We recently connected with David Regal and have shared our conversation below.

David, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

I continue to learn lessons, and I hope to never stop. I am at the point where part of me is delighted to be wrong, because that means I’m about to learn. A supposition I had is incorrect.

I recall watching a stage artist at the top of his form, fail. Lance Burton, in front of a full house Las Vegas audience, had a trick fail.

The failure was fairly spectacular. He was performing The Floating Bird Cage (complete with bird). It’s a poetic, balletic effect.

Well, the thread broke. The cage sunk like a rock. Lance made an Olympian leap and caught it before it hit the stage.

Silence.

Two things occurred in a millisecond. The audience learned how the illusion worked, and they learned that the illusion failed.

I was horrified for poor Lance. Surely he wanted to personally disappear, to run away. Instead, he stepped downstage toward the audience, sort of smiled and shrugged as if to say “Well here we are, together, and that just happened.”

The ovation was unexpected, and was a tidal wave of acceptance.

David, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have always been in some form of the “Try to make them slightly less miserable than they formerly were” business.

I was in a popular New York comedy group called “Chicago City Limits” for many years. I realize Chicago is not in New York, The group moved there. Six shows a week, every week. LIVING WAGE (unheard of). A lovely time.

I worked in interactive video for a time, then moved to Los Angeles and became a comedy writer, like many of my friends did a bit earlier. I was a little on the old side, but I made it to #1 in two genres. Kids programming (Rugrats, showrunner) and sitcoms (Everybody Loves Raymond).

All the while I had a love/obsession with magic and designing effects. I tried to keep it separate, so it wouldn’t bear the weight of an occupation and would instead be therapy. But the worlds converged and I ended up seeing magic of my creation performed all over the world.

Just this year, I had the bizarre experience of turning on the competition show Penn & Teller’s Fool Us, and seeing two of my things in the same episode… and Penn & Teller were performing one of them.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I try to remember that for most people, living is a gauntlet. When we lift the weight of concern we are not doing a small thing. Perhaps that’s why entertainment companies are some of the largest, most successful companies on earth. People’s need to “escape” is a real thing.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Although I endeavored to NOT make magic by occupation, and keep it in a sort of personal sanctuary, to preserve it, one more than one occasion it saved me. I’d be 100% sure I had a writing gig for the year… then something would happen and the gig would dematerialize. Without fail, something in the word of magic was there for me, and covered that year.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: @david.regal
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• Twitter: @DavidRegalTime