I'm much more interested in lesser-known eccentrics and characters and performers. Like Matthew Buchinger, who was born in Germany in 1674, had no arms or legs and yet did magic, and had 14 kids, and made the most extraordinary calligraphy. — Ricky Jay Copy Share Image
Writing is the only thing in my life that doesn't get easier. It just doesn't. — Ricky Jay Copy Share Image
Magicians from the nineteenth century threw cards distances, but I think I'm the first one who made a thing about using them as weapons. — Ricky Jay Copy Share Image
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… — Ricky Jay Copy Share Image
I started doing radio pieces with no clear, preconceived idea, except that I have a tendency to be theatrical. — Ricky Jay Copy Share Image
I'm probably the only kid in history whose parents made him stop taking music lessons. They made me stop studying the accordion. — Ricky Jay Copy Share Image
I suppose that if I could only do one thing, a solid card effect would be pretty high on the list. That's the root… — Ricky Jay Copy Share Image
To obfuscate the reconstruction of the effect - when a magician is fooled by another magician doing magic. In my career that's not been… — Ricky Jay Copy Share Image
Unlike other Jewish families, we didn't go out for Chinese food on Sundays, but we spent our time in a world of baking powder… — Ricky Jay Copy Share Image
There are people who try to figure things out. Often, magic is presented in a way that sets up a challenge that I actually… — Ricky Jay Copy Share Image
My father was the Formica King of Long Island, and my mother was the daughter of a Bengal Lancer in India. — Ricky Jay Copy Share Image
