His website describes him as

a writer and speaker on subjects as varied as conjuring literature, con games, sense perception and unusual entertainments.

He is perhaps best known as an actor, in Deadwood and perhaps in all of the con films directed by David Mamet (who directs this show, and on whose films Jay is often credited as a “consultant.”) But he is world-renowned as a manipulator of cards. Mark Singer, in his excellent New Yorker article writes,

Studying videotapes of him and observing at first hand some of his serendipitous microbursts of legerdemain have taught me how inappropriate it is to say that “Ricky Jay does card tricks”-a characteri- zation as inadequate as “Sonny Rollins plays tenor saxophone” or “Darci Kistler dances.” None of my scrutinizing has yielded a shred of insight into how he does what he does. Every routine appears seamless, unparsable, sim- ply magical.

A former carnival barker, he has garnered as much envy for his skills with his hands as he has of his aural dexterity, evidenced by his performance and patter, somehow both anachronistic and fresh. To pick a couple more accomplishments out of the proverbial hat — in his case surely a 10-gallon — he once held the Guinness Book of World Records for card throwing, a subject upon which he based his first book. His last media release was a CD compendium celebrating “the history, the art and the music of poker,” for which he was nominated for a Grammy.

There’s plenty of good Youtube clips to choose from, from his talk show appearances in the eighties on Letterman and Arsinio, from his network special Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women (inspired by his second book), but below are a couple of film clips that bespeak many of his charms.

The Hands Of Ricky Jay

Ricky Jay’s website is here. From his homepage, you’ll find links to the stellar New Yorker profile (as good a profile as I’ve ever read, on anyone), and about a year’s worth of radio essays Jay recorded for KCRW.