The World Wide Website of Ricky Jay

The World Wide Website of Ricky Jay: "Magic is not about someone else sharing the newest secret. Magic is about working hard to discover a secret and making something out of it. You start with some small principle and you build a theatrical presentation out of it. You do something that's technically artistic that creates a small drama. There are two ways you can expand your knowledge-through books and by gaining the confidence of fellow-magicians who will explain these things. Ricky to a large degree gets his information from books-old books-and then when he per- forms for magicians they want to know, `Where did that come from?' And he's appalled that they haven't read this stuff. So there's this large body of magic lumpen who really don't understand Ricky's legacy-his contribution to the art, his place in the art, his technical proficiency and creativity. They think he's an �litist and a snob.'"