His love for the art, his respect for its history, his vast knowledge, his flawless technique, his dry wit, and his seemless blending of honesty and deception truly were everything magic can be at its absolute best. The world has lost someone truly special.
My Dad, a Harley Davidson trained mechanic turned professional magician, absolutely loved Ricky Jay. Because of him, I grew up loving Ricky Jay. His unique style, a combination historian and master magician, never gets old. At least to me. God Bless you, Ricky Jay. Thank you and Rest In Peace.
The GOAT. You never ceased to amaze me, Ricky. Im forever grateful for the jaw drops. Go give the man upstairs a show. He's gonna love what you can do. RIP, brother.
I love Ricky Jay's patter - his erudite way with words that hooks you in as much as the trick itself. In fact I love it so much that I truly don't need or care to know how the trick was done. Though the reveal is always special. And his way with cards is effortless. His voice and rhythm of speaking is soothing and hypnotic yet he can turn on a dime and make you laugh out loud. His dry humor is fantastic and almost "British" in it's sheer desiccation. At first glance he often seems to be a cynic. But the twinkle in his eyes belies that. I appreciate greatly the fact that he was a historian of magic as much as a practitioner. And it worries me greatly that the magicians, history, trivia and tidbits of the craft that he brought back into life and prominence might fade again, now that he himself is gone. Rest in Peace Ricky Jay. A magician's magician. You've perfected the final Prestige. The art of vanishing forever.
I agree with you on the way his words are part of the trick and help draw you in. So many magicians think that "patter" means "tell a really long and boring story before doing the trick". Like, no one gives a shit if your great uncle was a magician and he taught you magic and this is the last trick he taught you before he died or whatever dude, just do the fucking trick. Ricky tells the story while actually doing the trick, and the story is actually about the trick, not just a coat of paint to dress it up.
logandarklighter totally agree about the twinkle in his eye he’s very kind to the audience who were a bit dead that evening. What a star. I’ll miss him.
Ricky was truly one of a kind. Not just a technical master, but an incredible performer and artist. I am pained that I will never have the opportunity to see him live, but thankfully we have videos like this online to preserve his memory and unique talent.
Ricky Jay is one of my Favorites. I Love honesty with Magicians. He's not necessarily trying to WOW you with "Magic" or the Trick. He's simply showing you what Years of Practice in Manipulation can do.
I have been watching Ricky Jay since the 1970s. His presentation is unmatched, and his ability to control a deck of cards is the stuff of which legends are made. It's hard to wrap one's head around just how good he was. I often think of what else he might have contributed had he not been taken so soon. He is sorely missed.
For over 40 years, I performed as a close-up magician and stage illusionist, consulted with stage productions and TV shows, and met many of the very best performers of the 20th Century. Ricky Jay was in a class by himself. I can think of no greater compliment, but to say that his sleight of hand skills were equalled only by his subtle and nuanced acting ability. He is greatly missed.
That's impressive that you got to meet him. I wish I could've met and watched Ricky Jay, Steve Forte, Darwin Ortiz, Richard Turner or last, but definitely not least, Walter Irving Scott.
One of my most favorite performers and scholars of history, a man who brought so much to his performances. James Randi is another example. Ricky Jay will always in my book go down as one of the best to EVER do it. RIP dear sir.
Man I wish somebody would dig around in the archives at HBO and find the original tapes of this and release it in good quality. This VHS copy is the only one I've ever seen shared.
Studying his presentation style has certainly benefited me professionally over the nearly 25 years since this came out. It'll be a lifelong regret that I never got to see or thank him in person. Thanks, Ricky. Thanks for keeping the flame of the esoteric alive.
And now I've figured out the 2 of clubs routine. That is an elaborate routine with a very clever setup... his card control is phenomenal. The Queens are still bugging me. I figured out how the four Queens "get together" but how he makes them go away from the other three piles still eludes me. But even when you figure some of it out, the showmanship is still great to watch. If I had ever had the chance to meet him, I wouldn't have said something like "Hey, I saw how you X Y and Z..." Instead, I'd just say, "It doesn't really matter, does it?" He had a genuine love for the art.
That’s the beauty of magic isn’t it? It’s not so much about wanting to find out how they did it, it’s wanting to be fooled with the suspension of disbelief.
@@James-gk8ip I saw him in The Prestige which he also consulted on and then Boogie Nights and Magnolia with PTA, stumbled across his stage magic work and was blown away that I had no idea how he was an amazing magician!
@28 min the snatching of 2 cards out of the air is an amazing trick! An uncle of mine was a professional gambler, and his advice to us kids was never play the game. Card cheats are called, "mechanics" and Ricky Jay is here to show you that you don't stand a chance.
A master giving a display of his craft, for the enjoyment and amazement of those lucky enough to witness the show. Mr Ricky Jay was a true titan in his chosen profession, and also found success in other areas such as film, and Hollywood films at that. So when the headlines announced that Ricky Jay had died today, I was momentarily saddened. His death marks the passing of another rare breed, a man close to uniqueness due to his mastery of his interests. I remember watching this show when it originally aired on HBO when I was a kid and I was utterly entranced by his performance just as I am now all these years later.
Bless you Ricky Jay, you were a one-of-a-kind legend in your own time, and you will continue to be one after your time. Enjoy heaven & keep God & everyone else entertained up there with your tricks.
I'd double it and add: 4] He was gifted in the art of paralinguistics. 5] He was a master prosodist. 6] He was a good orator. But we are only really waxing lyrical about a mere two strings, attached to this man's bow.
I love Ricky jay.. so eloquent in his articulation. A true wordsmith. I love people who can talk like that, they can make any boring concept sound so interesting
Thank you for everything you have done for me Mr. Jay i never really did magic but you taught to be eloquent, a gentleman, a scholar, never sell myself short, and always be the light in the room! You will truly be missed, I’m glad you get to be with all your mentors again. They would all be so proud of how you carried on their legacies. R.I.P Mr. Jay ❤️❤️❤️
I knew nothing about Ricky Jay until he guest starred an an episode of X-Files. He was great on the show so i had to look into him and his shows. The guy was awesome.
I love the sound of Ricky opening a fresh, sealed .. unbroken deck of playing cards. The crinkling of the plastic wrapping .. all comfortable, all homey .. he knows those cards intimately even before opening the pack; and they, him ..
Ive watched this dozens and dozens of times since the 90’s and its still amazing to watch; the part with the cups and balls at the end, along with the story is so captivating to watch and id have loved to see this in person.
I came across Ricky Jay through his sporadic film appearances in Boogie Nights and Magnolia with PTA and The Prestige with Christopher Nolan, and by sheer chance I discovered his acclaimed magic career which I had no idea of!! Truly a brilliant magician with possibly the greatest sleight-of-hand!!
Ricky was truly one of a kind. I instantly became a fan when I saw this special back in 96' on HBO. Just like George Carlin was the most 'cerebral' comedian ever, same can be said for Ricky J as a magician...RIP and God Bless (Saint Peter, pick a card, any card.....)
I usually detest card tricks, like toothaches and canned meat, but I could watch him for hours. A true master of magic and verbal prestidigitation. I met him many times and attended a number of his lectures at various magic conventions. Amazing performer.🎭
Thanks! I never had the pleasure of seeing Ricky Jay live. It is ironic, because my name is Rick and my brother is Jay. It would have been great to see him perform with my brother.
OMFG, I saw this special when it aired, I to this day absolutely love watching it, and all these years, an almost verbatim memory of the dialogue throughout, I forgot Ricky asking "Who killed Laura Palmer," (32:09) and me having no idea what that meant. All these years later, I understand, and I know 🤣
a unique genius...a wonderful sort of man...in his own category really....truly interesting...I wish i had met and talked to him for while...He grew up when people were still people.....would've surely been an honor and a learning experience to meet him.......
The showmanship is incredible. But I like to try to see the secret. The signed King card magically appears in the new deck. There is a clue from the camera work, I could give a time stamp for those whose imagination of knowing doesn't ruin the blissful magical ignorance. I pray Ricky that you're being blessed by God, that you truly do know the Magical One.
This man just had to tell a history lesson and the crowd laughed, thinking he was making things up. This is what we call eating out of the palm of your hands. "The Little man of Nuremberg" crowd laughs
A true legend, and another beige clad myth in the audience. Picked out by a Pocket so humble as Eye. What a marvelous age we live in to see what was seen long ago, while seated here I see nothing at all.
This is ridiculous. The unit is was one of my shows, and he played a CIA agent in quite a few episodes but there was one where he showed a glimpse of his sleight of hand talent, but now seeing this, does it that much more justice for me
My favourite. Interestingly though the audience keeps laughing or chucking at completely arbitrary moments, just whenever he says something they don't understand.
The jokes may not be as funny as some may think, but he was saying a joke right before they laugh. Not arbitrary, but maybe you are just too young to get those jokes.
That's typical. I've noticed groups of people will laugh in moments of what would instead be awkward silence. Especially when they're watching someone they not only look up to, but also feel intimidated by. See for example some old Steve Jobs WWDC stuff, e.g. him talking about the transition to intel. Was watching that the other day, and the audience laughed for no apparent reason when Steve took a break to take a quick sip from his water bottle. They filled the silence with laughter; it was not funny.
Excellent. Fantastic. Only objection is the deadpan audience and volunteers. I wish I was able to participate or even sit in the last chair of the auditorium and see the amazing hand manipulation and prestidigitation of Ricky Jay.
Small note at 18:30 Ricky Jay is not moving his left thumb to simulate the push. I’m just saying. :-) Great show by the way just something I picked up on after studying a lot of card sheets and gambling always simulates a thumb flush with the bottom doing. I didn’t notice it until recently.
Anyone else notice no matter where you watch Ricky Jay's throwing cards at a watermelon routine...the last 2 cards thrown always hit the same slit in the watermelon?
There was a show called Alias Smith and Jones in the early '70's - it was a TV knockoff of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, or at the very least inspired by. I actually liked it better, but anyway, in the first episode Burl Ives invites the boys to his weekly Saturday Nght card game and bets them that he can cut the Ace of Spades on the first try. He lets them shuffle the deck. Pete Duel's character does it twice and lays the deck on the table. Burl Ives pulls out a bowie knife and cuts straight through the deck. Everyone in the room laughs at the deceptive challenge and dishonest victory. Ives proudly says, "I told you I could cut it on the first try",...to which Duel says, "no, you didn't", and pulls out the Ace which he had palmed during the shuffle. It astounds the room, infuriates Ives and in one fell sweep establishes the skill and mystery of Hannibal Heyes' character early in the show's run. I've often wondered if Ricky Jay could pull that off (I'm sure he could),...I would have loved to have seen him do it.
Rest In Peace, I’m sad I couldn’t learn about him sooner but I’m happy I have now, my condolences to his family, friends, and loved ones. God bless everyone and have a good day.
I tried to see this show when it was off-Broadway in New York with my father - we came very close to getting tickets! But we got turned away at the Box Office, because I was 14 years old at the time and “Mr. Jay does not allow children to see his show, it is not a kids magic show.” Both my father and I were pissed at the time because I was a precocious kid who was already quite familiar with Ricky Jay and knew what I was getting into. But I understand why he had that policy.
