Kozmo had made Mark Nelson’s $20 bill vanish.

Just seconds earlier, Kozmo, a magician, also known as Ted Brainard, had asked Nelson, a Cayuga Heights resident, to volunteer for his next trick as he entertained on the Ithaca Commons.

Nelson obliged, producing a $20 bill and writing his name on it, just as Kozmo had asked.

Kozmo teased Nelson for not having a smaller bill and for breaking the law by writing on the bill as he folded it to the size of a postage stamp.

All the while, a circle of people, drawn to the downtown shopping area for its reopening celebration, watched closely.

Kozmo then set the bill on fire, all the time aiming a constant stream of put-downs at his audience and inviting passersby to come watch the show.

As easy as Kozmo made magic look that afternoon in August on the Commons, making a living wasn’t always this interesting for Brainard, 59, an Owego native, who grew up in the hills south of the Susquehanna River. Read more…

http://www.ithacajournal.com/story/news/local/2015/12/25/owego-man-magician-renown/76455706/