A Deck of Media Profiles Featuring Richard Turner
A deck of comments from the media about Richard Turner.
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ACE OF SPADES – "CBS This Morning" – David Rubin, Producer
"When I heard about Richard Turner, I thought this is one of the greatest stories never told. Turner's life story is too incredible for fiction."
Aired on CBS 2014
ACE OF DIAMONDS – Cover story – Genii Magazine by Jon Racherbaumer
“The fitting word for Richard to wear is ‘sharper.’ Think about it: His card work is razor-sharp. It is keen, distinct, crisp, quick, clever, elegant, and—well—'cutting-edge’…He can do anything with a deck of cards. Since he demonstrates techniques that could be applied in card games, he showcases that he can control, retain, regain, and rearrange cards. He can invisibly add and take them away. He can falsely shuffle, cut and stack them. On a whim or a wager, he can deal cards from the center, bottom or second from the top. All in all, and in a word, he has the touch.”
Published May 2018
ACE OF CLUBS – Huffington Post
“Nearly three decades ago, when the top organized crime families in New York and overseas were pursuing him relentlessly, offering him millions to work for them and threatening to kill him if he declined, he was armed for his own protection by the head of the San Diego SWAT team. What the mob wanted so badly—what they were willing to kill for—was Richard Turner’s sense of touch.”
Published 2012
ACE OF HEARTS – IFC Films/Sundance Selects
“At South by Southwest and many other film festivals screenings, DEALT was sold out with standing ovations and has won the top ‘Audience Choice Awards for Best Feature Documentary Film’ with raving reviews from New York Times to the LA Times. It is 95 on Rotten Tomatoes and VARIETY called Turner nothing short of dazzling and from Penn & Teller, Teller said, ‘DEALT knocked me dead… A great Documentary!’”
Published 2018
KING OF SPADES – Russia 1 TV Channel - "Super-Human Incredible People"
“We have been studying Richard’s brain and his haptic network throughout the Russian universities for over a dozen years.”
Head of the Neuroscience department at Moscow University, Aired 10/2020
KING OF DIAMONDS – Harvard Dark Horse Project
“Richard, you must have one of the most developed tactile neural networks of anybody on the planet earth. I also wanted to say that you are certainly free to publicly mention that we interviewed you for the Harvard Dark Horse Project. (And that we certified you as a dark horse, too! :)”
Neuroscientist Dr. Ogi Ogas, 2018
KING OF CLUBS – "Life, Wisdom … and Tricks?"
Turner has developed a rare condition that allows him “to see with my mind’s eye,” he said. “It’s like looking at a kaleidoscope … I see the most brilliant colors and shapes … and can arrange them into phone numbers (or words)…or complex building plans so I can remember them later.” All thanks to his eidetic (photographic) memory.
Published 2013
KING OF HEARTS – Author Writer Fred Feldman
“Due to his remarkably delicate ‘feel’ for individual playing cards, he has been the Touch Analyst for U.S. Playing Card Co., the largest card manufacturer in the country, known for producing the finest quality cards preferred by professional magicians and gamers.”
Copyright 2016
QUEEN OF SPADES – “I Like the Way I See” – Feature Documentary
“I think most high achievers have to have another high achiever next to them, so that you can understand what they’re going through. Keeping Richard grounded, it’s reminding him that everybody doesn’t work at his level, and that he has to dumb it down just a little bit to make other people feel comfortable and maybe not have such high expectations. Richard’s perpetual motion that he's in all the time, he doesn’t know when to stop or to slow down, that can be a challenge. Asa and I have to do this a lot. We have to remind him it’s okay to just rest, you can let it go for a little while. Sometimes when Richard is ill, which is not very often, Asa and I think, yes! He doesn’t feel good, he’s going to bed, we can all relax now!”
Released in Russia and Ukraine 2020
QUEEN OF DIAMONDS – Texas Monthly
“Richard has a closet stuffed with six thousand decks, fresh in their cellophane wrappers. He has a deck on his nightstand, and a waterproof one for the shower. At church, he practices with a special deck, blank on both sides, so that his fellow congregants don’t get a whiff of gambling culture.”
Published 2017
QUEEN OF CLUBS – India News
“Mr. Ed Bryan, who ran the Visually Handicapped (VH) department in the special school for the blind, was an amateur magician from whom I learned tricks. The department had recorded a book called ‘Expert at the Card Table’ which was written in 1902. It was about card sharks, card cheating and the techniques for the card table. I started working on some of the moves from that recording. When I turned 21, I met Professor Dai Vernon… He took a liking to me, and I became his protégé.”
Published 2019
QUEEN OF HEARTS – San Francisco Chronicle
“…It’s clear that Turner has not accepted his condition: He refuses to use a cane, learn braille, or get a guide dog. Moreover, he even hides his condition from others. This obsessive self-reliance is Turner’s greatest source of strength, but it’s also his biggest weakness; and his emotional journey to embrace the help of others is at the heart of this story.”
Published 2017
JACK OF SPADES – Maksym Sudarikov, Film Producer
“My husband has created games for all the years I have known him, So, he’s been a game creator as well. Once a week he likes to have the boys over and play Texas or Shark Showdown.”
Documentary -- Released 2020
JACK OF DIAMONDS – Throomers
“Having spent almost six decades focused on manipulating and playing all card games, Turner has turned his talents to becoming a game app creator with three different game apps to be released. The first to hit the world markets will be a puzzle game called “Batty.” Then will come gambling games for amateur and professional gamers. The first gambling game to hit the world market will be “Shark Showdown” followed by the larger version called, “Texas Showdown.”
Published 2019
JACK OF CLUBS – San Antonio Express News
“…director of the film ‘Dealt,’ about card trick expert Richard Turner, plays ‘Batty’ a game Turner created.”
Published 2013
JACK OF HEARTS – Card Shark "Turner Tech Entrepreneur"
“We’re creating gambling and logic games that you can play on any smart device. You’ll be able to play them for fun, with other people. And you’ll be able to do what is called ‘real money playing.’ Of course, our CGP will be accessibility friendly.”
Published 2022
10 OF SPADES – RTL German TV Special –
“Showdown of the World’s Greatest Magicians”
“You won your duel clearly with 77% of the vote. Thank you one more time that you joined our ‘Showdown’ that you made for a great TV show!”
Ehrlich Entertainment – Aired 2018
10 OF DIAMONDS – The Orlando Sentinel
“He can deal a full house, four aces, whatever you want and make it look as if it were all a coincidence. He’ll even let you cut the deck, shuffle the cards, deal the hand and he’ll get a full house.
Published 1985
10 OF CLUBS – Houston Chronicle picked up by AP
"Richard can do things with a deck of cards no other person on the planet can do," said Bruce Samboy, former director of New York's state division of gambling regulation. "Picking up a deck of cards in front of a guy like that is like going to the driving range with Tiger Woods.”
Published Feb 2014
10 OF HEARTS – San Diego Union – by JOSH BOARD
“When you were kicking butt with karate, did anyone ever tell you that you reminded them of Chuck Norris?” “One time at the Tijuana Forum there was a confrontation between Chuck Norris and five fighters from ‘The Black Federation.’ There was a showdown. I stood with Douglas behind Murphy and Norris; and to my relief, one stern rebuke from Norris the federation backed down and left.”
Published 2017
9 OF SPADES – ABC “That’s Incredible” – Kathy Lee Crosby
“You may think you can’t be cheated. But once you’ve seen Richard Turner, you may never want to play cards again.”
Aired 1982
9 OF DIAMONDS – L A Weekly
“As Turner's degenerative eye disease progressed, he went from a fidgety kid to a man in perpetual motion. His idea of masculinity meant taking risks and denying weakness.”
Published 2017
9 OF CLUBS – Throomers Article
“After he was introduced to stuntman Bobby Yerkes, he learned to perform stunts like walking a tightrope, taking high falls, and swinging on the trapeze.”
Published 2019
9 OF HEARTS – Variety Magazine DEALT Using Audio Descriptions by Brent Lang
“He may have made peace with some demons, but he’s also lost none of his daredevil ways. When I met Turner last summer at the Newport Film Festival, he’d scared the festival’s director nearly to death by leaping from her boat into the water without much of a warning.”
Published October 2017
8 OF SPADES – ValueTainment – Patrick Bet-David
“DEALT…one of the most emotional yet inspirational documentary’s I’ve watched in my life. In the world of magicians and card mechanics, he’s not recognized as one of the best, he’s recognized as number 1. You know you are number 1 when the best come ask you for an autograph and picture. That’s what we are talking about.”
Episode titled “Richard Turner—Mafia’s most wanted Magician,” aired 2019
8 OF DIAMONDS – Los Angeles Times – "Blind Man Earns Black Belt"
“Richard Turner earned a black belt in karate by fighting a series of three-minute bouts against ten different opponents each of whom was fresh. By the time the test was completed Turner’s hair was matted to his skull and it was a wonder he could hear having, Heeyah! Shouted at him for nearly an hour.”
L. A. Sports Section cover story published June 7, 1984
8 OF CLUBS – The Untitled Magazine
“The world’s greatest card mechanic is also a 6th degree karate black belt…[Richard’s black belt test was covered by ABC and made the front page of The Los Angeles Times sports section. He ended up with a smashed nose, a ruptured right eardrum, an unpleasant groin injury and a broken right arm. Independent of these injuries, he survived against the ten different fighters pitted against him.]
Published December 9, 2014
8 OF HEARTS – Texas Monthly
“…Because of the injuries he’s sustained practicing karate, he’s had seven hand surgeries—the most recent of which was performed without anesthesia, while he practiced cards with his free hand. ‘I wanted to feel everything, to see what it felt like.’”
Published 2017
7 OF SPADES – “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” starring Jack Palance
“Men like Richard Turner are as much feared as they are respected. Cards are the tools of the trade he practices up to 14 hours a day. He is a card mechanic!”
Aired ABC 1984
7 OF DIAMONDS – “Ripley’s Believe It or Not –Book of Eye-Popping Oddities”
“Ripley’s has declared the blind card magician Richard Turner as a “Certified Oddity.”
Published 2015
7 OF CLUBS – San Antonio Current
“I've swam with sharks, climbed thousand-foot cliffs, walked tight ropes,” Turner said. “You name it, I've already done it.”
Published 2017
7 OF HEARTS – Los Angeles Times
“They are remarkable hands. Hands any surgeon would be proud to affix to his or her wrists. Hands that unerringly pluck the aces from the deck and have made him one of the world’s greatest card dealers.”
Published 1984
6 OF SPADES – "Number One Knows" Japanese Miniseries
“Upon watching countless magicians perform, I have no doubt that Richard Turner is the best. Every other magician agrees with me. He does things nobody else can do. I have no clue how it is done… It is amazing that the spectators get to make most of the choices. We get to shuffle and cut, and choose the desired card, number of players, and the hand… At the end of episode three Mr. Katsuragawa referred to Richard’s technique as a "secret soup that no one knows how to cook.”
Episode 1 aired 10/2018 – Episode 2 aired 3/2019 – Episode 3/5/2019
6 OF DIAMONDS – Los Angeles Times
“A colleague observed, ‘he’s on the crazy end of obsessive-compulsive.’ That may be the case — Turner did name his attentive son Asa Spades…”
Published October 2017
6 OF CLUBS – Genii Magazine
“Consider this: During every waking hour in Richard’s life, his hands were driven by a will to dramatically and intensely interact with a deck of cards. From the of age 19 until 2012, Richard practiced at least 132,860 hours, which roughly translates to 5,536 days or 15 years straight.”
Published 2012
6 OF HEARTS – The Tecch Magazine
“No matter what hand someone’s dealt in life, don’t let anyone tell you… you can’t play, or something is impossible,” said world-renowned card manipulator Richard Turner to the MIT and Greater Boston community on February 25. “I would take [the] ‘possible’ out of ‘impossible.’”
Published 2017
5 OF SPADES – Cameo appearance in Terrence Malik’s Oscar nominated film,
“Tree of Life”
“Don’t let anyone tell you there’s anything you can’t do.”
Brad Pitt, 2011
5 OF DIAMONDS – Writer Iris Dimmick
“Richard has performed for Jimmy Stewart, Muhammad Ali, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. He’s an honorary U.S. Naval Flight Officer and U.S. Air Force Honorary Commander. He also has made a brief appearance in ‘Tree of Life’, a Brad Pitt film.”
Published 2013
5 OF CLUBS – Movie Guide
“Moral worldview about a blind magician who performs feats of show magic with cards and promotes the importance of family, the ability to overcome physical challenges, and caring for those we love, with positive references to prayer, church and the Bible, plus a strong pro-capitalist subtext of hard work and using what God gives you to succeed in life; no foul language; several scenes of martial arts including one strong, full-contact fight scene; in several scenes there are references to two married adults ‘making love,’ but not handled in a salacious way; upper male nudity; no alcohol use; no smoking or illegal drugs; and, gambling is referenced regularly throughout the movie.”
Published 2017
5 OF HEARTS – Variety Magazine
“Blind Card Magician Richard Turner’s Life Story Being Made Into Feature Film (EXCLUSIVE) by Brent Lang.”
“…“In many ways, Turner’s life plays out like a screenwriter’s dream,” Korem said. “Some parts sound like ‘Big Fish,’ except his life is real. There are so many amazing facets which are full of conflict and intrigue, even beyond what’s in the documentary…”
Published April 26, 2018
4 OF SPADES – CBS interview with Professor Dai Vernon
“This man, Richard Turner, he does things with cards that no one else in the world can do—no one. I don’t care if you go to China, France, or Germany, he does things that no one else can do and he performs them beautifully. But I say that’s very rare to have experts like that, very rare!”
Aired on CBS 1987
4 OF DIAMONDS – Writer Liz Belilovskaya
“…In whatever language it was, he turned to his boss and spoke, then he turned back to me. ‘How about $20,000 a week? $30,000 a week?’ Finally, he said, ‘How about one million dollars?’”
Published 2014
4 OF CLUBS – Author Writer Jon Racherbaumer
“A guy came to the table and said, ‘You’re Richard Turner! You once cheated me out of a bunch of money. I’m the banker who wanted to know how you could pick up a deck of cards and know there are two cards missing.’ And I thought to myself, ‘I am going to get in a fight, right here at this restaurant.’ All of a sudden, he grabbed my hand and started shaking it. ‘I just want to tell you that it was such a privilege to have been cheated by you!’”
Copyright 2012
4 OF HEARTS – Dallas Times Herald
“Richard Turner has a feel for cards. Ask him to cut twenty-eight and he casually picks off exactly twenty-eight. It’s all done by feel.”
Published 1985
3 OF SPADES – "Super-Human Incredible People"
“You realize you are one-of-a-kind. There’s no one else in the world like you. What’s it like to be one of a kind in the world?”
Russia 1 TV channel season finale aired November 2020
3 OF DIAMONDS – The Clifton Record
“Turner and his wife, Kim, started the Good Choices program for kids, because he believes that anything is possible for anyone. Following Turner’s entertainment, Marshall introduced former UN Ambassador Sichan Siv, the bestselling author of Golden Bones, and a survivor of the Killing Fields of Cambodia.”
Published 2016
3 OF CLUBS – Writer Pamela Hugi
“Comic Book? He just so happened to have been namedropped in the 2009 DC comic “Spirit” as one of the protagonists’ magician mentors.”
Published 2022
3 OF HEARTS – Senior Planet
“A lot of older people are losing their sight, and I want them to know that technology is so fantastic. Every day it grows and becomes more friendly. I always thank Adam Cheyer, my co-founder of 52 Productions, because he was the co-founder of Siri Inc. Artificial intelligence has been an equalizer for people who are visually impaired and those who are not.”
Published 2022
2 OF SPADES – NBC First Look – starring Johnny Bananas
“When Richard was just nine, he contracted a retinal degenerative disease. As his sight diminished, his sense of touch was enhanced. And his drive to do the seemingly impossible quickly followed. To be able to manipulate a deck of cards as seamlessly and as quickly as he is able to do it is impressive, but what’s even more impressive is how smooth he is, with all of his actions.”
Aired NBC 2020
2 OF DIAMONDS – Throomers Article
“Turner’s enthralling performances and card demonstrations have earned him the prestigious Golden Lion Award in Magic from Siegfried and Roy, and the Lynn Searles Award for Excellence in Card Manipulation. He’s won the Close-Up Magician of the Year award twice from The Academy of Magical Art; in 2018 and 2019 he was the subject of a Japanese TBS miniseries where Turner’s card talents and life story were nationally featured. The number one magician in all of Japan is Mr. Maric. Mr. Maric consulted with magicians around the world to get the consensus of who is the world’s best. After his consulting Mr. Maric declared ‘Turner to be the greatest in the world with skills that are so difficult to master that they will never be replicated.’”
Published 2019
2 OF CLUBS – Genii Magazine cover story by Steve Forte and Jason England
“What quickly transcended card technique and continued to touch my heart was an awareness of the uncanny way he manages his life, his accomplishments without a deck of cards, and his passion and love for his family. Talented cardmen are a dime a dozen, but how many can impact your life? Richard Turner is one such person, and he proved to be much more than one-handed Center Deals and record-breaking coin rolls. He was truly an inspiration.”
Published April 2007
2 OF HEARTS – American Life Style by Matthew Brady
“…I cannot express how fortunate I am. Kim, to whom I’ve been married for almost thirty years, is my treasure of all treasures. She’s gone all over the world with me, and we have everything we could ever dream of—and I’d give it all up, including my skills with cards, for her. My son, Asa Spades, has been my constant sidekick since he was young. I’m in my sixties now. When I was thirty-eight, I decided I’d already had more than my fair share of blessings. Everything since then has been the cherry on top for me. I’ve been seen on TV by over a billion people in 214 countries. I’ve entertained legendary celebrities, and Muhammed Ali was a personal friend. I could go on and on. My life has just gotten better and better.”
Published 2018