53 Quotes by Ricky Jay

I think a lot of people just assumed I came to L.A. to do more television and get into show business.

I started doing radio pieces with no clear, preconceived idea, except that I have a tendency to be theatrical.

I always read what I write out loud, and I did that long before any radio thing. My editor finds that unusual.

Magic is a powerful art that can support a weak performer.

I grew up like Athena—covered with playing cards instead of armor—and, at the age of seven, materialized on a TV show, doing magic.

I think the toughest thing about being an actor in a film is to be with a director who doesn't know what they want. And that can be really, really frustrating.

In the winters, I enrolled in the hotel management program at Cornell University. I naively thought that I knew something about sleight-of-hand, entertainment and food, and that would be all I needed.

I never talk much about my family, but my grandfather was friendly with these guys, with magicians and ventriloquists on the highest levels, and I was just interested.

I know absolutely nothing about the 20th Century.