Illusionist

Ricky
Jay

While Ricky Jay has long been considered one of the world’s great sleight of hand artists, his career is further distinguished by the remarkable variety of his accomplishments as an author, actor, historian, and consultant. His one man shows Ricky Jay & His 52 Assistants and Ricky Jay: On the Stem, both directed by David Mamet, were award winning critical and commercial theatrical events. As an actor Mr. Jay has been seen in David Mamet’s films: House of Games, Homicide, Things Change, Spanish Prisoner, State and Main, Heist and most recently Redbelt. He has appeared in many other films including Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Last Days, The Prestige, The Great Buck Howard and the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. He has written and hosted his own specials for CBS, HBO, A&E, and the BBC, and has appeared on the series X-Files, Kidnapped, Deadwood, and The Unit. Mr. Jay is currently appearing in the ABC series FlashForward. His consulting company, Deceptive Practices, has supplied “Arcane Knowledge on a Need to Know Basis” for more than a score of films including The Prestige, The Illusionist, Forrest Gump, and Oceans 13. He defined the terms of his art for the Encyclopedia Britannica and the Cambridge Guide to American Theater. He is the author of many books including Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women, Jay’s Journal of Anomalies (both New York Times “Notable Books of the Year”) Dice: Deception Fate & Rotten Luck and Extraordinary Exhibitions. His Grammy Nominated boxed set, Ricky Jay Plays Poker, an album of classic and esoteric gambling tunes and a DVD of his of sleight of hand performance, is available from Sony BMG.