I Learned That There Were Two Ways

Everything That You'd See On The Ed Sullivan Show Was At The Tannen's Magic. You'd Think That If You Could Afford A Trick Like Doc Nixon's Dove Vanish, Then You Could Be On The Ed Sullivan Show As An 8-year-old Kid.

There Was An Old Brochure For The American Academy Of Dramatic Arts With A Quote From Robert Redford Or Someone, That Said, "you're Only As Good As You Dare To Be Bad."

When The Time Came To Say, "mom, I Want To Do This As A Job," It Was Brutal. She Was Really Against It. There Were Screaming Matches. Some People Are Shut Down By That And Get Defeated By It, And Other People Are Empowered By The Negativity. My Father Kind Of Encouraged Me Through That.

Later On, Towards The End Of Their Lives, I Thanked Her. I Said, "mom, You Were Really Tough." She Said, "i Wasn't Tough! I Always Believed In You."

There Was A Place In New York Called Tannen's Magic. It Still Exists. But Back In The Day, It Was Really Fantastic. You'd Go Into The Old Wurlitzer Building, Take The Elevator To The 13th Floor, Which Was Labeled 14, Because Of Bad Luck, The Elevator Would Open, And You'd Be In Heaven. It Was All Of These Guys Doing Magic Stuff With Props. It's Kind Of Gone Now, That Experience, The Brick-and-mortar Magic Shop, But You Really Felt Like You'd Landed In The Most Amazing Place In The World.