Card magician Rick Smith Jr.'s few minutes on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" have come up aces.

Smith, 27, holds the world record for throwing a playing card the longest distance, and the fastest. He dazzled DeGeneres in 2006 by slicing celery, carrots and newspapers with a well-thrown card.

Smith, who lives in Broadview Heights, discovered his talent while playing baseball for Cleveland State University. He set the record at the CSU Convocation Center (now the Wolstein Center) in 2002 by throwing a playing card 216 feet. The velocity portion of his record came later, when he threw a card clocked at 92 mph on "Ripley's Believe It or Not" television show.

Check out his moves on www.ricksmithjr.com.

He's busier than ever with television appearances and performances all over the country. He was featured on the Discovery Channel's new show "Time Warp," "Sport Science" on FSN and in Sports Illustrated.

"Just to be able to say I was on Ellen DeGeneres' -- it really takes you to the next level," he said.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

jwashington@plaind.com, 216-999-4539