To be in relation to the spirit, to be in conversation with this trickster spirit, be it through music or literal magic or stage magic, these all feel like tools of survival.

File in now, dear listeners to the red velvet seats of an old ornate theater to witness the confounding wonders of a traveling magic show,

where, of course, you will not believe your eyes, but oh, you will want to.

For this episode, one of my favorite people in the world is here.

Artist, musician, cowboy, sailor, and now magician, the mysterious enigma known today as gruff web.

They will tell me all about the history of black magicians in America and the magical

traditions they drew from.

They'll demonstrate the strange power that stage magic imbues into those who practice it and wax

poetic about this mystical heritage, this magnificent lineage,

this secret door to another world that otherwise seems impossible. I'm your magician's assistant,

Chelsea Weber Smith, and this is American Hysteria.

I could not be more excited to introduce our guest this week. My dear friend, someone that I admire so much,

someone I think all of you are going to become quite fond of,

Gruff Webb, our resident magician.

Thank you for being here.

Hello, everyone.

Delighted to be here.

I have been wanting to have you on the show for so long, and I just knew one day

the perfect topic was going to present itself, and it certainly has because not too long ago,

Miranda and I went and saw your magic show, the new thing that you have really gotten into.

You know that term gruff that some people are jacks of all trades and masters of none.

Have you heard that before?

...