Ricky Jay Quotes

28 quotes in 442 categories

• If it sounds too good to be true, it always is.
• 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.
• The pain is bad magicians ripping off good ones, doing magic badly, and making a mockery of the art.
• Magic is a powerful art that can support a weak performer.
• I love amazing people. I love dazzling them. That's why I think performing magic is one of the greatest things a person can do.
• I always read what I write out loud, and I did that long before any radio thing. My editor finds that unusual.
• For me, the most exciting thing is to create good magic that's entertaining for an audience, and it would be lovely if a magician was…
• I know absolutely nothing about the 20th Century.
• I started doing radio pieces with no clear, preconceived idea, except that I have a tendency to be theatrical.
• I think a lot of people just assumed I came to L.A. to do more television and get into show business.
• 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 biscuits…
• I'm probably the only kid in history whose parents made him stop taking music lessons. They made me stop studying the accordion.
• 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…
• 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…
• 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…
• Every acting gig isn't the same, every writing job isn't the same, every live performance isn't the same - the challenge is the level of…
• Not only do I lie, I take real pleasure in lying, in the transmission of magic effects.
• Writing is the only thing in my life that doesn't get easier. It just doesn't.
• My father was the Formica King of Long Island, and my mother was the daughter of a Bengal Lancer in India.
• I certainly was performing before my writing was published, because I was performing when I was very young. And the thing is I'm very comfortable…

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