He switched to comedy magic and changed his name to "Carl Ballantine", after he noticed a bottle of Ballantine whisky in an advertisement and decided it sounded "show-businessy and classy", and called the magic act "Ballantine, the World's Greatest Magician". He entertained troops during World War Two. He was billed as "The Amazing Mr. Ballantine" when he played the New York Capitol in 1950, and "The Great Ballantine" in "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Steve Allen Show" on television in the 1950s and 1960s.