Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay

This episode of "American Masters" in one of the strangest in the series. Usually these shows are about famous musicians, architects, photographers, actors, artists and the like. Here, however, the subject is definitely a different sort of artist--a slight of hand artist named Rickey Jay. Also unusual is that although I'd seen Jay in a few small roles in movies, I had absolutely who he was or what made him famous. Even more unusual is that the subject narrates the film and takes the viewer on a journey with him.

The show is about Jay and his obsession with magic. But, there is a strong emphasis on the sleight of hand artist--the magician who often used cards but who avoided traditional magic props used for 'big' acts. He talks about the many previous sleight of hand artists who were the greats and who contributed to Jay's education in the subject. Overall, it's very interesting and builds an interest even if the viewer didn't previously care about this sort of magic. Well worth seeing.

I can see the director's problem here. Ricky Jay doesn't have much to say about his family, left home young, got a job bar tending which led to magic act bookings. Please exit at the rear of the theater. Not much to work with there so we get into the figures he grew up with. When he was young he hung out with his grandfather Max Katz (insert biography here, show vaudeville photos.) He introduced Ricky to Cardini (insert biography here, show vaudeville photos.) Then he hung out with these other two sleight of hand greats (insert biography...you get the idea.) I guess in the end we learn that Ricky Jay has an interesting talent but an entirely uninteresting life. The coverage of the other magicians is so overpowering that this can hardly be called a Ricky Jay biography. This may have played better if it were about all of these past talents with Ricky Jay as the host, rather than pretending he were the center of the film.

It starts off slowly. There is a lot of name-dropping of people; I'm wondering if I'm supposed to know these names...

As it goes on, it becomes more interesting. Some of the stories people tell are quite entertaining.

The poem Ricky recites at the close of the film is really a highlight of the viewing experience. "The Game in the Windowless Room", written for Ricky Jay by Shel Silverstein. The poem by itself tells a gripping story.

I was fascinated with magic in my youth. By my 20s I was (almost bitter, I don't know why) skeptic. Now that I know there is not such thing as magic, I see it as even more magical.

A glass one-third empty, two-third full kind of film. The two-thirds that are rich and brimming is the wonderful introduction the various colorful artists who mentored Ricky Jay into arguably the foremost card magician of our time. It's a lineage we learn that is handed down very personally, from generation to generation and then only in bits and pieces. Jay tells great stories of the men who inspired and tutored him. And we occasionally see terrific glimpses of them performing in some great found old footage.

The second full third are the wonderful, if all too brief times we to watch Jay's amazing artistry with cards and card tricks. Slight of hand at this level is truly beautiful -- a dance of illusion. There's a silky smoothness to Jay's movements that works in wonderful tandem with this spikey, off-beat, almost dangerous on stage persona.

The third that's missing is a deeper exploration of the man himself. By his own admission Jay keeps the world at bay. We hear a very few tantalizing bits about his boyhood family life away from magic, but then that's put aside (even his manager of 20+ years admits he knows better than to ask Ricky about his childhood). Only near the very end of the film do we even learn that Jay is married, and that his wife seems to be a huge part of his life. Then this too is moved on from. I can accept that Jay and perhaps director Molly Bernstein wanted to keep the film focused largely on Jay's mentors, but, for my taste, they took the 'mysteries' part of the title a bit too seriously.

It's frustrating to watch a truly striking human being talk about their life and craft for 90 minutes, and realize you know little more about them at the end than at the beginning. Again, it seems intentional. Jay wants to keep his personal mysteries to himself. But it leaves a very entertaining and well made film feeling a touch incomplete. That said, this is still very worth seeing. I was never bored, sometimes astonished, and heard amazing stories I don't think I'll soon forget.

Just caught this it the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival. Jay is one of the more interesting hybrid entertainers (magician/actor/author) of the last few decades so I welcomed the opportunity to get a peek "inside the box".

The film is aptly titled, as you do get a fascinating look at the influences on Jay's career. Their names alone (Cardini, Slydini, Al Flosso – The Coney Island Fakir) give you some of idea of the characters that Jay surrounded himself with early in his career. Lots of archival footage of these masters at work, along with Jay's early television appearances (including a REALLY early live TV appearance in 1953 performing magic) provide much of the back story as to how Jay got to where he is today.

The greatest influence on Jay may have been his grandfather, Max Katz, an amateur magician who introduced his grandson to the art and some of its great practitioners. His passing, and apparently some significant rift in his familial relationships, lead Jay to strike out on his own and go from "Ricky Potash" to "Ricky Jay." This rift is unexplored in the film and may be one of the "mysteries" the film title references. Also left relatively unexplored is Jay's career as a character actor, though David Mamet is one of several folks interviewed. Mamet has directed several of Jay's one-man shows, but I would have liked to hear more about Jay's work as an actor.

The directors were present at the screening, and I asked them if Jay's personal life was off-limits to discussion. They responded that while he didn't specifically forbid the subject, he didn't make it easy on them either. I also asked if there was a story behind his surname change (from Potash to Jay), and whether it had anything to do with the family rift hinted at by the film. Their somewhat weak response was that was "something that performers often do" and I got the feeling it never occurred to them to research the change or its circumstances. A quick internet search indicates Jay is his middle name. Did they not know that?

As a record of some of the history of magic and its early performers, the film succeeds. As an examination of Jay as something more than a magician, the film leaves us in the dark. That may be just what Jay wanted.

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