…and Sotheby’s is going to be auctioning off part of Ricky Jay‘s collection starting October 27th.
Link to the auction. Sotheby’s video.
NYT article tied to the auction. It’s worth reading, if for no other reason than the story about Siegfried and Roy’s tiger at the beginning. (Alternative link.)
Not that Jay was a hoarder. With the help of assistants, he photographed and cataloged every item in a digital database. His books were arranged by category — magic, circus, eccentric characters — and his file drawers were labeled, which made it easier, say, to find that handbill for “Prof. William Fricke’s Original Imperial Flea Circus.”
Under “flea bills,” of course.
There’s a punchline at the end that I won’t spoil for you, because Mr. Jay would haunt me in the afterlife.
I don’t think I’ll be placing any bids, as I expect anything from the Ricky Jay Collection will be way out of my price range.
Wonderful piece and remembering Ricky Jay always makes me smile broadly. Curiously the article didn’t mention his roles in David Mamet’s films, which is where I first learned of him. I wonder if he and Steve Martin became acquainted while working on “The Spanish Prisoner” of if they knew each other before that.
If Steve Martin has written any kind of appreciation of Ricky Jay, I’d love to read it. But I’m not aware of one.
I think you’re probably right that they met through Mamet, but I can’t prove it.
Also, note to myself: I need to put those Mamet movies on our list.
The poker chip in the personal treasures photo is from Mamet’s “House of Games.” I hate to use the phrase “must see,” but if you haven’t seen it…
Very disturbing but excellent.
Holy cow! There’s a Criterion blu-ray of “House of Games”! With commentary from Mamet and Jay!
That’s going on the list for the November 50% off sale, along with the new Criterion edition of “Citizen Kane”.