A modern-day renaissance man, Brian Wendell Morton has woven together many pursuits in his career: award-winning radio journalist, congressional press secretary, talk-show host, newspaper columnist and White House staffer. All these endeavors have left Brian with a fine appreciation for the art and science of deception.

"Nowadays people are so accustomed to bald-faced lying that it is an accepted part of the culture," Brian says. "It isn't magic when a chain restaurant tells you that its soup is 'homemade,' yet we accept the lie without question. Really, we never ask, 'Oh yeah? Whose home?' Business, government, even the clergy do it these days with no shame at all. They are lying in the pursuit of profit -- something society used to condemn.

"Years ago in a newspaper review, the legendary television newsman Eric Sevareid said, 'There are two kinds of people in the world, people that can be had, and suckers. The only difference is that everyone can be had, but a sucker will bet you $50 he can't. Magicians are around to remind us we can all be had, so that we don't become suckers.' 

"Magic is blatant dishonesty in the service of wonder. It lets us know that there are things that cannot legitimately be done, yet we are entertained by the possibilities. It is the most honest of the variety arts."

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