Ricky Jay Quotes

The pain is bad magicians ripping off good ones, doing magic badly, and making a mockery of the art.

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 fooled as well.

The book says we may be through with the past but the past ain't through with us.

Not only do I lie, I take real pleasure in lying, in the transmission of magic effects.

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.

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.

My father was the Formica King of Long Island, and my mother was the daughter of a Bengal Lancer in India.

I never talk much about my family, but my grandfather was friendly with these guys, with magicians and ventriloquists on the highest levels, and I was just interested.

If it sounds too good to be true, it always is.

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.

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.

Magic is a powerful art that can support a weak performer.

I wouldn't want to try to make a living as an actor. I think actors... I give them a lot of credit for what they go through, but putting myself on the line like that would make me crazy.

I'm probably the only kid in history whose parents made him stop taking music lessons. They made me stop studying the accordion.

I know absolutely nothing about the 20th Century.

It probably is harder to fool people when they know they're going to be fooled.

I like being fooled. When I watch someone who does sleight-of-hand and fools me, it's a great feeling.

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.

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.

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 of language and slang, and criminal underground terms.

I think the toughest thing about being an actor in a film is to be with a director who doesn't know what they want. And that can be really, really frustrating.

Writing is the only thing in my life that doesn't get easier. It just doesn't.

I think a lot of people just assumed I came to L.A. to do more television and get into show business.

I started doing radio pieces with no clear, preconceived idea, except that I have a tendency to be theatrical.

I always read what I write out loud, and I did that long before any radio thing. My editor finds that unusual.

Like every art form, there are jealousies and angers and competitiveness in magic. But there's camaraderie among magicians, whether you perform it for a living or you're an enthusiast.