The Curious, Astounding Collection of the Magician Ricky Jay | Hacker News Reader

The Curious, Astounding Collection of the Magician Ricky Jay

nytimes.com

65 pointssamclemens25 comments

I really enjoyed this much older (1993!) profile of Ricky Jay in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1993/04/05/secrets-of-the...

One of my all time favorite pieces of (non-political) journalism. A beautifully told story about magic and one of it's greats.

A fun read about the collection of a curious mind. I highly recommend his video Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants - it is an astonishing display of sleight of hand melded with deft storytelling.

He was an amazing dude, I watched Deadwood the tv show recently and there was a guy in the show who I thought “i don’t know who that is but I think he is a big deal”. sure enough it was ricky jay!

not a master of acting like he is with sleight of hand but he does pretty well!

He's a solid actor! His best role was probably in Mamet's Spanish Prisoner.

He was also great in a small bit in Heist.

My awareness of Ricky Jay started as Ricky as character actor and it wasn't until a few years later that I came to realize just how much of a magic and sleight of hand wizard he was. If you get a chance I recommend 'Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay' in addition to the Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants mentioned elsewhere.

I saw him live in his Rogue's Gallery show in Chicago; he's as good on stage as he is in anything else. A consummate storyteller.

"Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants" is a classic performance:

https://youtu.be/FtgUSUHnzLI

Directed by David Mamet and exec produced by Joel Silver. I didn't see that coming!

Jay was a frequent collaborator of Mamet's; he was in House of Games, Heist, and The Spanish Prisoner, as well.

...and Mamet's Things Change and State And Main. The latter had him working with Philip Seymour Hoffman and William H. Macy, both of whom later appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights and Magnolia along with Ricky Jay. (Jay actually had 2 roles in Magnolia, the Narrator and as What Do Kids Know's director or producer)

https://archive.md/Ckwgv

It's odd to think how influential Ricky Jay was to me. I loved magic, especially card magic, when I was younger (I still do), but the way he told a story, and the way he embodied this niche history. I wonder if he ever mentored anyone the way Dai Vernon mentored him. I know he held that form of learning very highly, and to my mind he was one of the most knowledgeable people about the artistry of illusion deception on the planet, possibly of all time. I truly hope he got to pass that on, even more so than the immense good he did passing on the history of the art form through his shows.

If you somehow don't know who Ricky Jay was and only have a few minutes, I like his appearance on Arsenio Hall for a 5 minute introduction:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jKuHiY397U

(I've watched that damn thing two dozen times and what I've concluded is that Ricky Jay was capable of actual magic.)

Ah, he did the same thing with Steve Martin.

https://www.vanityfair.com/video/watch/ricky-jay-performs-th...

My favorite: 4 Queens 3 Ways

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNUepjt6QmI

I'll share mine, he doesn't say a word here.

https://youtu.be/5aeav3gVlAM

I wish there were a high resolution high speed capture of some of his card manipulation so you could appreciate how he does it.

Penn & Teller show off how one of their tricks works (supposedly!) and it doesn't detract from its enjoyment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhnATlPdG6A

Surprised it mentions his film appearances, but doesn't mention The Prestige.

Is he in the Prestige? I've seen that movie a bunch of times but I can't recall where he shows up

He was the magic coach on the film and played the magician who appears in flashback as the one who employed Bale & Jackman as audience plants in the past as they were up and coming (in addition to Jackman's girl as his ill-fated assistant.)

That struck me, too.

I wish Jay would have made will and donated his collection to Smithsonian or similar museums. Now his wife is cashing out on these rare items which will be lost forever into wealthy billionaire’s basement.

Most items are in the 4 figures range. Expensive, but not out of reach for a lot of people reading this. Most of the collection will end up in the hands of collectors who appreciate it, which is the circle of life for stuff like this.

Read the article. No museums wanted his stuff.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com