The first time actress Diane Neal saw the illusionist, she was at a ski resort in frosty Park City, Utah in December 2013. Neal had come for the 22nd Deer Valley Celebrity SkiFest, an annual fundraiser for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Waterkeeper Alliance, involving several celebrity-themed events—Celebrity Poker Night, celebrity slalom races, a gala dinner, and a celebrity auction. This year, word had spread of a celebrity magician. Neal remembers her friends asking, “Did you know the world’s best magician is here and he’s doing a secret show in the private library?”
One night at dinner, RFK Jr. approached Neal. The auctioneer hadn’t shown up for the auction, he said. Could she improvise and take bids? Neal, a natural fast-talker who played prosecutor Casey Novak in Law & Order: SVU for 11 years, agreed. She climbed onstage and helped raise $700,000 from stars like Dr. Oz, Cheryl Hines, Rachel Dratch, Jason Alexander, and Miranda Lambert.
As Neal vamped on stage, she won an admirer in the crowd that night: JB Benn, the so-called “world’s best magician,” who happened to be at a front table with her friends. A few days later, Neal prepared to leave the 5-star resort, chatting with a group of her friends. Benn approached her and interrupted. “He’s very ballsy,” Neal recalls. “He’s like, ‘Hi, do you live in New York or LA?”
from The Daily Beast Latest Articles https://ift.tt/2XiolV1
0 Comments