“Zibbon, Zobbin, Whibee, Wah, Woo!”

How a bewitching childhood incantation ignited a lifelong career

“Zibbin-Zobbin-Whibee-Wah-Woo! Send this house back in time when I count to two…one-two.”

And nothing happened. But there I stood in 1967, at seven-years-old, in front of the treasured red-brick house in which I was born and raised on Erie Street in Rochester, New York. I was creating my own TV magic “incantation,” enmeshed in the world of Bewitched — the famed 1960s “wituation comedy,” starring Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens — the witch with a twitch.

Some of my favorite episodes dealt with time travel — Samantha being zapped into the past by some evil witch, and Endora having to bond with Darrin to send him back to rescue her…or having historic figures (Benjamin Franklin, Caesar, Napoleon) being zapped into the present, due to the magic mishaps of either bubbling witches Aunt Clara (Marion Lorne) or Esmeralda (Alice Ghostley).

And there I stood, attempting to emulate the magic of television into my reality — which was not always the happiest.

Tough Times

Erie Street was the tough part of town. And I was a “pretty boy.” I was athletic but lacked confidence. I had all the little girls after me, but all the little boys were jealous of me…and took every chance they could to…