This is like going to your favorite old professor's office and seeing a picture of him from during his undergrad hippie period.

Ricky had such dexterous sleight-of-hand... And was a great character actor!

Never seen him that young. RIP

RIP Ricky Jay. What a totally class act. Awesome roles in House of Games, The Heist, and Spanish Prisoner too.

That man had glorious hair!

I seen him do this exact performance at a much later time in a different KZfaq video. People like this guy and George Carlin are amazing. They have a craft and they perfect it. I never knew who Ricky Jay was until this morning. Literally past midnight. Didn't know he died either. Rip man. You were one of the greats

It is to Doug Henning's great credit that he introduced such a great performer. It shows he had no fear of being overshadowed by an up-and-comer. Doug Henning had a reputation for generosity.

He is just as good at telling the story as he is at the magic….such a rare act and will never be duplicated

1976 was about the time I became seriously interested in magic. Seeing Doug, Ricky and Michael really takes me back. RIP to all three. They were all excellent in their art and craft.

I knew he was good, but holy smokes. RIP, magic man.

Ahwww RIP all three, Doug Henning, Michael Landon, Ricky Jay! Loved all of them.

The genius of Ricky Jay. RIP. You were one of the greatest of all time.

First time I've seen this footage. My mum would have swooned over Michael Landon for sure; she adored him. I digress. Seeing Ricky though, as a quite handsome rock god of magic, was indeed something else. I've only ever seen that 4 queens routine on the 52 Assistants Special that he did from that grainy footage, so this more youthful and energetic version was a real treat. Is it me or did Ricky become a little morose as he got older? To be honest, that's what would have drawn me to him. He never lost his artifice as he grew older. I believe he is up there with the greats of sleights of hand. RIP Ricky, The Raconteur Of Magic.

15 years later he did every one of these tricks at The Old Vic for his David Mamet directed RICKY JAY AND 52 ASSISTANTS. I must say, they're exciting to see over and over. If you have time, look up that show on KZfaq... it's brilliant! (Just like this performance! )

This appearance made him famous, a master magician. RIP.

This was exceptionally cool. The card s turning all the beautiful antique toys from his collection had Me laughing, the boomerang card being cut had me aaaahhhhhiiiiiing, and the Four Queens had Me huh?ing. An Absolute Master

RIP Ricky Jay. I just realized Doug Henning and Michael Landon are gone too. All too soon.

This guy was awesome, hilarious act.

My personal favourite magician of all time. I just wish he wrote more of his material 😔

He had quite the vocabulary, didn't he?

RIP one of the greatest classic magicians in the 80s

I became a Ricky Jay fans after seeing him in "House of Games". seeing him so young is wonderful!

I like seeing this as a kind of prototype for the act he does in 52 Assistants. 52 Assistants adds more drama and the moments of queens disappearing have much more impact. Here, he kind of breezes through it a little too fast and the audience seems unsure of what has happened, impressive as it is. In 52 he had so mastered his patter and pacing that every moment feels like a minor miracle.

The first 30 seconds of this video immediately remind me of Penn Jillette in one of Penn & Teller’s SNL acts saying, “Doug, it’s 1986, get a haircut!” Haha! The era of the most entertaining magicians.

Pure mastery. Magnificent!

I remember watching this on TV as a kid. Doug was from my city of Hamilton , Ontario and we were excited for him to gain so much notoriety. This show was a typical 70s style variety style show. I remember enjoying the heck out of it. Ricky Jay went on to become a legend.... Doug got weird into the TM stuff and tried to get a political party elected full of flying yogis.

His routine literally did not change for decades however it is always a joy to watch Whether it be in 76 up until the 2000’s

Love these old clips of him with long hair. I was 6 when this aired. I can remember seeing specials w Doug henning but probably saw this one. I can't remember Ricky

So strange to see Ricky Jay younger than me. RIP.

R.I.P. Ricky Jay; One of the Worlds Greatest Magicians.

Great actor too. Artist.

love watching Ricky, such a performer, so funny and very clever

I must have seen that trick with the queens at least 30 times and i still have only the vaguest idea of how it is done. That is rare and i love it.

one fascinating thing about this trick is that every version of him doing it that I've seen, from this early 1976, through late night talk shows, and the HBO released version of 52 Assistants, the other 12 cards are always between 6 and 10, usually 6, 9, and 10. That he's always controlled the deck so that at the end of the 2nd Queens routine he's cut specifically that range of card numbers to the top every single time. dang...

Ricky Jay is a goddamn genius

Master magician. RIP, Mr. Jay.

god the 70s were fuckin wild man

The Greatest...We all miss you Ricky

RIP

In the first minute was that Little House actor Michael Landon co-hosting with Doug Henning?? My Dad and I saw Doug perform when I was a kid. It was beyond magical!

Never knew what kind of stuff he did in his early days. Awesome!

My goodness his voice changed SO MUCH.

Thanks for the upload

This is almost word for word as the Mamet directed 52 Assistants show

I love that it is the same patter as in the HBO special doing the same trick

This guy is great. It's a shame I only knew him as an Actor from Tomorrow never dies up until recently. Brilliant man.

haha - love the hair

His vebiage didn't change even by a word for two decades.

He was a fine magician, and I imagine was quite the raconteur.

brilliant

Ricky Jay must have had good taste in music (from his earliest days at McCabes, I assume) because he always mentions The Meters. He was a master of his craft as are The Meters.

Woa. Thanks to KZfaq I now know he used at least one joke for 26 years. I won't hold that against such a great man.

Ricky sporting some real high heels😊

This performance must have been a jinx. RIP Ricky. RIP Doug. RIP Michael. 😞

Magic.RIP.

Doug and Ricky both left us too soon. I wish it wasn't so.

Guau michael landon

his boots are epic

dead today. I hope he lives forever. Maybe he can.

I've done ricky jay's 4 ace routine many times. it does blow the brain!

I heard he used the patter used in the great Erdnase book. RIP ricky Jay

Those shoes...

Rip Ricky Jay

I wish he would have made Michael Landon's glasses disappear.

You can tell it's the 70's

Anyone able to help explain his show from season 2 of SNL? I tried finding a clip online but couldn't. Just wondering if anyone had seen it and could explain it. I'm wondering if his final trick was just guessing most people answer "seven".

I never realized how tiny Doug Henning was...

Didn't recognize Michael Landon. Had not seen him wearing glasses before.

Good to see Michael Landon

when I did this trick the last face up Queen was in a 4some with the 3 Kings

If you're attacked by a band of animals or an animal band FIRE!!

"Gentleman watch the felt"

How does he do the last trick?

DID HE TAKE ON AN APPRENTICE? the two elderly men who taught him- these were all well guarded tricks. I don't know if Ricky took them with him when he left

Was that sonny bono

The Heist

i figured it out...the 4 queen trick

That crowd didn’t deserve his genius

Does homie have a lighasaber on his side

Anyone notice at the end the creepy guy in the audience reaching out and touching the hair of the girl in front of him?

Doug Henning is dressed up like a cheerleader

Jim Rummy joke went down like a brick,lol

The act didn't change, save for the addition of a watermelon, for thirty years.

This act was a little too classy for the setting

Why is he wearing Cher's hair as a wig?

Why is he wearing heels though?

H

He didn't really improve over his career. He was just farking good from the beginning.

The whole story and patter is cringy nowadays but his skill is off the charts

Why does that chick have moustache?