Odds and ends from the depths of ye olde internets:
- Ricky Jay’s 52 Assistants – RIP Ricky Jay, this hour long show is well worth a watch.
- Secrets of the Magus – And a New Yorker profile of Ricky Jay, featuring one of my favorite anecdotes:
Deborah Baron, a screenwriter in Los Angeles, where Jay lives, once invited him to a New Year’s Eve dinner party at her home. About a dozen other people attended. Well past midnight, everyone gathered around a coffee table as Jay, at Baron’s request, did closeup card magic. When he had performed several dazzling illusions and seemed ready to retire, a guest named Mort said, “Come on, Ricky. Why don’t you do something truly amazing?”
Baron recalls that at that moment “the look in Ricky’s eyes was, like, ‘Mort—you have just fucked with the wrong person.’ ”
Jay told Mort to name a card, any card. Mort said, “The three of hearts.” After shuffling, Jay gripped the deck in the palm of his right hand and sprung it, cascading all fifty-two cards so that they travelled the length of the table and pelted an open wine bottle.
“O.K., Mort, what was your card again?”
“The three of hearts.”
“Look inside the bottle.”
Mort discovered, curled inside the neck, the three of hearts. The party broke up immediately.
Of course, Ricky Jay anecdotes like this are a dime a dozen, so they’re all favorites.
- Man Abducts Scientist To Make His Dog Immortal – It’s always a Florida man.
- The First Film Version of Frankenstein, Newly Restored! By the Library of Congress. Still looks tattered, but it’s from 1913 after all, and it looks better than I’ve ever seen it. Plus, film preservation is a worthy cause.
- ‘Something doesn’t smell right’: Farting controversy clouds dart championship – Alright, fine, I’ll read your stupid article.
- Wait For It – Just watch it, it’s short. Kid can fly. And now I’m down a rabbit hole of similar videos…
And that’s all for now folks.