Ricky Jay has passed away. He was 72, which is of course far too young. It is tempting to go long on both the man and his legacy, but it is unlikely that anything will ever top Mark Singer’s profile of the man from a 1993 issue of the New Yorker. It is worth clicking on and reading in its entirety.
Jay’s specialty was twofold: the history of magic and playing cards. On the first, he wrote books and books and books on the subject. On the second, he thrived with various shows, including his most famous work, Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants. It was a performance met with rapturous praise. That first link will take you to the show itself. But he thrived elsewhere, including on talk shows, flooring hosts with what he could make cards do.
Jay’s magic was not limited to cards though. He had other routines, including a performance of the Cups and Balls that ranks as a positively baffling thing. We know that magic is not real; we are being misled, intentionally. We know this objectively and rationally. We know this is not magic. We know this is not real. And yet, this:
Jay, of course, is likely familiar for another reason: was an actor who appeared occasionally in movies by Paul Thomas Anderson (he was in both Boogie Nights and Magnolia) and frequently in movies by David Mamet (he was in House of Games, Homicide, The Spanish Prisoner, and Heist among others). In Heist, he played the role of Pinky Pincus, a beloved uncle who doubles as the member of crew of conmen that includes Gene Hackman and Delroy Lindo. In the movie, the crew adds a fifth named Jimmy, a younger guy who is hotheaded. He suspects Hackman no longer has the chops to lead so he takes Pincus aside.
Jimmy asked, “Is he gonna be cool?”
Pincus responded, “My motherfucker is so cool, when he goes to bed, sheep count him.”
It takes something to deliver that line straight-faced and convincingly. It takes something to make that believable and real. Jay had it so much that the line flitters by, just another line. Jay’s performances, like his magic, were so easy to believe. And that, more than anything, is what he brought to the the table throughout his career: the ability to convince us that the lie was the truth, even when we absolutely knew better.
I have always loved the close up magicians. Big, splashy performances are, of course, spectacle, but the kind of sleight of hand that happens right under a persons nose, when they are looking for it, that’s skill and talent. And in a society where people get famous for a single talent, or just for being outrageous, magicians are an under-appreciated lot.
Ricky Jay was one of the greats, I never tire of watching him work.Report
There’s really nothing I like better in magic than watching a master like him do a technique that I know well and, no matter how closely I look, I can’t see it. There’s something really beautiful about that. Anybody can fool you with a surprise you’ve never seen before, but with Ricky Jay you could say, “Here it comes…” and watch the hand you know is doing the dirty work and never actually catch it.Report
Well, I was going to write something about this, and have been going back and forth on YT mesmerized by his videos.
Thank you, Sam.Report
Sorry, that sounded snippy and rude. My apologies Sam. This was a nice tribute to a fascinating individual.Report
No worries at all. Jay was incredible.
I’m bummed that I couldn’t find video of his performance on the Tonight Show from 2014(ish?). Flooring Fallon is obviously an absurdly easy thing to do, but I remember him knocking the house down there too.Report
Oh wait, here’s this AT A DUBIOUS LINK which you should carefully open.Report
That is a good one indeed. There are so many that I got sucked into that black hole last night. Just listening to his pater, that little bit of talking that magicians and such do to keep you focused on them is wonderful. A huge amount of knowledge of the art is shown through this, and it never makes you feel stupid.Report
Although it seems to have been disappeared from the internet, Jay’s appearance in The Ranger, The Cook, and a Hole In The Sky also features a brilliant few minutes focusing on Jay and what he can do, albeit within a narrative storyline. He is The Cook from the title, and somebody slags him off for doing so; it is explained why he cooks, and what it enables him to do when he isn’t cooking, which includes a very good trick deal. (There is a version on YouTube that is both sped up and visually pinched, meaning it can’t be seen correctly.) Still, if you happen to stumble across it in some other venue, it occurs at roughly the 29:00 minute mark.Report
Thanks, I will look for that!Report
@aaron-david I assume you found this as you went down your rabbit hole, but it too is incredible.Report
@Sam WiIkinson I had seen that. I really enjoy the poker videos and I also enjoy the silent displays of card dexterity. One other interesting thing is because there is so much video of him you can watch the progression of his career. This is a pretty good place to start.Report
@aaron-david Here are three Letterman appearances that I just stumbled across.Report
Our family was friends for a number of years with an older magician and ventriloquist who had a million stories himself. One of his favorite books, which soon became one of mine too, was Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women. It’s an endlessly entertaining read.Report