EM: I really like all the tricks and routines in the book, so hopefully some of the pieces will make it into the performing repertoires of other magicians. I think that's likely given the range of material.
Mostly though, I wanted to inspire the reader to think seriously about the art and craft of magic. To realize that every little detail is important in performance, and that the responsibility of an artist is to never arrive at the end of the journey. To always be refining, growing and evolving is what an artist does.
That's the job, and it is NEVER finished. Here I am having been a professional magician for more than 25 years, and I often feel as if I'm barely scratching the surface of where the art can go and where I might one day take it. It's my hope that "laying bare"--as Teller puts it in the introduction--some of my thinking will inspire others to never be satisfied with a method, an effect, or a performance, and to keep thinking deeply and pushing hard to see where else magic might take you and your audiences.
WK: What are your favorite routines in the book?
EM: That's a tough question, akin to asking a parent which is your favorite child. It's a sampler of many ideas and approaches, and my tastes have been known to change on a whim. "Gone Fishin'" remains in my active repertoire today, as does "An Auspicious Occasion" so they have to be right up there. "3 Piece Combo" is a terrific trick for laymen, but I still pull it out for sessions and convention appearances for other magicians.
There are no routines in the book that I'd be embarrassed to perform today, so my favorite would have to be...whatever is right for the next show I'm doing. I know, it's one of those "non-answers" but it will have to stand.
