Ricky Jay
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Ricky Jay (b. 1948) is an American professional sleight-of-hand artist, actor, and author. He is considered an expert on the history of magic and entertainment.
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[edit] Performer
He was born Richard Jay Potash in Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish-American family. Ricky Jay is widely considered one of the most knowledgeable and skilled sleight-of-hand experts in the United States. He is now well-known for his signature card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and inimitable stage patter. At least two of his shows, Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants and On the Stem, were directed by David Mamet, who has also cast Jay in a number of his films. Jay has also appeared in productions by other directors, notably Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights and Magnolia, and season one of HBO's Deadwood as card sharp Eddie Sawyer.
Until recently, Ricky Jay was listed in the Guinness Book of Records for throwing a playing card 190 ft at 90 miles per hour (the current record is 216 ft, 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.
[edit] Selected filmography
[edit] Televised performances
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (October 26, 1970)
- Saturday Night Live (1977)
- Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women (1989)
- Simon Drake's The Secret Cabaret (UK)
- Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants (1996)
- X Files - The Amazing Maleeni (2000)
- Hustlers, Hoaxsters, Pranksters, Jokesters and Ricky Jay (1996)
- MythBusters (2003)
- Deadwood (2004)
- Tales From The Crypt (Unknown)
[edit] Feature films
- House of Games (1987)
- 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 Prestige (2006)
[edit] Books
When not performing, Ricky Jay collects rare books and artifacts. He is the author of several books:
- 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 [1]
- Jay's Journal of Anomalies
- Dice: Deception, Fate, and Rotten Luck
- Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women
- Cards As Weapons
[edit] Consultant
Mr. 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.
