Dai Vernon, the greatest sleight of hand figure in the history of the art, rarely performed. But he invented magic and had an enormous influence on the whole range of sleight of hand. And so often, the magic he was doing was to fool other magicians. Ricky Jay Read Quote
Sitting with a deck of cards in your hand all day is an obsession. Visiting print shops and bookstores and libraries is an obsession. And writing about this is an obsession. I think, in general, most collectors are obsessed. I think the only form of a rationalized greed is when you’re collecting something you are supposedly serious about. Ricky Jay Read Quote
There are enormous dangers in thinking that the world online is the world as it exists, that what you get from your one stroke on the Internet is all there is to know. Ricky Jay Read Quote
That’s one of the ways language evolved, by some very obscure form becoming common usage. And I must say that I’m very intrigued by use of language and slang, and criminal underground terms. Ricky Jay Read Quote
For the most part, magic secrets are available on a level that’s overwhelming and frightening, and they are very accessible if you do the tiniest bit of digging. But, that said, there’s a certain group of individuals, in which I am included, who are very tight about secrets and don’t share them with anyone. Ricky Jay Read Quote
I wasn’t obsessed by magic. People say, ‘How you can you claim you practiced eight hours a day and weren’t obsessed?’ Well, people go to a job they don’t even like for eight hours a day; it’s not obsessive if it’s something you like. Ricky Jay Read Quote
I never talk much about my family, but my grandfather was friendly with these guys, with magicians and ventriloquists on the highest levels, and I was just… interested. Ricky Jay Read Quote
Theft annoys me more than anything else. The purloining of effects from another magician. Some people think it’s massive to steal the secrets of nuclear reactors, but to steal a card move is trivial. They’re wrong. Ricky Jay Read Quote
Not only do I lie, I take real pleasure in lying, in the transmission of magic effects. Ricky Jay Read Quote
I grew up like Athena – covered with playing cards instead of armor – and, at the age of seven, materialized on a TV show, doing magic. Ricky Jay Read Quote
