Rick Smith Jr.
Rick Smith Jr. is a magician, known for his feats involving the throwing of playing cards (scaling). Smith broke the Guinness World Record for distance playing card throwing on March 21, 2002 in Cleveland, Ohio with a throw of 216 feet 4 inches (65.94 m) (at 92 miles per hour (148 km/h)), topping the previous record by over 40 feet.[1] With a thrown card, he is able to slice bananas, carrots, celery stalks, and other objects in half. In the tradition of the former world record-holder Ricky Jay, Smith also throws a card through the rind of a watermelon. Smith, who has appeared on television shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show and America's Got Talent, performs for various corporate functions, in addition to his individual shows. He has released a card-throwing instructional video. On January 27, 2012, Smith appeared on the American show Shark Tank and pitched his show to a panel of 5 investors. He now travels around the US and performs for schools, companies, private groups, and does his own shows. He will be shown on the show "Guinness World Records" in the fall of 2013. He performed recently in Southern Indiana were he dazzled and amazed students at various schools including Pike Central Middle School. He is currently traveling with a trained performing arts dancer known as "Julian."