Michael Carbonaro Quotes

In circuses, there is a lot of magic. Things become other things.

Magic's an art where you use slight of hand or illusion to create wonder. And I was just intrigued with that idea.

Magic is an art form where you lie and tell people you are lying.

For me, the most exciting thing is to create good magic that's entertaining for an audience, and it would be lovely if a magician was fooled as well.

I don't think you can say something is or isn't magic. That's what was cool about Houdini, because he was a magician who had a magic show, but he was also an escape artist, and they kind of, over time, blended together. They both kind of enhance each other, I think.

When I started out back in Louisville, there was Harry Collins. He was my first teacher. He saw that I was so obsessed with magic that he taught me the love of magic.

Well, I also love magic, which is, you know, different than showmanship. Magic's an art where you use slight of hand or illusion to create wonder.

I wish what I do was all real. Some of it's real, some of it's an illusion and I try to blur the line between both, but unfortunately I've got to be honest with you. Taking a $1 bill and turning it into a $100 - unfortunately it's not real.

The real secret of magic lies in the performance.

I love amazing people. I love dazzling them. That's why I think performing magic is one of the greatest things a person can do.

I'm doing everything I can to take the magician out of the equation of magic.

If you do magic, it's the quickest most fraudulent route to impressing people.

But when I go off stage I don't have a deck of cards with me all the time.

You have to learn certain skills to present magic.

Generally, magicians don't know what to say, so they say stupid and redundant crap like, 'Here I am holding a red ball.'

I always really liked magicians. I'm not even sure why - except that they know things other people don't, and they live in untidy rooms full of strange objects.

Of course, in all magic tricks there's a secret.

The skills that we have are the actual magic skills - not the performing skills. We have to separate those. But the actual skills that make the tricks work, we don't get to use again.

The problem with stage magic is that it looks really good, but everyone knows there's a trick box.

There's something about the Houdini act that is not always made clear - about the escape act in general.

Part of show business is magic. You don't know how it happens.

Magic becomes art when it has nothing to hide.

I've always performed magic as a kid.

There's magic all around us: Our smartphones are magical, 3-D printers are magical. So I feel that as a magician, if I can pull off something that seems real and convincing enough that I can explain why it's happening and have people believe it, it really is fascinating. And funny.

There is no magic. There are only magicians.