David Mamet Relays Anecdotes with Ricky Jay

David Mamet recently sat down with magician Ricky Jay to discuss his life through anecdotes, as well as perform readings from two of his books, "Theatre," a collection of short, biographical stories, and "The Trials of Roderick Spode (The Human Ant)," the story of a man who accidentally becomes a superhero.

Mamet recalled several stories of his interactions with theatre and film personnel throughout his career. Mamet recalled that famed director Martin Scorsese once asked him to Kurosawa film, to which Mamet said it was an impossible feat. Mamet said of the response, "He took it the wrong way."

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David Alan Mamet is an author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and film director. His works are known for their clever, terse, sometimes vulgar dialogue and arcane stylized phrasing, as well as for their exploration of masculinity. Mamet, who is best known for his playwrighting, received Tony Award nominations for Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) and Speed-the-Plow (1988), as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Glengarry Glen Ross. As a screenwriter, he received Oscar nominations for The Verdict (1982) and Wag the Dog (1997).

Mamet's recent books include The Old Religion (1997), a novel about the lynching of Leo Frank; Five Cities of Refuge: Weekly Reflections on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy (2004), a Torah commentary, with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner; The Wicked Son (2006), a study of Jewish self-hatred and antisemitism; and Bambi vs. Godzilla, a commentary on the movie business. His newest play Race, starring James Spader, David Alan Grier, Kerry Washington, and Richard Thomas, opened on Broadway December 6, 2009 to mixed reviews.