Dan Sperry’s particular flavor of shock illusions may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but I adore him and his whole weirdo thing. So it was nice to see him give his spin on magic history in a brief video clip from Decades. The classic television channel posted a YouTube video with Sperry sharing a few nuggets about some iconic performers over the ages and how professional magic has evolved. No matter what, he notes, it’s an art that is “best seen live.”

If you’re even a casual student of magic history, you’ll know that this is a cursory presentation at best. But listening to Sperry talk about legends like Doug Henning (who he endearingly calls a “goober”) and David Blaine is still a good time. Plus he does the interview accompanied by a large white parrot, further securing my deepest esteem.