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Ricky Jay: On the Stem
Ricky Jay

    Ricky Jay has magical powers--real, honest-to-goodness magical powers.  None of what he does involves sleight of hand, none of it has anything to do with mirrors or sliding panels or trick apparatus, none of it is trickery of any kind at all. It's all simply magic. That's the best frame of mind in which to enjoy the immense and immensely entertaining talents of this modern wizard.
    If all the man did was the actual tricks and illusions, with a deadpan expression and no words spoken, his performance would be amazing. If, on the other hand, all he did was stand there and tell his stories about old New York, or his tales of the Stem, the Broadway of the good old, pre-Disney days when it was lined with flea circuses and sidewalk freak shows, or his anecdotes about the men and women he knows about who had extremely odd talents--he calls them "anomalies"--his performance would be fascinating. But, and this is what makes Ricky Jay one of the most amazing and entertaining performers to hit New York theatre in a long, long time, he puts it all together. His stories perfectly reinforce his sly and astonishing trickery, and his magic seems to come directly from the flow of lore that pours out of his encyclopedic memory.
    Many people first became aware of Ricky Jay as an actor in David Mamet's film House of Games, in which he played a con man. His performance in the poker-playing scene near the beginning of the movie established Jay as, along with his other talents, a very good and very funny actor. But Jay has seemingly been around forever, performing magic, writing books (Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women, Jay's Journal of Anomalies, Cards as Weapons). Cards as weapons? Yes, watching what Jay does with his 52 little friends, the viewer comes away believing he could, perhaps, fell an elephant with one or two well aimed pasteboards.
    His show is a fine balance between card magic, what seem to be superhuman juggling feats, pickpocket wizardry, old style magical effects utilizing special equipment, and a prodigious routine in which he plots all the moves a knight could make on a huge lighted chessboard (without looking at it, of course, and without repeating any moves), recites from a Shakespearean comedy chosen by an audience member, sings a song, and comes up with the cube roots of huge numbers called out by a flabbergasted assistant from the audience--all at the same time. It must be pointed out, however, that he did have to dab a bit of perspiration from his brow at the end of this accomplishment.
    But Ricky Jay didn't create this stunning show all by himself, he had some first class help. David Mamet is listed as director. Anyone who isn't delighted by magic performed exquisitely well, or entertained by a fascinating story consummately told should probably stay away from Ricky Jay On the Stem. Everyone else should line up for tickets before they, well, disappear.