Ricky Jay in LA

[eindoppelganger]

Just saw Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants in LA last night. He is at the Geffen Playhouse at UCLA if anyone is in town and interested. Its pricey but WELL worth it. My only disappointment was he didnt do any card throwing (I wanted to see the Watermelon).

Great stuff from an amazing all around Rennisance man. He has a real funny line about anyone holding cards. Is it just me or is it rude to have cards at a magic show... feels like bringing a violin to a concert you know? Im glad I left mine in the car

*spoiler?*
Its a great how with sections on Gambling Artifice, card sleights, an Automata in the Houdin style as well as some other suprises. I think he has switched it up a little since the HBO show. He even does the center deal which I had read about but never seen him perform.
*end spoiler*

Cheers,

S

 

[ZachMueller]

I wish i could see it, but i'm not over 18

 

[Guardian18]

My only disappointment was he didnt do any card throwing (I wanted to see the Watermelon).

Isn't that Rick Smith?

 

[Eddie]

Isn't that Rick Smith?

I think it's Ricky Jay... isn't it?

 

[eindoppelganger]

Yeah, Ricky Jay piereces the "thick, pachydermatous outer melon layer" of "the most prodigious of household fruits" with his 90 mile an hour card throwing mastery.

He wrote the book on the subject "Cards as Weapons" Worth every penny if you can find it.

S

Zachmonkey: I feel ya man. If its any consolation many many clips are on Youtube from the HBO special. I have a feelin you have already seen those though.

 

[MrHoudis]

The watermellon is most certainly Ricky Jay. Man, I really wish I could see him. I have read most of his books, and I have been practicing his card throwing tequnique (its really difficult! If anyone has any advice on Ricky Jay's throwing tequnique, like getting better aim, that would be great if you could help me out!) Plus, my granddad is really close friends with him, and got me a copy of Anomalies which Ricky signed "Give it up while you can!" (my granddad told him I was into magic). But he is, like, my idol, next to P&T, and If I didn't live on the east coast, I would do everything I could to see him live! That sounds amazing!

 

[eindoppelganger]

HAHAh Mr Houdis thats great!! I wanted him to sign my Learned Pigs but his assistant said no I really wanted to talk to him but no such luck. You;re lucky to have a mutual friend and a personalized autograph! P&T are my other favorites as well, they and Harry Anderson are the ones who got me interested in Magic. It was the macabre bend to their work

BTW the Jay's Journal book is really cool. I just got it a few weeks ago with a copy of Dice (his collection of rotting dice which are on display here in LA at the Museum of Jurrasic Technology)

S

 

[MrHoudis]

Oh awesome, I have read about Dice, and it sounds really cool. And yeah, I love Jays Journal and Learned Pigs! They are really interesting, and just plain crazy. Thats one of the reasons I love Ricky Jay's routines, he incorperates history and lots of the other stuff in his books into his acts. And Penn and Teller got me into magic too, because the same granddad that knows Ricky Jay was their creative director when they were starting out doing their Broadway show. They talked in their books about James Randi, and then that got me all involved in the skeptic movement too. Its pretty cool how all of my interests branch from certain things.