Ricky Jay
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Ricky Jay
Biography
An offbeat renaissance man, Ricky Jay had distinguished himself as a magician, a sleight-of-hand artist, an author, and an archivist of unusual information, but he's become increasingly visible to filmgoers thanks to a series of choice supporting roles in notable motion pictures. Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1948, Ricky Jay spent most of his childhood in New Jersey, where his grandfather, a professional magician, first showed him how to do card tricks. Jay made his first appearance on-stage at the age of four, when his grandfather brought him out during a performance for the Society of American Magicians. As he grew older, Jay developed a passionate interest in both magic and cardistry, as well as the stranger tributaries of entertainment history, and after graduating from Cornell University, he worked for a time as a barker and sideshow performer with a traveling circus. In the 1970s, Jay moved his act from the sideshow to night spots and theaters, performing his tricks and stunts (including spearing a watermelon with a playing card which was thrown at over 90 miles an hour) in comedy and magic clubs, and opening shows for the likes of Tina Turner and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Jay also began sharing his historical research with the world in a series of books: Cards As Weapons (a history of card tricks as well as a guide to performing them), Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women (about odd and anomalous figures in the history of entertainment), and Jay's Journal of Anomalies, a compendium of information about "conjurers, cheats, hustlers, hoaxters, pranksters, jokesters, imposters, pretenders, side-show showmen, armless calligraphers, mechanical marvels, and popular entertainments." In the 1980s, Jay made the acquaintance of playwright and director David Mamet, with whom he shared an interest in the workings of confidence games; Jay became a consultant for the original stage production of Mamet's play The Shawl in 1985, and two years later Mamet called on Jay to play an unscrupulous card shark in his film House of Games. Jay soon became a regular in Mamet's screen productions, and appeared in six films he's directed, including The Spanish Prisoner and Heist. Mamet also gave Jay's offscreen career a boost, serving as director for Jay's one-man show Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants, which became a major hit both off-Broadway and on the road. (The show was later videotaped for broadcast on HBO in 1996; a year later, Jay would host another TV special on the history of magic.) Jay's acting work also caught the eye of filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, who cast him in small but showy roles in two of his films, Boogie Nights and Magnolia (the latter featured Jay narrating a sequence on odd and anomalous crimes which could have come from one of his books...one of which was later shown on a library table). And Jay's research in magic has also given him another connection to the film industry: He runs a small company called Deceptive Practices, which specializes in creating trick props and illusions for the movies (their work as been featured in such pictures as Forrest Gump, Leap of Faith, and Congo). ~ RoviFilmography:
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Ricky Jay
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Ricky Jay
| Ricky Jay | |
|---|---|
 At the premiere of Redbelt, April 2008 |
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| Born | 1948 (age 63–64) Brooklyn, NY |
| Other names | Richard Jay Potash |
| Occupation | Magician, actor, author |
| Known for | Sleight of Hand, Card Tricks, History of Magic |
Richard Jay Potash (born 1948), better known by the stage name Ricky Jay, is an American stage magician, actor, and writer. He is a sleight-of-hand expert and is notable for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter.[1]
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Contents
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Life and career
Jay was born in Brooklyn, New York to a middle class Jewish family.[2] His grandfather, Max Katz, was a well-to-do certified public accountant and amateur magician who introduced Jay to the profession.[3][4][5]
At least three of his one-man shows, Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants, On the Stem, and A Rogue's Gallery were directed by David Mamet, who has also cast Jay in a number of his films. Jay has appeared in productions by other directors, notably Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, and Magnolia, as well as Christopher Nolan's The Prestige.
A collector and historian of note, he was a student and firm friend of the legendary Dai Vernon, who Jay states was: "the greatest living contributor to the magical art". An avid collector of rare books (he has spent over five thousand dollars on single books alone) and manuscripts, art, and other artifacts connected to the history of magic, gambling, unusual entertainments, and frauds and confidence games, he is also opposed to any public revelations of the techniques of magic.[6]
Jay joined the cast and crew of the HBO western drama Deadwood as a guest star and writer for the first season in 2004. The series was created by David Milch and focused on a growing town in the American West. Jay played card sharp Eddie Sawyer, a dealer in the Bella Union casino of ambitious newcomer Cy Tolliver. Jay wrote the episode "Jewel's Boot Is Made for Walking".[7] He left the series at the end of the first season.
He also played a henchman to villain Elliot Carver in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. When he was offered the role, the producers assured him that they would of course change the Indian name of his character, Gupta, accordingly. Jay in turn said that he would only play the part if they didn't change the name.
Until recently, Ricky Jay was listed in the Guinness Book of Records for throwing a playing card 190 ft at 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) (the current record is 216 feet (66 m) by Rick Smith, Jr.). Ricky Jay can throw a playing card into a watermelon rind (which he refers to as the "thick, pachydermatous outer melon layer" of "the most prodigious of household fruits") from ten paces. In addition, he is able to throw a card into the air and cut it cleanly in half with a pair of "giant scissors" upon its return. In his shows, he often throws playing cards at plastic animals in "self defense".
Consultant
Jay created a consulting firm, Deceptive Practices, which provides "arcane knowledge on a need-to-know basis." His firm's clients are often within the stage, television, and film industries. He has worked with libraries and museums on their collections, including the Mulholland Library of Conjuring and the Allied Arts and the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City, CA.
Credits
Television
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (October 26, 1970)
- Saturday Night Live (1977)
- Arsenio (1988)
- Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women – 1 hour special for American TV (1989)
- Simon Drake's Secret Cabaret (UK)
- Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants – 1 hour version of his Off-Broadway show, taped for HBO (1996)
- Hustlers, Hoaxsters, Pranksters, Jokesters and Ricky Jay (1996)
- The X-Files – "The Amazing Maleeni" (2000)
- MythBusters – Episode 20, "Exploding Jawbreaker, Static Cannon, Deadly Playing Cards." Ricky demonstrated card throwing, and the speed of his throws was clocked. (2003)
- Deadwood – Eddie Sawyer (2004), Season 1
- Tales From The Crypt (Unknown)
- The Unit (2007)
- Kidnapped (2007)
- Lie to Me (2009)
- FlashForward – Flosso (2010)
Film
- House of Games (1987)
- Things Change (1988)
- Homicide (1991)
- The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky (1995) (TV)
- The Spanish Prisoner (1997)
- Boogie Nights (1997)
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
- Magnolia (1999)
- Mystery Men (1999)
- State and Main (2000)
- Heist (2001)
- Heartbreakers (2001)
- Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
- Last Days (2005)
- The Illusionist (2006)
- The Prestige (2006)
- Redbelt (2008)
- The Great Buck Howard (2008)
- The Brothers Bloom (2009)
Books
When not performing, Ricky Jay collects rare books and artifacts. He is the author of several books:
- Celebrations of Curious Characters
- Extraordinary Exhibitions: The Wonderful Remains of an Enormous Head, The Whimsiphusicon & Death to the Savage Unitarians - a collection of 17th, 18th, and 19th-century broadsides[8]
- Jay's Journal of Anomalies
- Dice: Deception, Fate, and Rotten Luck
- Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women
- Cards as Weapons
- Ricky Jay Plays Poker
References
- ^ {{Cite journal. As an actor, he is known for his roles in the films 2001 film|, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia, as well as on the acclaimed HBO series Deadwood. | last = Singer | first = Mark | author-link = Mark Singer | title = Secrets of the magus | journal = New Yorker | volume = 69 (7) | pages = 54 | date = April 5, 1993 | year = | postscript = }}
- ^ Magician With A Lot Up His Sleeve | Article from The Washington Post | HighBeam Research
- ^ The World Wide Website of Ricky Jay
- ^ http://rickyjay.com/hammer_exhibit.pdf
- ^ "Forbes.com - Magazine Article". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1999/0222/6304165a_print.html.
- ^ http://rickyjay.com/newyorker.htm
- ^ "Jewel's Boot Is Made for Walking". Steve Shill, Writ. Ricky Jay. Deadwood. HBO. 6/6/2004. No. 11, season 1.
- ^ Quantuck Lane Press || Extraordinary Exhibitions:
External links
- Official website
- Ricky Jay Archive at the Magic Newswire website
- Ricky Jay at the Internet Movie Database
- San Francisco Chronicle review of "Extraordinary Exhibitions: Broadsides From the Collection of Ricky Jay" during 2005 exhibition
- "Secrets of Magus" 1993 New Yorker profile
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Mentioned in
Ricky Jay Plays Poker
(2006 Album by Various Artists)
Ricky Jay Plays Poker [Deluxe Edition]
(2006 Album by Various Artists)
The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky
(1995 Drama Film)
The Amazing Maleeni: The X-Files (TV Episode)
(2000 Science Fiction TV Episode)
Heist
(2001 Crime Film)
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