I held a fascinating interview with a private jet pilot (↑ that’s the jet he flies), and discovered how to utilize pilots’ Situational Awareness in my work on stage as a performer. If you’ve never heard of Situational Awareness, or the OODA loop, there’s a lot that you can learn from a pilot that could help save your life. It can also help you as a presenter on stage, which I’ll illustrate in this blog post.
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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 […]
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My 5-year-old daughter enjoyed this performance by Groucho Marx, so I’m posting several versions here. The song? “Lydia The Tattooed Lady,” from the Marx Brothers movie At The Circus.
According to Wikipedia, among the items, persons, and scenes tattooed on Lydia’s body are the Battle of Waterloo (on her back), The Wreck of the Hesperus (beside it), the red, white and blue (above them); the cities of Kankakee and “Paree”, Washington Crossing the Delaware, President Andrew Jackson, Niagara Falls, Alcatraz, Buffalo Bill, Captain Spaulding exploring the Amazon, Lady Godiva (with her pajamas on), Grover Whalen, the Trylon, Treasure Island, Nijinsky, a fleet of ships (on her hips), and Lydia’s own Social Security number.
I’ve included a second clip of Groucho singing on the Dick Cavett show later in life, and also a funny version by Kermit the Frog on the Muppet Show.
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I am honored to be the recipient of the 2010 National Arts Club Gold Medal of Honor for Magic. The award will be presented at a dinner ceremony on October 5, 2010 at the prestigious National Arts Club in Gramercy Park, NYC.
Tickets to this special event will be available in August, and I’ll post information here when I know more. Distinguished guests and presenters will be in attendance to present my award, and I plan to give a special performance! […]
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To celebrate Father’s Day, I invited my two children, Alex (age 10) and June (age 5) to perform at the Waldorf in Chamber Magic last night. It was their debut performance, and they did an amazing job! In this post, I’ve added a photo-essay and two videos of their world-premiere.
Sharing the stage with my children was, to me, the best Father’s Day present I could ever imagine.
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On October 24, 2008, right before the last Presidential election, I was a guest on the radio show Studio 360, a popular program on Public Radio International (PRI) hosted by Kurt Anderson. Due to its timeliness, Anderson raised the question as to whether politicians were similar to magicians. Specifically, he focused on the power of “patter” – a magicians’ term for the words spoken during a magic trick.
Two other magicians, both close friends of mine, Mark Levy and Harry Lorayne also appear in the broadcast. There are a few other very recognizable voices too. Click the play button, and see if you can figure them out!
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Cole Porter, the beloved American songwriter, lived in several suites in The Waldorf Towers from 1934 to 1964, eventually settling on room 33A. This spacious and grand suite later became the home of Frank Sinatra. If you’ve ever visited my show in New York City, you’ve had a peek inside the Towers. The Waldorf Towers are the super-luxury, high-security, residential “hotel within a hotel” in the Waldorf-Astoria.
Cole Porter’s piano – a small mahogany Steinway with Louis XVI courtly figures – is on display in the Park Avenue cocktail terrace of The Waldorf-Astoria. If you’re a Cole Porter fan, it’s definitely […]
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A poet named Robert Moyer read my New York Times profile in the Sunday paper several weeks back, and was inspired to write this poem:
Sunday paper
looking up to find
the day has vanished
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(May 20, 2010) NEW YORK – A sedan picked me up at my upper west side apartment, and whisked me to the Ed Sullivan Theater on 53rd Street and Broadway. A guard met me at the stage door, and sent me up to my dressing room on the sixth floor. Here’s a picture of me […]
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The full video of my May 20, 2010 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman.
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