CELEBRATIONS OF CURIOUS CHARACTERS BY RICKY JAY - DAMAGED / Collectible Book

Description

"CELEBRATIONS OF CURIOUS CHARACTERS" BY RICKY JAY (2011)
-
DAMAGED COPY, SEE PHOTOS
INTRODUCTION BY DAVID MAMET
DESCRIPTION
Celebrations of Curious Characters
cracks open the personal vaults of Ricky Jay—raconteur, historian, and
one of the
world’s
great sleight
of-
hand artists—exposing a wonderful world of
amusing and arcane
knowledge. Adapted from his
popular radio
series “Jay’s Journal of the
Air,”
Celebrations of Curious
Characters
features one-page anecdotes of
mind
bending performers
(limbless jugglers, banjo-picking birds,
Anglo
Texan saxophone-playing siamese twins)
paired
with
engravings, mezzotints,
and broadsheets from
the author’s remarkable
collection.
You’ll find engaging
vignettes on a
daunting variety of topics:
musical
prodigies,
cannon-ball catchers, conmen, card cheats, and
performing
politicians. Plus, a
man who made a
model of
Lincoln Cathedral out of 1,000,800 bottle corks; a woman
continuously pregnant
for six-and-a
half
years; a
theatrical strong
man who became the world’s leading Egyptologist;
and a healthy
number of
digressions on
time, money, and the argot
of
thieves.
CONDITION
Overall Fine
- In excellent condition but for the top outer corner of the book. It is pressed in as if having fallen. Also, some small staining on back cover. Otherwise, truly
excellent. (SEE PHOTOS)
Hardcover with 112 Pages, including vibrant color graphics.
SIZE
9.2" x 0.8" x 9.8"
________________
ABOUT RICKY JAY
Ricky Jay
(1948 - 2018)
was born Richard Jay Potash and was an American stage magician, actor, and writer. He is considered one of the most knowledgeable and skilled sleight-of-hand experts in the United States. He is notable for his signature card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter.
Jay was born in Brooklyn, New York to a middle class Jewish family. His grandfather, Max Katz, was a well-to-do certified public accountant and amateur magician who introduced Jay to the profession.
At least two of his shows, Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants and On the Stem, were directed by David Mamet, who has also cast Jay in a number of his films. Jay appeared in productions by other directors, notably Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights and Magnolia, as well as The Prestige and season one of HBO's Deadwood as card sharp Eddie Sawyer.
Until recently, Jay had been listed in the Guinness Book of Records for throwing a playing card 190 ft at 90 miles per hour (the current record is 216 ft, by Rick Smith, Jr.). Ricky Jay could throw a playing card into a watermelon rind (which he referred to as the "thick, pachydermatous outer melon layer" of "the most prodigious of household fruits") from ten paces.
Jay had created a consulting firm, Deceptive Practices, which provided "arcane knowledge on a need-to-know basis." His firm's clients were often within the stage, television, and film industries. He worked with libraries and museums on their collections, including the Mulholland Library of Conjuring and the Allied Arts and the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City, California.
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_gsrx_vers_795 (GS 7.0.7 (795))
_gsrx_vers_1292 (GS 8.3.6 (1292))