Ricky Jay question.

Dec 12, 2018
39
22
Hey theory 11!

So I was wanting to know something.
I was thinking about the late and great Ricky Jay today.. about his passing last year and his work etc.
And I was thinking.

I remember reading a few times Ricky calling himself a "magician in exile"
And how apart from work relating to his company he really didnt have anything to do with magic other then his own work and his "meditative practise" as he called it.

And it got me thinking...

Why was he not really involved with the current "scene".. not a great descriptive word, but you get my understanding..
Of magic???

From what I know and forgive me if I am incorrect but after his original tutoring from Dai and his visits.. he never really was at the magic castle and I've looked at his mentions at any form of gatherings and it seems hard to find.

I mite be completely wrong about this and I'm happy to be completely corrected as to learn more about it.

But Dai was the sun of magic and people travelled far and wide to be around him and to learn from him.. and one of them was of course Ricky.
I just assumed Ricky would of been more involved in magic.

Thank you for reading
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
I know he really hated how much people stole material in the magic world. Like in this article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1993/04/05/secrets-of-the-magus - Where he talks about someone who bragged about performing a piece Ricky had created.

If I were to be so bold as to hazard a guess regarding his reluctance to engage in the community, it would be that most magicians are pretty tiresome to be around. To one who was clearly more interested in the 18th century than the 21st, what would Ricky have to talk about with people who think regurgitating tired one liners counts as art? He was clearly more interested in conversations with dead people (reading books) than living ones.
 
Dec 12, 2018
39
22
Thank you very much for sending me the link to the article!!

And also thank you for your opinion and your idea of your answer and replying to my question.
 
Nov 4, 2017
83
84
There is a 2013 documentary about him called Deceptive Practice. It’s worth a rent and gives a lot of insight to some of your questions.
 
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Dec 31, 2016
30
11
Yeah, Deceptive Practice was really good. You'll be less surprised once you watch it. This was a guy who could have headlined in vegas and made a mint, but instead did theatre shows with David Mamet directing. About as NYC intellectual as you can get, I'm not surprised he would not feel much in common with the Vegas and cruise ship oriented scene of regular magic.
 
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