Profiles: Secrets of Magus : The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1993/04/05/1993_04_05_054_TNY_CARDS_000362341?currentPage=all

I grew up like Athena—covered with playing cards instead of armor—and, at the age of seven, materialized on a TV show, doing magic.

Ricky Jay profile in the New Yorker recommended by Whet Moser

Terrific profile of magician and historian Ricky Jay, and "the virtues of skeleton men, fasting impostors, and cannonball catchers".

A 1993 profile on sleight-of-hand artist and erudite Ricky Jay.

A profile of Ricky Jay from the New Yorker. April 1993.