He even has writing and directing credits on the show.
What were some of the highlights of showing these performers a little piece of your world?
Did any of them surprise you?
They all surprised me for different reasons.
“Magic With the Stars” really boasts an incredible, diverse lineup of people.
My levitation won The Greatest Illusion of All Time [in] the largest magic publication, Vanish.
You have Corbin, who’s more of a Broadway guy, even though he has the television experience.
And then you have Miles Brown, [who] did “Black-ish” many seasons of that.
You take these two, and you teach them my levitation that took me 22 years to create.
We had to overcome that fear and address it.
They ultimately are performing illusions that professional headline magicians are not even doing or not capable of doing.
You got me judging.
You got Emmy award-winning comedian Loni Love.
You got master magician, with over 16,000 shows in Vegas, Lance Burton.
We have all of the elements for the ultimate family show on television.
Hopefully, people will tune in, and I know they’ll get addicted to it.
Did you help style him at all?
We have my team.
I have about a hundred and something people that work with me.
I have [the] incredible Julie and Kimmy that runs the costume department and designers in my shop.
We get them, and they talk to them.
We want them to feel good about what they’re doing.
If they have a fear and they don’t want to do something, no need to do it.
But most people, if not all people, want to address their fear and overcome it.
They do have [fears].
They’re just like us.
And if they can have these fears and overcome them, then so can I.
It has this great, positive undertone that I think is going to resonate [with] our viewers.
There’s aways a new trick
Eddie Griffin is so great as the show’s host.
What are some of your favorite moments working with him?
Well, Eddie and I have been friends for a decade.
We have been friends for a long time.
He comes [and] sees my show.
I go see his show[s] with my family [and] his family.
He doesn’t read the teleprompter as it reads; he makes it his own.
And he’s great on his toes.
He’s fast; he’s witty; he’s likable.
He doesn’t make a run at overtake a situation.
And he cracks me up, [and] even Loni.
We’re always laughing.
We’re like family.
Loni’s like my sis, and Eddie’s like my brother.
It’s not contrived.
We love being around each other.
What is your process when it comes to developing a new illusion?
And what’s some advice you’ve given to some of the newbies on the show?
For me, developing a new illusion is happening all the time.
I create thousands of demonstrations.
I did over 1,000 on my show “Mindfreak” alone.
Whatever my imagination can conjure up, we can pretty much build it.
Did they ask you to green-light the title or ask you to cameo in that episode?
And what are your thoughts on that if you’ve seen it?
No, I’ve never seen it.
I wasn’t asked, but you know what?
Loved, hated, never ignored.
I can’t worry about … You go on the internet, go on social media.
People spend and consume their lives as somebody else, commenting on somebody else’s life.
I don’t consume myself [with that].
I don’t care.
It doesn’t matter to me.
What matters to me is my happiness [and] my family’s happiness.
Shows and people will do what they will.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
