Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Remembering Ricky Jay: Master Magician and Sleight of Hand Artist



With all the news sites that we check daily to find gems for posting on Jewish Humor Central, we somehow missed the obituaries for Ricky Jay, the master magician, sleight of hand artist, actor, and writer who died last November at the age of 72.

Born Richard Jay Potash in Brooklyn and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Jay was known for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter. He also wrote extensively on magic and its history.



As Anita Gates wrote in The New York Times,
Mr. Jay could hit a target with a single playing card at 190 feet and could aim multiple cards at a fresh watermelon, piercing its flesh time after time. But even moviegoers and television viewers who had little interest in magic had opportunities to see Mr. Jay in his 40 or so film and TV roles.
Over the decades he was a regular on talk shows hosted by Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, Dinah Shore, Johnny Carson, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien and on various incarnations of “The Tonight Show,” beginning in the Carson era.
In this video he entertains an audience with his Cups and Balls routine, the oldest effect in the history of magic, while delivering a history lesson on the origin of the game.

Enjoy!


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Born Richard Jay Potash in Brooklyn and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Jay had parents ill-suited to the sort of obsessive, imaginative, erudite, and talented performer and writer he would grow up to be. He stated in the biographical documentary film “Deceptive Practice” (2012) that the “only kind memory” he retained of his parents, Samuel Potash and Shirley Katz, were from the time of his bar mitzvah. They asked what entertainment he would prefer for his bar mitzvah party. He requested Al Flosso, a Jewish magician born Albert Levinson, who headlined at Grossinger’s and other Catskills resorts.Read more: https://forward.com/culture/theater/414750/ricky-jay-performs-his-final-vanishing-act/
Born Richard Jay Potash in Brooklyn and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Jay had parents ill-suited to the sort of obsessive, imaginative, erudite, and talented performer and writer he would grow up to be. He stated in the biographical documentary film “Deceptive Practice” (2012) that the “only kind memory” he retained of his parents, Samuel Potash and Shirley Katz, were from the time of his bar mitzvah. They asked what entertainment he would prefer for his bar mitzvah party. He requested Al Flosso, a Jewish magician born Albert Levinson, who headlined at Grossinger’s and other Catskills resorts.Read more: https://forward.com/culture/theater/414750/ricky-jay-performs-his-final-vanishing-act/
Born Richard Jay Potash in Brooklyn and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Jay had parents ill-suited to the sort of obsessive, imaginative, erudite, and talented performer and writer he would grow up to be. He stated in the biographical documentary film “Deceptive Practice” (2012) that the “only kind memory” he retained of his parents, Samuel Potash and Shirley Katz, were from the time of his bar mitzvah. They asked what entertainment he would prefer for his bar mitzvah party. He requested Al Flosso, a Jewish magician born Albert Levinson, who headlined at Grossinger’s and other Catskills resorts.Read more: https://forward.com/culture/theater/414750/ricky-jay-performs-his-final-vanishing-act/
Born Richard Jay Potash in Brooklyn and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Jay had parents ill-suited to the sort of obsessive, imaginative, erudite, and talented performer and writer he would grow up to be. He stated in the biographical documentary film “Deceptive Practice” (2012) that the “only kind memory” he retained of his parents, Samuel Potash and Shirley Katz, were from the time of his bar mitzvah. They asked what entertainment he would prefer for his bar mitzvah party. He requested Al Flosso, a Jewish magician born Albert Levinson, who headlined at Grossinger’s and other Catskills resorts.Read more: https://forward.com/culture/theater/414750/ricky-jay-performs-his-final-vanishing-act/
Born Richard Jay Potash in Brooklyn and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Jay had parents ill-suited to the sort of obsessive, imaginative, erudite, and talented performer and writer he would grow up to be. He stated in the biographical documentary film “Deceptive Practice” (2012) that the “only kind memory” he retained of his parents, Samuel Potash and Shirley Katz, were from the time of his bar mitzvah. They asked what entertainment he would prefer for his bar mitzvah party. He requested Al Flosso, a Jewish magician born Albert Levinson, who headlined at Grossinger’s and other Catskills resorts.Read more: https://forward.com/culture/theater/414750/ricky-jay-performs-his-final-vanishing-act/

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