Ricky Jay On the Stem, a CurtainUp review

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A CurtainUp Review
Ricky Jay On The Stem
David Lohrey

Anyone for a box of chocolates? $5 will get you a box of chocolates.
---Ricky Jay

H. G. Wells once used the metaphor of a hippopotamus bending to pick up a pea as a way to draw attention to the enormous gap between the effort made by the novelist Henry James to produce results which for Wells were rather trivial. On seeing Ricky Jay, any number of images might come to mind. For me, it was this image used by Wells, the classic 19th century realist, who didn't approve of conjuring, evidently either in fiction or in reality. Ricky Jay, a large man, does not literally bend over to pick up a pea, but after watching his show, one can be sure that if he were to do so, he would do it with flair and for a purpose. Who knows? He might just pick it up, place it in a peashooter and, with a single blow, shoot it through the ears of an entire row of spectators.

Ricky Jay on Broadway -- that's the premise of the show. Ricky Jay as tour guide to a Broadway of yesteryear, back to the days when the Great White Way still captured the imagination of the masses, long before it had been made safe for the American family. Ricky Jay plays master of ceremonies to a guided tour of the sideshows, freak shows, magic and mysteries of the carnival era of Broadway, when vaudeville was king. It works because Mr. Jay is in love with this past and his enthusiasm is great enough to make Barbara Bush beg for a tattoo.

The brothers in Topdog/Underdog, who run their mouths while playing 3-card Monty, would have a hard time keeping up with Ricky Jay, who keeps the audience mesmerized with his mile-a-minute rap. In it he tells the story of Broadway's most famous pickpockets, grifters, prostitutes, and con artists. As a carnival barker at the county fair, Mr. Jay regales the audiences with the comings and goings of these notorious villain-entertainers, while demonstrating their contributions with a precision and level of expertise it is doubtful his heroes ever attained. Had Jamie Tyrone, the Broadway bum of a brother in O'Neill's Long Day's Journey ever been able to pull it together, this is sort of job that would have suited him best.

Mamet, a well know Ricky Jay fan, directs with confidence. The pacing is just right for a show of this kind, as are Mamet's helpful touches, such as having Jay walk through the aisles as he sells souvenirs, taking care once again to remind the audience that magic and commerce have their own special relation dating back well before Enron. In America, our shamans never bothered teaching snakes how to dance, they just killed them outright for their oil.

If you can't take a trip to the Magic Castle in Hollywood, Ricky Jay's show is the next best thing. Just remember when you call for tickets to say, "open sesame."

RICKY JAY ON THE STEM
Written and Performed by Ricky Jay.
Director: David Mamet.
Set Design: Peter S. Larkin.
Light Design: Jules fisher & Peggy Eisenhauser.
Effects: Jim Steinmeyer.
Running Time: 2 hours, with one 15-minute intermission
Second Stage Theatre, 307 West 43rd Street, NYC, (212) 246-4422.
05/02/2001 - 07/14/2002, Tues - Sat at 8pm; Wed at 2pm; Sun at 3pm.
Reviewed by David Lohrey based on performance of 5/12/02.
After numerous extensions -- closed 9/29/02

6, 500 Comparative Phrases including 800 Shakespearean Metaphors by CurtainUp's editor.
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