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Ricky Jay

The Unofficial Ricky Jay Page

About Me



Note: This page was designed and is maintained by a fan who has no connection to Ricky Jay. For official news and info, check out The World Wide Website of Ricky Jay .
Ricky Jay is known for four things:
1. He’s the greatest living sleight-of-hand artist. Just check out clips of his dexterity with a pack of cards. Pure magic. No fog machines, no capes, no tarty assistants. Just skill.
2. He’s a card thrower. No, he’s the card thrower. He once held the world record for throwing a playing card faster, farther, and higher than anyone else. He can split a pencil and penetrate the pachydermatous (as he likes to say) outer shell of a watermelon with a playing card. Check him out on the show Mythbusters demonstrating these preternatural skills.
3. He’s a scholar. He has amassed an unparalleled collection of rare books on the history of magic, cons, and freaks. And he’s contributed to that canon by writing five great books:
Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women
Extraordinary Exhibitions
Dice: Deception, Fate & Rotten Luck
Jay's Journal of Anomolies
Cards as Weapons
4. He’s an actor. Check him out in Deadwood or as a Bond villain (Tomorrow Never Dies) or in Magnolia, The Prestige, Heartbreakers, Boogie Nights, and Mystery Men. He’s a good friend of David Mamet and has appeared in Heist, House of Games, State and Main, and Things Change. He’s appearing in the new Mamet film Redbelt.
More RJ facts:
He was born in Brooklyn in 1948 and raised in New Jersey. He was the youngest magician to ever appear on TV.
He was the curator of the Mulholland Library of Conjuring and the Allied Arts.
His one man show Ricky Jay & His 52 Assistants was directed by his friend David Mamet and won the Lucille Lortel and Obie Awards for Outstanding Achievement. His most recent show, Ricky Jay: On the Stem, also directed by Mamet, just closed a seven-month critically acclaimed run in New York City.
RJ’s consulting firm, Deceptive Practices , which he co-founded with Michael Weber , is called upon by script writers to offer information on gambling, swindling, con games, sleight of hand, and illusions. They provided expertise for Forrest Gump, for which they supplied a wheelchair to eliminate the legs of an actor. And for the Broadway production of Angels in America, they vanished an actor atop a 12-foot ladder in full view of the audience.
He has written and hosted his own television specials for CBS, HBO, and the BBC, and was the host and narrator of the first documentary miniseries on conjuring, The Story of Magic, for the A&E network.
You can hear RJ’s weekly radio essays on a variety of subjects, including such topics as Bismark the Pig of Genius, Siamese Twins, and Three Card Monte. Just tune in to KCRW in LA or click here .

My Interests


Ricky Jay Links


Resources:
The Official Ricky Jay Website
The New Yorker profile
Ricky on YouTube
Mr. Jay on IMDB
The Internet Archive
Smithsonian profile Interviews:
Charlie Rose (video)
The Onion
Fresh Air on NPR
NPR's Weekend Edition
Talk of the Nation
Sound of Young America
Elvis Mitchell

Video Clips of the Master at Work
(For more video clips of Ricky Jay, click here .)

New!
Ricky on Mythbusters.
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Ricky Jay On Mythbusters -

The Sword of Vengeance!

The Dinah Shore show.
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Ricky finds a card.

See Ricky penetrate a watermelon and piss off a duck.

The classic "Cups and Balls."

Music:

Ricky Jay combines his talents as a sleight of hand expert, historian of cons and cheats, and lover of poker and poker music in this remarkable CD/DVD deluxe set that celebrates the history, the language and literature, the art and the music of poker.
21 songs of hustlers, reprobates, blacklegs, scallywags and the passions and pleasures of the game. The deluxe gift box also includes a bonus dvd starring Ricky Jay performing some unbelievable deception at the card table, a 72 page color book with an in-depth essay written by Jay and beautiful reproductions from his incredible collection of art and memorabilia and – if all that weren’t enough – a custom poker pack from the U. S. Playing Card Company.
Click here for more info.

My Blog

New TV show?

There are rumors out there that Jesse Dylan (filmmaker, son of Bob) is working on a new show called "CONversations with Ricky Jay" or something like that. The show will explore cons, frauds, etc. Jess...
Posted by Ricky Jay on Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:39:00 PST

Ricky sets a record!

Ricky's summer show "Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants" doubled a box office record for the Geffen Theater, netting $62,468 in a single day. Way to go, Ricky!Read more here. ...
Posted by Ricky Jay on Sun, 08 Jun 2008 09:05:00 PST

Ricky on stage again!

Ricky has just announced that he'll be doing a limited run of his show Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants (directed by David Mamet) at the Geffen Playhouse in LA this summer. Here's more info.If you want...
Posted by Ricky Jay on Sat, 24 May 2008 03:04:00 PST

Rickys real name?

In his online journal, Roger Ebert describes an intriguing encounter with Ricky Jay. I quite it here in full: A new genre? The TwisterMay 14, 2008 ...
Posted by Ricky Jay on Thu, 15 May 2008 10:13:00 PST

Ricky’s new movie!

The new David Mamet movie Redbelt is coming out soon. It stars Ricky Jay, Joe Mantegna, and even Tim Allen (yes, the tool man guy, believe it or not). The trailer can be seen on YouTube....
Posted by Ricky Jay on Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:53:00 PST

Ricky nominated for an Grammy

Ricky has been nominated for a Grammy for his liner notes to Ricky Jay Plays Poker. It's a great collection of songs about poker. Check it out here. ...
Posted by Ricky Jay on Sat, 05 Jan 2008 03:30:00 PST

Ricky Jay on SNL

The second season of Saturday Night Live (1977) is now available on DVD. It includes the episode in which RJ performed (it's the one hosted by Ruth Gordon with musical guest Chuck Berry). ...
Posted by Ricky Jay on Mon, 24 Dec 2007 10:17:00 PST

Watch Ricky Jay on Wednesday (12/26)

Apparently, Ricky Jay will help honor Steve Martin during the annual Kennedy Center Honors. The show will broadcast this Wednesday (Dec. 26th) on CBS at 9 pm. Here's an article. ...
Posted by Ricky Jay on Mon, 24 Dec 2007 10:12:00 PST

Cards as Weapons back in print?

Ricky's on the cover of the Los Angeles City Beat paper this week. It contains an interview with Ricky in which he mentions the possibility of considering putting Cards as Weapons back in print. Check...
Posted by Ricky Jay on Sun, 04 Nov 2007 03:33:00 PST

Ricky talks about the magic of broadsides

Here's a link to an interview with Ricky Jay (August 24, 2007). He talks about a new exhibt of his collection of broadsides at the Hammer Museum. ...
Posted by Ricky Jay on Fri, 24 Aug 2007 03:33:00 PST