He needs no introduction, and this interview ran long anyway, so let's just get right to it, shall we?
How do you feel about your new home at the Riviera?
I love it. It's a great showroom for my show. The energy in the room is just fantastic for comedy.
You said "comedy," so you still think of yourself as more of a comedian than a magician?
Oh yeah, I'm all for the laugh. Definitely out there for the laugh.
I know you've bounced around a little bit. You've been at the Nugget, then the Flamingo, and back to the Nugget. Is there anything you can say about that?
I've been at two places. It's not really bouncing around. I was at the Golden Nugget for two years, and then I left to try my luck out on the Strip at the Flamingo.
You're right, I guess it's not really "bouncing."
It seems like it, though, because I was at the Golden Nugget again after the Flamingo. They wanted me to come back, and then pulled a good one on me.
Do you want to talk about that at all?
When I went to the Flamingo, they weren't really happy about that, so after a year, they asked me to come back and they made me this really killer deal. Then they sell the place. These two new guys had the option of taking my deal or leaving my deal, and they took it—and then changed their minds four weeks into my run. They breached the contract and now it's just a matter for the courts to decide if they were really in breach or not. So, we're at the Riv now for a year.
Is it the same show as at the Nugget?
We have a new piece going in in two weeks. It's either going to be a disaster or it's going to be great, there's no in-between on this one. It's kind of like a Matrix piece, where people can fly and float around in the air. It's very cool looking. It's all done with black art, people dressed in black against black material.
I'm going to run off a list of magicians and I just want to get a short response from you. David Copperfield:
He's the best there is. There's no one greater than him. The show is what every magician aspires to have, and they're lying if they tell you they don't like him, because he's got it all.
Penn and Teller:
At first I thought they were assholes. Now I think they're geniuses.
Siegfried and Roy:
Don't play with animals. Keep live animals out of your show. Even if it's a dove, you can get your eye pecked out.
Steve Wyrick:
Nice guy. Smart businessman. Not a great magician but a smart businessman.
Rick Thomas:
Born-again Christian who can dance.
Mac King:
Very, very funny. Probably like the Beverly Hillbillies' Jethro of magic.
Doug Henning:
A skeleton, I believe. Probably with curly long hair and buck teeth still.
I read somewhere that Doug Henning was your inspiration to get into magic.
I had a Doug Henning poster in my room when I was a kid, but everyone did. Nowadays, there's some magicians out there who are really great. Penn and Teller motivate me the most because they're my closest competition. But like I said, they were such assholes to try and meet. They were just really standoffish, and finally when they saw my show, they lightened up a little bit. Now we've got the mutual respect thing going and I love them. But Penn is probably the brightest guy I've ever met. He's just a genius. His IQ is off the map.
And Teller actually socializes?
Teller does socialize. He doesn't hang out with Penn or the people that Penn hangs out with, and I don't see much of Teller, but when I do, he's a gentleman and very nice. And Penn is just a madman who just happens to be very, very gullible.
Gullible?
Oh yeah, man. I get him on the practical jokes.
That's funny, because I know he prides himself on getting people.
Yeah, but I'm the only one who can get him. Even when he sends out e-mails, on the header it says: "This may actually be from the Amazing Johnathan and not me, so be careful about the content."
What was the best practical joke?
We're both atheists, so we had this thing going where we sent religious artifacts back and forth to each other, and each one was worse than the other, and it got to be out of hand. Finally, during my roast [January 13, 2003], Penn came in dressed as a gladiator and had a full-sized cross with Teller on the cross, and wheeled it in in front of a thousand people, and had a midget dressed as an angel going down on Jesus while he was on the cross. It was the worst image you could ever imagine possible to make. And the press caught wind of it and it got national attention.
Did you get back at him?
No, I can't. That's it. He won. There's nothing worse than that. But I got back at him. I created a fake website. The church that started this crusade against him [in reaction to the stunt], I found their website and duplicated their website and started putting all this content on it, like "Let's get rid of him," "Let's kill him," and just pushing every button I knew he had. He was just so furious with these people and they weren't even doing anything.
Last question: What's in your pockets?
I'm absolutely naked right now.
Don't tell me that!
I am. I'm sorry.
You know, since I've come to Vegas, I've asked that question of three people: Eric Idle, Martin Nievera and you. And all three of you, none of you have pants on.
Oh, pants? I have nothing on. I don't have a shirt or nothing on. I'm wearing a ring. That's about it. I'm sorry. You got me out of bed for this one. We work late.
I've got to either stop asking that question or restrict it to women or just start calling later in the day.
If you called later in the day, I'd still be naked. Because I walk around my house, and I do my garden work and my outside work, because I've got a wall and I hope that no one can see, the houses around me are pretty much covered by trees, and I hope that no one can see, otherwise there's going to be some unreleased photos of me with a weed-whacker. It's not a real pleasant sight. A big, fat guy with a weed-whacker in the yard.
As long as you're careful with the weed-whacker, that's the main thing.
Yeah, you are very cautious when you're naked. Even when you're barbecuing.