of my passion. I hadn't heard of the books, but I was told they were very popular amongst the kids, so I got a hold of them and read them. I totally got it!

Stress is when you wake up screaming and realize you haven't fallen asleep yet

My character on 'I'm In the Band,' Derek Jupiter of Iron Weasel, is definitely one of the crazier ones. That's completely on the other end of the spectrum. There's absolutely nothing like Derek any shape or form. I'm having so much fun playing this egotistical, '80s-era rockstar - everything he does is from the point-of-view of a rockstar.

My fave routine is The Roller Coaster. First of all it's a great way to get into a card trick, without stating it's a card trick. The routine is so brilliantly structured as to at first, intrigue, psychologically unsettle and then blow away your audience. An extra bonus is that it will hopefully create a welcome respite from bloody invisible deck routines. Worth the price of the book.

My friend Fred Coury, the drummer in '80s rock band Cinderella, told me that in the rock world, you're either still there, or you're struggling to get back to where you were.

I've been doing magic since I was five years old, and when I was trying to get acting gigs, I found I could make a good living at it. It's great to kind of shake the cobwebs off and get the feeling of a live audience again. I love close-up magic, the card stuff, the coin stuff, the really up-close David Blaine stuff.