RIP Ricky Jay

[DanOregon]

Ricky Jay, Master Magician and Actor in ‘Deadwood,’ ‘Boogie Nights,’ Dies at 72

If you've seen a Paul Thomas Anderson or David Mamet movie - you know the guy. Not only a great movie presence - his work behind the scenes (consulting on Forrest Gump on how to hide Lt. Dan's legs) was quite significant.

 

[garrow]

Damn. He was awesome. You can find some of his magic performances from the 1970s on youtube.

 

[Azrael]

As great a historian as he was a magician. What a loss.

Here's Mark Singer's New Yorker profile from 1993.

Ricky Jay’s Magical Secrets

 

[Jake from State Farm]

The best magician with card tricks

 

[typefitter]

As great a historian as he was a magician. What a loss.

Here's Mark Singer's New Yorker profile from 1993.

Ricky Jay’s Magical Secrets

This is one of my favourite all-time stories. Ricky Jay was an absolute beast, in the best sense.

 

[Elliotte Friedman]

Loved his videos and Mamet stuff

 

[terrier]

Damn. With Powers Boothe gone, we can't even say Cy Tolliver avenged Eddie Sawyer ripping him off and disappearing into the Black Hills after S1.

IIRC, he also wrote and/or directed at least one episode, too.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

As great a historian as he was a magician. What a loss.

Here's Mark Singer's New Yorker profile from 1993.

Ricky Jay’s Magical Secrets

That was wonderful, and worth reading for this alone:

“I just finished a piece for Jay’s Journal on performing dogs who stole the acts of other dogs,” he said. “Next, I want to do a piece about crucifixion acts—you know, real crucifixions that were done as entertainment. The idea for this came to me one Easter Sunday. Bob Lund, from the American Museum of Magic, has just sent me a little book on Billy Rose’s Theatre that contained one sentence he knew would interest me—about a woman who swung nude from a cross to the strains of Ravel’s ‘Boléro.’ Her name was Faith Bacon. This was in the thirties. Unlike some of the other performers I’ve turned up, in her act she only simulated crucifixion. Anyway, I’m playing around with that.”

 

[Azrael]

That was wonderful, and worth reading for this alone:

“I just finished a piece for Jay’s Journal on performing dogs who stole the acts of other dogs,” he said. “Next, I want to do a piece about crucifixion acts—you know, real crucifixions that were done as entertainment. The idea for this came to me one Easter Sunday. Bob Lund, from the American Museum of Magic, has just sent me a little book on Billy Rose’s Theatre that contained one sentence he knew would interest me—about a woman who swung nude from a cross to the strains of Ravel’s ‘Boléro.’ Her name was Faith Bacon. This was in the thirties. Unlike some of the other performers I’ve turned up, in her act she only simulated crucifixion. Anyway, I’m playing around with that.”

Mark may be the best magazine profiler of the last 40 years. Track down his collection "Character Studies" for a master class in the form.

 

[justgladtobehere]

I got to checking out the Ricky Jay obits yesterday and a few things stood out. I thought it was fitting that there was some confusion over his age. He remained mysterious until the end. Also, although born in Brooklyn, he grew up in lovely Elizabeth, NJ.
I thought Penn Jillette would have a lot to say about him, but on Twitter Penn mentioned that he barely knew Ricky Jay. That seemed odd.
I found out about his art collection displayed at the Met. Ricky Jay and the Met Conjure Big Magic in Miniature
It featured the work of Matthias Buchinger, described as

a magician and musician, a dancer, champion bowler and trick-shot artist and, most famously, a calligrapher specializing in micrography — handwriting so small it’s barely legible to the naked eye. His signature effect was to render locks of hair that, when examined closely, spelled out entire Psalms or books from the Bible. What made his feats even more remarkable is that Buchinger was born without hands or feet and was only 29 inches tall. Portraits show him standing on a cushion and wearing a sort of lampshade-like robe. Yet he married four times and had 14 children. Some people have suggested that he also had up to 70 mistresses, but Mr. Jay says that’s nonsense.

 

[Webster]

I got to checking out the Ricky Jay obits yesterday and a few things stood out. I thought it was fitting that there was some confusion over his age. He remained mysterious until the end. Also, although born in Brooklyn, he grew up in lovely Elizabeth, NJ.
I thought Penn Jillette would have a lot to say about him, but on Twitter Penn mentioned that he barely knew Ricky Jay. That seemed odd.
I found out about his art collection displayed at the Met. Ricky Jay and the Met Conjure Big Magic in Miniature
It featured the work of Matthias Buchinger, described as

As a Union County transplant, I was really surprised to learn that Elizabeth was a hotbed of Jewish culture back in the day.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

I got to checking out the Ricky Jay obits yesterday and a few things stood out. I thought it was fitting that there was some confusion over his age. He remained mysterious until the end. Also, although born in Brooklyn, he grew up in lovely Elizabeth, NJ.
I thought Penn Jillette would have a lot to say about him, but on Twitter Penn mentioned that he barely knew Ricky Jay. That seemed odd.
I found out about his art collection displayed at the Met. Ricky Jay and the Met Conjure Big Magic in Miniature
It featured the work of Matthias Buchinger, described as

I suspect Ricky Jay didn't think too highly of Penn. A lot of Penn & Teller's act is deconstructing the mysticism of magic and that's not something Ricky took lightly.

 

[LanceyHoward]

I got to checking out the Ricky Jay obits yesterday and a few things stood out. I thought it was fitting that there was some confusion over his age. He remained mysterious until the end. Also, although born in Brooklyn, he grew up in lovely Elizabeth, NJ.
I thought Penn Jillette would have a lot to say about him, but on Twitter Penn mentioned that he barely knew Ricky Jay. That seemed odd.
I found out about his art collection displayed at the Met. Ricky Jay and the Met Conjure Big Magic in Miniature
It featured the work of Matthias Buchinger, described as

The New Yorker piece linked, which is indeed excellent, said that Jay tended to stay away from most comedians, choosing his friends carefully. The article specifically said that Jay stayed away from the leading magic night clubs because he did not want to give away his secrets. So the fact that Jillette barely knew him is not surprising.

 

[justgladtobehere]

As a Union County transplant, I was really surprised to learn that Elizabeth was a hotbed of Jewish culture back in the day.

Judy Blume is another Jewish celebrity from Elizabeth.

Literary mysteries: The string of plane crashes that inspired Judy Blume's new book

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

Judy Blume is another Jewish celebrity from Elizabeth.

Literary mysteries: The string of plane crashes that inspired Judy Blume's new book

Featuring...Lyle Alzado?

 

[justgladtobehere]

OK.