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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

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Ricky Jay
Age: 72 †
Born: 1946
Born: June 26
Died: 2018
Died: November 24
Magician
Non-Fiction Writer
Screenwriter
Stage Actor
Television Actor
Writer
Brooklyn
New York
Richard Jay Potash
People
Secret
Annoying
Wrong
Secrets
Reactors
Moving
Stealing
Annoys
Else
Massive
Theft
Another
Cards
Trivial
Anything
Nuclear
Magician
Think
Effects
Card
Thinking
Move
Steal

More quotes by Ricky Jay

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The book says we may be through with the past but the past ain't through with us.
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If it sounds too good to be true, it always is.
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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 difficulty or ease, and that may vary.
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It probably is harder to fool people when they know they're going to be fooled.
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I like being fooled. When I watch someone who does sleight-of-hand and fools me, it's a great feeling.
Ricky Jay
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I think a lot of people just assumed I came to L.A. to do more television and get into show business.
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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 and the best shrimp cocktails that ever were.
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I'm pretty fortunate that I'm in the films I'm in largely because the directors have asked me to be in them. I'd love to do more of them, but the writing and historical stuff I'll probably always do.
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In the winters, I enrolled in the hotel management program at Cornell University. I naively thought that I knew something about sleight-of-hand, entertainment and food, and that would be all I needed.
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Writing is the only thing in my life that doesn't get easier. It just doesn't.
Ricky Jay
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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
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My father was the Formica King of Long Island, and my mother was the daughter of a Bengal Lancer in India.
Ricky Jay
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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
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Maybe the the luxury of not having acting be my only profession is that I can be more selective about what I choose to be in. I've been really lucky in terms of film projects with people, terrific actors and also writers and directors that I really respect.
Ricky Jay
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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 of it all, sleight-of-hand. It's certainly the thing I feel most comfortable with.
Ricky Jay
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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 on stage, so a large portion of my act did come from ad-libs.
Ricky Jay
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I know absolutely nothing about the 20th Century.
Ricky Jay
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The pain is bad magicians ripping off good ones, doing magic badly, and making a mockery of the art.
Ricky Jay
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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
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Magic is a powerful art that can support a weak performer.
Ricky Jay