When his bizarre posse is finally ushered out of the room, Jay flops onto a threadbare sofa.
Just then, three members of his inner circle of fellow magicians walk in to rehash the show.
It went well; there isnt much to discuss.
Credit: Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images
So the four of them start swapping stories.
Jay sits silently, nodding his approval after each one.
He stands up, moves to the center of the room, and launches into a gem.
So Im in Vegas, standing in Siegfried and Roys living room…
Since the story involves the humiliation of one of their mutual friends, the details are off-the-record.
Still, its not the surreal details of the tale that stand out.
Nor is it the deadpan delivery.
Who is this guy?
The short answer is that Ricky Jay is a magician.
But stopping there is like calling da Vinci a doodler.
Its just after 11 P.M., and Ricky Jay is in the mood for dumplings.
I slide in, facing the room.
Do you mind if we switch sides?
he asks, still standing.
I prefer to not have my back to the room.
Too many years of playing cards.
Its one of the many reasons people think Im strange.
Jay pours some tea and spots the juicy little sticky buns hes been hunting for on the menu.
I ask him about his childhood in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn.
Lets talk about something else.
But again, about that childhood.
Okay, lets get this straight.
I hope thats not going to be a problem.
Its easy to fathom why Jay is so cagey.
In his line of work, theres an innate fear of demystifying persona and the tricks of the profession.
In fact, Jays mystique is something hes grappling with as he draws greater and greater attention.
Ricky Jay wont discuss his age, but its reported to be around 54.
And that looks about right.
His eyelids are heavy and permanently hung at half-mast.
Theyre meaty, but smaller in scale than the rest of him.
Perfect for, say, boosting your wallet.
Sated on dumplings, Jay loosens up a bit.
His grandfather, a CPA named Max Katz, got him interested in magic, he says.
He was an amateur magician.
And his friends were some of the great entertainers in the world: jugglers, ventriloquists….
He was sort of an amateur mathematician, and he taught me cube roots when I was very young.
Jay was the students student.
By the time he was 7, Jay says he was performing on a television show calledStar Time Kids.
By 13, he was working the Catskills.
When asked if his eclectic interests made him feel different from other kids, he laughs.
But I was also into sports.
The only thing that made me seemingly sane was that I played ball.
But yeah, I suppose that makes you different as a kid.
Sitting in your room with a deck of cards in your hand all day long.
William H. Macy has known Jay since the mid-80s, and theyve appeared in seven movies together.
They were first introduced when Jay performed at a birthday party at David Mamets place.
I introduced him to one of the understudies and said, Ricky, do something.
He didnt want to.
And Ricky lifts his shirt, and of course, theres no tattoo on it.
I was like, What the f?!
After being trotted out on TV and in the Catskills, Jay went to Cornell.
He says he spent nearly a decade on the Ithaca campus without graduating.
Jay recalls spending days asking for advice and nights just proud to be at their table at Canters Deli.
They were both so remarkably generous, he says.
To test his magic chops, Jay took to the road.
He toured as the opening act with everyone from Cheech & Chong to Emmylou Harris.
Opening for the B-52s was certainly up there.
So I ask him if hes ever thought about being a con man off stage?
He smiles and looks down at his dumplings.
In a word, yes.
Well, have you ever actually done it?
Lets talk about it.
Nah, lets not.
For the most part, Ricky Jay doesnt mix with other magicians.
He sets down a half-eaten piece of barbecued duck and grasps for something nice to say.
He doesnt seem able to.
Its uncomfortable for me to talk about other people in that way.
I dont know an easy way to do it.
I guess the easiest way for me to respond is to just pretend you never asked.
Or that some part of him feels like a man out of time, born in the wrong century.
Sure, Jays had people grab rosary beads after one of his illusions.
But its nothing like the awe Hofzinser inspired.
Those people must have thought they were witnessing miracles.
A place where pickpockets and mentalists plied their trades.
Where Huberts Museum housed its famous flea circus.
And where some sting artist might actually sell you the Brooklyn Bridge if you werent careful.
In fact, right now, sometime after midnight, its dead.
Its funny, I dont remember the limp before dinner.
And I start to wonder, Is this just part of some scam?
But before I can think to ask, hes disappeared into the night.
Somewhere down the Stem.
