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michaelmystic2003 Inner circle 3062 Posts |
TWENTY YEARS OF MAGIC BY JAY SANKEY
Description: A collection of over 30 rare and classic Sankey effect, compiled from his four mostp opular sets of lecture notes apanning the previous 20 years of his career. It even includes the work from his very first set of notes. Review: This is a very nicely put together set of notes, full of Jay's trademark style of humour and of course, his offbeat style of magic. There are some real gems in these notes. The cover is very simple yet eye catching, and the notes are approximately 70 pages in spiral binding with a cardboard cover. Overall, this is a nicely produced set of notes. Jay covers over 30 effetcs in the notes, and my review of each is below. The Price Of Admission: A very clean torn and restored ticket effect. This isn't the most practical method but it is very clean and your hands end empty... not clean, but empty. Overall, this is a very clever piece that I gave an 7/10. A Short Fuse: Two signed cards, a Two of Clubs and Ace of Clubs, impossibly fuse together into a Three of Clubs with the spectators' signatures still on the back and face of the card. This is a veyr clever and powerful routine, however, there is an akward moment in which the face of the card is signed and the deck must be gripped in a particular way. However, performed correctly, this has powerful potential. 7/10 Tragicomic Keys: In this multiphased effect, two keys continuously transpose in entertaining and visual ways. This is a very nice effect with very visual phases and a very off-the-cuff feel to it. 8/10 Sugarless Gum: The first appearance of the effect known as Wrap It Up. A chewed piece of gum is placed on it's wrapper and it VERY visually morphs into a solid, chewed, and rewrapped piece! This requires a homemase gimmick that is, agaim, very clever. The effect is a brilliant visual and is very magical. It also provides a great spectator giveaway. 9/10 A Match By Any Other Name: A matchbook is displayed, a single match is town out and burnt. To top it all off, the burining match is touched to the rest of the matches in the book, therefore burining every single match in the book. However, in a moment, the single match impossibly restores itself into a brand new, unburnt match. As a kicker, the matchbook is reopened to reveal that every single match has changed back into a brand new unburnt match! This is a great, surprising effect, and I really like the face that the matchbook is not switched at all. Again, a very clever method. 8/10 Unscrewed: Essentially a torn and restored bill with an intriguing presentation. Aside from the presentation this is pretty standard and I feel it lacks wow factor. 6/10 Forbidden Fruit: A wrapped stick of Juicy Fruit visually transforms into a selected card, folded into the shape of the gum stick! The card is actually in the paper wrapper! This is a great, practical, and bizarre card revelation... spectators will never see it coming. 8/10 Broken English: The Chinese characters printed on a chopstick visually transform into the name of the selected card! This is a nice, original effect but it's not a favourite of mine. You need some very specific things for the effect. 6/10 Transference: A shocking mentalism bit in which one spectator reads the mind of another spectator and divines a freely chosen card! This is a very good idea but it's very bold and gutsy. For risk takers only. 7/10 Unholy: The magician restores the holes on a sheet of paper freshly torn from a notepad. Again, a great idea, but not visual at all and lacks wow factor. 6/10 Voodoo: A selected card mimics a piece of cardboard in voodoo fashion, first impossibly folding itself into quarters in the shuffled and cased deck. Then, the tables are turned. The corner of the signed selection is burned and upon examination, the piece of cardboard now impossibly has a burned corner! This is very powerful and well thought out. If you can do a Mercury Card Fold, you can do this effect. Also a great way to use your business card in a routine and give it out afterwards. 9/10 Skin Deep: A two card ransposition with plenty of audience participation. The audience participation factor also adds to the impossibility of the effect, making it all the more entertaining and magic. This is a great handling of the plot. 8/10 Revival: A lightbulb eerily comes to life in the magicians hands, suddenly flickering at will. This requires a hard to find gimmick... if you do have this gimmick, this is an excellent use for it. It's especially good as a card revelation. 8/10 The Changeling: Two signed coins transpose between the hand of the spectator and the magician, then the two signatures impossibly come together onto a single coin. One word: excellent. This is one of my favourite handlings of Copper/Silver. It's dead easy and nearly impromptu. 9/10 Special Delivery: Jay details how to make a special gaffed window used to make a selected card instantly and visually appear inside. This is a great idea, but not to my liking. Those who like unique card revelations may find this to be of great interest. 7/10 Guaranteed: An impossible change of a card used in the contest of a sucker-style routine. This routine features agreat intriguing hook, putting money on the line in exchange for not being able to find a selected card. It has a very Card To Wallet feel to it, yet this can be done impromptu with just a deck of cards. Great, practical workers effect that is very engaging. 9/10 The Pen Is Mightier: After demonstrating the lame old Snapper stunt with a pen and pen cap, the magician allows the spectators to give it a go. However, when the pen is passed to them, they ifnd it is impossible to remove the cap! It is now permanently stuck onto the end of the pen! This is a good little side effect and has a very surprising ending. 8/10 Saved By The Bell: After a card is selected and lost into the deck, the magician narrows everything down to seven possibilities... none of them being the selection. The magician then notices the seven cards are ordered into his exact phone number. The spectator now calls that number, and the answering machine pre-recording reveals the selected card! This is a standard effect with a very unique and surprising revelation. A great party effect. 8/10 Bloodhound: After a card is selected and shuffled back into the deck, the deck is wrapped in a rubber band and a coin is introduced. The coin will supposedly seek out and find the selection, and instantly bring it back to the top with him. The coin is tucked under the rubber band and moments later the selection visually appears face up on top of the deck, under the coin and rubber band. This is repeated, the card is lost back into the deck, and the deck is banded. However, before the magician gets the chance to put the coin back under the rubber band, it vanishes completely. The deck is unwrapped and spread, and the coin is rediscovered to have appeared on top of the selection once again! This is simply awesome, very visual and very entertaining! 9/10 B-I-N-G-O: The magician has predicted a freely stamped number on a Bingo card. This is a strong mentalism effect that uses a very old principle in an entertaining way. 8/10 Psychic Silver: Mentalism with a borrwed coin that shows you've not only predicted the freely selected coin drawn from the spectator's own pocket, but you've also predicted the date on it! This is very clever and surefire, a great bit of mentalism... however the first phase is a tad weak. 7/10 Cornered: Jay presents an idea using the Bill Switch, in which a circular hole in a piece of paper changes into a square. I can't think of a logical reason for doing this. 5/10 Nothing Moved: Another bill switch idea... a hole travels across a piece of paper and lands in a pre-drawn circle on the other side. This is a powerful stand alone application of the bill switch, that with a bit of work, could be formed into a full routine. 7/10 Instabank: A check made out to the magician for $100 transforms into a $100 bill. Again, this uses the Bill Switch, and the only problem I have with it is the fact that it is very likely to make spectator suspect two piece of paper in play. Jay himself even mentions this in his notes. I really like the idea and think it will play well, especially if you emphasize the fact that there is only "one" object in play. 7/10 Stuck Up: A sandwich effect with one big difference... the cards are stapled together! This is very strong and a great closer to a sandwich routine! 8/10 The Sleeves Up Pass: For an easy and virtually invisible method for a pass, this is worth a look. It really makes use of a large actioning covering a small action. 7/10 Raising Sugar Cane: A torn and restored sugar packet... with a difference. Very messy, but great for restaurant work! 7/10 What's In A Name: A prediction is revealed to match a selected card... and as a very powerful kicker, it is revealed that the selected card is impossibly personalized with the spectator's own name! No nail writing or gimmicks. This is an excellent effect with a large wow factor... it can now be found in more recent Sankey work under the name Graffiti. I love this one. 10/10 Paondora's Envelope: Another gimmicked envelope for a visual and surprising card effect. In my opinion, this is better than the Special Delivery envelope. If your into effects like Msuda's Wow, you'll have fun with this. 8/10 Extended Credit: A borrowed credit card is audibly broken and restored in this tense and magical routine. This is a great gag effect with a powerful restoration ending. It also has an extremely clever method. 8/10 Sweet Bread: A crumpled dollar bill and a crumpled sugar packet transpose numerous times. This is a very practical worker's piece with some good magical moments, another great restaurant effect. 8/10 Mental Breakdown: a great thought-of card mentalism effect in lieu of the Princess Card Trick... only this effect is impromptu. This is very powerful mentalism, and can be done completely impromptu with a shuffled deck of cards. Everything is handled fairly and all work is done with a single move. I love this piece! 10/10 The Chop Suey Subterfuge: A chop Cup move in which the ball penetrates the cup being held between the spectators own hands. I do not own a Chop Cup so I cannot try this, but it looks like a very good and shocking effect to throw in. The spectator actually feels the ball penetrate their hands and the cup! 7/10 Ring-a-Ding: More famously known as Boxing Ring, a selected card appears impossibly rolled up and tucked ono the magician's own finger ring, which has been sitting in a card case the whole time. The method is as simple as the come and is a great "card to impossible location" effect. 8/10 Break and Entry: A quarter visually penetrates the bottom of a salt shaker and the magician ends clean! This is a great little bit, perhaps a good addition to the old Saltshaker Thru Table effect... spectators think they are about to see the old standard effect, and are knocked through a loop! Another great restaurant piece, although this requires a lot of preshow prepatation. 9/10 There you have it, a review of each and every efect from the notes. There are some excellent and well routined effects in here and some other inspiring ideas thrown into the mix. Sankey fans and magicians in general will get a lot out of Twenty Years Of Magic and I'm sure will start using at least one of the many practical and powerful effects within. Overall, these notes get a rating of 8/10. You'll find some older handlings of some well known Sankey classics, plus more obscure and rare work. These notes are a steal for the asking price. They can be ordered at http://www.sankeymagic.com Michael Kras
Learn more about my upcoming book of close up magic and theory SYNTHESIS & SECRETS: A Magic Book in Four Acts: https://www.michaelkrasworks.com/synthesis-secrets
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Peo Olsson Inner circle Stockholm, Sweden 3260 Posts |
Great review Michael. Thanks for the heads up.
Pictured to the left my hero and me during FISM 2006 in Stockholm.
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John Long Inner circle New Jersey 2826 Posts |
The Changeling sounds good; does anyone perform it?
Is it available in any other of Sankeys material? John
Breathtaking Magic;
Not Breath Taking |
NateReeves New user 97 Posts |
Great review! Voodoo sounds like the coolest thing in the book. I would like to get this but I haven't even read through Definitive Sankey yet. I need to control my lust for magic literature.
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mrunge Inner circle Charleston, SC 3716 Posts |
Nice review Michael. Definitely going to check this out. I like Sankey's stuff!!
Mark. |
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