My Night of Deception

Tonight I get the pleasure of seeing one of my favorite people in person. Oddly, he's not super-famous or anything, just a guy who does card tricks, has a voice made for storytelling and flat-out seems to be a cool guy.

It's Ricky Jay, someone you're more likely familiar with from his small roles in Boogie Nights, State and Main, and a host of David Mamet films. I can't say when I first started liking the guy. I know Penn & Teller talked about him a few times and I've always been fans of theirs. But I did see this trick on a TV special a long time back and once he started popping up in movies that I already liked, I figured the guy had to be a cool cat to hang out with.



He's giving a talk tonight at the Folger on "Deception." I have a feeling I may not even see any card tricks, as cool as that would be. Maybe he'll just rant for a bit on things and it won't be anything that amazing. He even makes reciting old poems sound cool.



But I've always wanted to see the guy in person and I'm glad I'll be able to check this off the list. And if he happens to pull a deck of cards from his coat pocket, all the better for me.

My Magic 8 Ball

I know this is going to sound weird, but I only used this Magic 8 Ball once and it broke shortly thereafter. But before I discard it, I have to thank it for helping me out. It was a crappy little 8 Ball that a video game company sent me a bunch of years ago, and I don't consider myself much of a superstitious man. But when you are feeling down, you'll damn near try anything.

During one of the low points at my former job, I had just comeback from an interview where I could tell they just weren't into me. It's fine, you can't get every job you apply for, but I was feeling a little down and it was well past that point where work was getting bad and people were being particularly crummy toward me on a regular basis where they had once been my closest colleagues and friends.

So I picked up the 8 Ball on a whim and asked two simple questions: 1) Would I be out of this job in less than a month? Answer: "Most certainly." And 2) Will it be a job I actually want? Answer: "The stars say yes." 

And in less than three weeks the 8 Ball I got word of the Washingtonian job, applied, interviewed and got it. So a toast to you, Magic 8 Ball. You only worked once before breaking, but it only took once for you to fulfill your purpose. 

My Soft Spot for Magic

I'm a big Ricky Jay fan. If you don't know him, I won't hate you for it, but you're shamed because by now you should. He's been in a slew of good movies playing minor roles but always delivering the goods. Things is, he's actually an amazingly accomplished card magician and raconteur. Yeah, I just used another word that will make Kelly rolls his eyes and call me a loser.

Jay is just a cool cat. A guy who has a great delivery style and never does overly complex tricks. He just does them with a sense of style and wit that makes everyone look like hacks. This is the kind of magic I love, not that Copperfield bullshit or that Blaine moron starving himself in a glass box for 90 days or whatever other ignorant crap he thinks up.

Here is a smattering of Jay's fine work. Many of these are from his "Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants" performance and if you can find the full show I highly recommend it.

Again, it's a simple trick that hundreds of other magicians have done, but it's his storytelling that makes it enjoyable.



This is a simple 4 Queens, 3 Ways trick, but it's well-delivered and even after watching it about 60 times I still can't figure it out.



And last but not least, the damn coolest thing. It's probably really easy to do, but damn if it doesn't impress me. And he never says a word.