According to celebrity reporter Robin Leach:
“Steve Cohen is the dictionary definition of ‘amazing,’ ‘unbelievable,’ and ‘baffling.’ There is nobody else in the world doing what he does and it truly is the most remarkable performance I have seen in all my years. I believe that his extraordinary and unique talents far surpass any ordinary Las [...]

Steve Cohen: Is there a basic human need to be deceived? Do people seek out scenarios where they can be willingly deceived? Why would smart and/or successful people who typically are in control of every area of their lives be interested in coming to a “magic show”?
Leonard Peikoff: I absolutely disagree that there is a [...]

Leonard Peikoff: That leads me to the other part of your question: how can you convince people, and create conviction? I would say that you can create only one kind of conviction, if you’re talking about a rational audience. It’s the conviction of your skill.
You could not convince a rational audience that you have supernatural [...]

I am currently rereading one of my favorite novels, Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand (pictured above). Near the end of her life, Rand appointed Objectivist philosopher Leonard Peikoff as the legal heir to her estate. He is the world’s foremost authority on Ayn Rand’s philosophy. By a stroke of luck, Dr. Peikoff recently visited my [...]

Teller (of Penn & Teller) was kind enough to write an endorsement of my Waldorf-Astoria show. A few years back, he visited together with Dick Cavett. It was a great night. After the show, we talked extensively about Groucho Marx, Richiardi, and Slydini. Teller expertly performed a Slydini coin vanish, making my silver dollar disappear in the purest fashion.

Here is the full text of the quote that Teller [...]

Yoda visited Chamber Magic at the Waldorf last night.

Andy Nyman, my old friend and a truly wonderful man, brought him along. Of course, Yoda came in the form of his inventor, Frank Oz. He’s also the man behind the Muppets: Cookie Monster, Grover, Fozzie Bear, Bert, and Miss Piggy. After the show, we had drinks together at the Bull & Bear. What a thrill. During our conversation, he grunted in Cookie Monster’s voice for me, but I didn’t ask him to speak like Yoda. It just didn’t feel like the right thing to do.

Frank Oz told me that he once auditioned for [...]

Last night renowned sex therapist, Dr. Ruth Westheimer visited me at the Waldorf for my late show, Miracles at Midnight. During one part of the show, I magically pass one solid object through another. I call it a penetration effect. Last night, in a moment of inspiration, I asked Dr. Ruth to assist with this trick. I looked at her and asked, “Dr. Ruth, would you please help me with a penetration effect?” She answered, [...]

I was surprised to see a mention of my performance on Tuesday night in The Daily Beast website today.

I was invited to entertain 125 guests last night at a private dinner celebrating Comcast’s new ownership of NBC Universal. All the heavy hitters of the two companies were there, including Jeff Zucker (NBC president), Ralph Roberts (Comcast founder), and Brian Roberts (Comcast CEO).

Orson Welles was no stranger to pranks, as we know from his 1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds that drove America into a frenzy. It should be no surprise, then that Welles was also a keen magician and remained fascinated by magic throughout his life. [...]

NBA coach Phil Jackson came to my show last night. After the show was over, we took a couple of photos. I look like a shrimp. Fact is, he is 6 feet 8 inches tall. He has a great sense of humor, and is a cool guy.

The next night, Phil Jackson was in the Meadowlands [...]

Just as singers have their favorite songs, magicians have our favorite tricks.

One of my all-time favorites is Think-a-Drink. The proper title of this routine is Any Drink Called For, and has also been known as The Bar Act. I’ve been performing this routine in my shows for the past eight years, but it has existed in various forms for over a century. The trick is so old, it’s new again.

A recent guest at my Waldorf show introduced himself as a relative of the great old-time magician, Max Malini. According to the gentleman, his great aunt’s second husband was Malini. A few weeks later, he sent me a piece of memorabilia from their family scrapbook – Malini’s calling card.

This image was drawn by the world-famous tenor, Enrico Caruso.

This art exhibition by Austrian designer Stefan Sagmeister is very clever and inspirational. The artist mounted 7200 bananas onto the wall, each at various levels of ripeness. It’s a Lego-like building environment, and the greenest bananas contrasted with the yellowest ones enough to spell out words: “SELF CONFIDENCE PRODUCES FINE RESULTS”

Once you’ve flown on a private jet, there’s no going back. I just landed in Cancun, on a Bombadier Challenger 605. And it’s all thanks to card tricks. My flight bag is loaded with six decks of Tally-Ho cards, a purseful of antique silver dollars, one red silk hanky and two false thumbs. Try explaining [...]

A major highlight in my performing career took place on April 26, 2009.
The Waldorf-Astoria’s Director of Diplomatic Affairs invited me to entertain Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia.
The Crown Prince and his royal court were staying in the Waldorf Towers during an extended visit to New York. After all, the [...]

I lost track of time at my dinner with David Berglas. So did he, apparently, as he shared wonderful stories of his lifetime of experiences in magic, and also several amazing card tricks. I had brought my own deck of Tally-ho cards, and David performed a rapid-fire series of think-a-card tricks, the likes of [...]