Ricky Jay

Ricky Jay
Jay at the premiere of Redbelt in April 2008
Born	1948 (age 68–69) Brooklyn, New York, New York, U.S.
Other names	Richard Jay Potash
Occupation	Magician, actor, author
Known for	Sleight of hand, card tricks, history of magic
Spouse(s)	Chrisann Verges

Richard Jay Potash (born 1948), known professionally as Ricky Jay, is 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 is known for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter. He has also written extensively on magic and its history. His acting credits include the films The Prestige, The Spanish Prisoner, Mystery Men, Heist, Boogie Nights, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Magnolia, and the HBO series Deadwood.

Jay prefers not to discuss the details of his childhood. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on an unspecified date, probably in 1948, to a middle-class Jewish family, and grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He has never spoken publicly about his parents, with the exception of a single anecdote: "My father oiled his hair with Brylcreem and brushed his teeth with Colgate," he 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.” His grandfather, Max Katz, was a certified public accountant and amateur magician who introduced Jay to magic.

Jay first performed in public at the age of four, in 1953, when he appeared on the television program "Time For Pets". He is most likely the youngest magician to perform a full magic act on TV, the first magician to ever play comedy clubs, and probably the first magician to open for a rock and roll band. At New York's The Electric Circus in the 1960s, he performed on a bill between Ike and Tina Turner and Timothy Leary, who lectured about LSD.