Richard Jay Potash (June 26, 1946 â€" November 24, 2018), known
professionally as Ricky Jay, was an American stage magician, actor and
writer. In a profile for The New Yorker, Mark Singer called Jay
"perhaps the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive". In addition to
sleight of hand, Jay was known for his card tricks, card throwing,
memory feats, and stage patter. He also wrote extensively on magic and
its history. His acting credits included the films The Prestige, The
Spanish Prisoner, Mystery Men, Heist, Boogie Nights, Tomorrow Never
Dies, House of Games, and Magnolia, and the HBO series Deadwood. In
2015 he was the subject of an episode of PBS's American Masters,
making him the only magician ever to have been profiled in that
series.Jay preferred not to discuss the details of his childhood. He
was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Shirley (Katz) and Samuel Potash. A
member of a middle-class Jewish family, he grew up in Elizabeth, New
Jersey. He rarely spoke publicly about his parents, but he did share
an anecdote: "My father oiled his hair with Brylcreem and brushed his
teeth with Colgate," Jay recalled. "He kept his toothpaste in the
medicine cabinet and the Brylcreem in a closet about a foot away.
Once, when I was ten, I switched the tubes. All you need to know about
my father is that after he brushed his teeth with Brylcreem he put the
toothpaste in his hair."During an interview on the National Public
Radio program Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Jay said that possibly "the
only kind memory I ever had of my parents" was when they secretly
hired one of his idols, the magician Al Flosso, to perform at his bar
mitzvah. Jay's grandfather, Max Katz, was a certified public
accountant and amateur magician who introduced Jay to magic.
professionally as Ricky Jay, was an American stage magician, actor and
writer. In a profile for The New Yorker, Mark Singer called Jay
"perhaps the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive". In addition to
sleight of hand, Jay was known for his card tricks, card throwing,
memory feats, and stage patter. He also wrote extensively on magic and
its history. His acting credits included the films The Prestige, The
Spanish Prisoner, Mystery Men, Heist, Boogie Nights, Tomorrow Never
Dies, House of Games, and Magnolia, and the HBO series Deadwood. In
2015 he was the subject of an episode of PBS's American Masters,
making him the only magician ever to have been profiled in that
series.Jay preferred not to discuss the details of his childhood. He
was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Shirley (Katz) and Samuel Potash. A
member of a middle-class Jewish family, he grew up in Elizabeth, New
Jersey. He rarely spoke publicly about his parents, but he did share
an anecdote: "My father oiled his hair with Brylcreem and brushed his
teeth with Colgate," Jay recalled. "He kept his toothpaste in the
medicine cabinet and the Brylcreem in a closet about a foot away.
Once, when I was ten, I switched the tubes. All you need to know about
my father is that after he brushed his teeth with Brylcreem he put the
toothpaste in his hair."During an interview on the National Public
Radio program Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Jay said that possibly "the
only kind memory I ever had of my parents" was when they secretly
hired one of his idols, the magician Al Flosso, to perform at his bar
mitzvah. Jay's grandfather, Max Katz, was a certified public
accountant and amateur magician who introduced Jay to magic.
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