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TerryC · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 7:00 am Post subject: 99 by Jay Sankey

The Effect
They Say:

Cost
$25.00, but currently on sale for $18.75.

Difficulty
(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)
1 This is a self working trick, but requires some thought on the patter

Review
I remember reading somewhere that mentalism can be achieved, for the most part, in only one of two ways; forcing or discovery. I'm not revealing secrets when I say that 99 uses a force.

It is difficult not to think like a magician, but when I am asked to think of any number between 1 and 99 I expect that number to be used. Indeed, the video clearly implies that is exactly what happens. However, the number the spectator thinks of is not the number that is used. The spectator is required to make some mathematical adjustments!

When the mentalist starts massaging my chosen number by using mathematical gymnastics I start to wonder Why?. Let me emphasise, this is not the simplistic "Think of a number, reverse it, add them together, subtract ....., etc." it is much more sophisticated. Indeed, Jay spends a lot of time on the DVD discussing ways to, not only disguise the force, but even to make it appear as if it adds to the randomness.

This is a trick that benefits from doing it a second time. Actually, that's not quite accurate. Jay suggests that the trick be performed on two different spectators at the same time! There will be a different result for each spectator. Performing it a second time could be a problem.

Jay claims that the trick is self-working, and it is. He says that he has performed it many times with great success. The success of the trick lies in your ability to create patter (or use one of Jay's suggestions) that gives the impression of complete randomness. You can learn how to do the trick in minutes, but I would suggest that the time taken in scripting your presentation will constitute the hard work.

Because the trick is so easy to perform, Jay has added a lot of extra stuff on the DVD. One of the most interesting was the issue of, Should I perform this as a prediction or as a revelation? Indeed, as I watched I thought it would be best to perform it as a prediction. However, Jay presents several arguments why it should not be used as a prediction.

The main positives are:

The two negatives:

You ask somebody to think, just think, of any two digit number...the spectator is asked to think of the object listed beside the number they had in mind

Overall
Frankly, I was disappointed. The clean, indeed miraculous, presentation shown on his video omits the mathematical element. I am not a fan of math magic, so I suspect I would not have purchased this one.

Rating
7/10 I'm sure many will find this a wonderful addition to their barrel of tricks, but if you are like me and don't like the math issue, then I suggest you give it a miss.

Part-Timer · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:15 am Post subject:

Thank you very much for this review. I saw the performance video and thought I knew where Jay was going. Then suddenly he went into the revelation, and it looked impossible. I had a feeling that there might have been some sneaky editing that disguised the method.

I can understand performers not wanting the step-by-step performance shown, especially where that could lead to someone reverse engineering the method, but it makes it hard to know if the trick is worth buying.

TargetZero · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:49 pm Post subject:

I agree with the above - been getting lots of E mails about this from their website and it sounded great and I was tempted.

Not now though - thanks for the honest reviews

Dominic Rougier · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:50 pm Post subject: Re: 99 by Jay Sankey

Magnus · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 6:05 pm Post subject:

Great review, Terry! Thanks!

- Magnus

jeenious · Junior Member Joined: 07 Jul 2009 Posts: 20

I was really disappointed with my purchase of this. I aggree with what other people are saying about the video being completely misleading. Anyone watching that video would get the impression that the spectator thinks of any number between 1 and 99, looks at a list of numbered objects and reads the name of an object correspoonding to the number chosen and the magician predicts what that object is. To say this is a bit of a con is putting it mildly. There is no mention of mathematics in use, the list shown on the video is not the list that you use during performance and in the video Jay shows various predictions that are just not possible outcomes.