Rex Bloomstein
Hustlers, Hoaxers, Pranksters, Jokers and Ricky Jay: A Film About Magic
Summary
Ricky Jay was described as the world’s most foremost sleight of hand artist. He was a consummate performer of one man shows, a historian of magic, a consultant for Hollywood films, an actor, a lecturer and a challenging and mysterious man to make a film about.
Rex Bloomstein
Rex Bloomstein has produced films on human rights, crime and punishment, and the Holocaust. He pioneered the modern prison documentary with films such as Lifers (1983) and Strangeways (1980), which won two British Academy Awards. As well as other television productions such as Auschwitz and the Allies, and his three-part history of anti-Semitism, The Longest Hatred, he produced KZ, described as one of the first post-modern Holocaust documentaries. Other feature documentaries include An Independent Mind (2008), on freedom of expression, This Prison Where I Live (2010), on imprisoned Burmese comedian, Zarganar, and The World of Jewish Humor (1990), which traces the evolution of Jewish humor from New York’s turn-of-the-century Lower East Side to the present.
Online streaming, right now. But we might make it available on Lockdown, so watch out for that.
Well, I was fascinated by, okay, this young producer, Paul, came to me to say, “Look, help us out on this, let’s try and do it.” And then, when I discovered more about him, I was intrigued, yeah. And like you, and the rest of us, how does he do it? And as the chap was giving a birthday present to his wife in having Ricky produce this magical trick built around Japanese cinema, it’s remarkable being close to someone like that. Probably, you’d find person magicians coming to events, and maybe you who are watching witness them. But of course, Ricky was supreme in this. So, that was fascinating to me. How did he do it? But he wouldn’t answer, he wouldn’t tell me. But I felt it was intriguing enough to try to explore him and, of course see him do these tricks, both historical as well as contemporary.