talkmagic.co.uk

Just for the record, I have seven other Jay Sankey dvd's and he was friendly to me when I met him, so this review is nothing personal but...

The Effect
OK, from the side of the case...
"How to Mess with Minds at School Work, Bars + Parties"

In reality, the effects include that old puzzle where you pick up a bottle with a straw, and a whole load of other rubbish (I'm going to try really hard not to swear throughout this).


Cost
I paid £26 too much.


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)

To actually do the things on this DVD 1
To make them magical (because we are magicians, after all) = no chance.


Review
A better title would be IS THIS FOR REAL?

Please tell me this is some sort of elaborate joke. The hype machine on this was immense. I was expecting, this new way with magic, short effects that you can do anywhere, based on fooling people's perceptions. I was expecting things akin to Teller's red-ball lecture, or the concepts he was talking about at Blackpool, clever stuff, mis-direction, etc...

but bending the real is not the future of magic, oh dear... instead I got two four page booklets where I'm told it's OK to leave people confused or unsure, or just to do a prank on them - for example, (please edit if this is exposure) but... putting a thin piece of duct-tape on the side of someone's car to make it look like it has been keyed, is one of the 'bends'.
Since when was that magic? What? What? What? What? WHAT?
and since when did we need to pay to learn how to do that?

Plus one hour of DVD, poorly filmed, with Jay by himself, in a basement, as ever, with 'bends' such as telling me how to ask for someone's phone number. I would love to tell you all the effects, but I only watched about 20 minutes, before I got extremely angry.

If you are a professional magician, and that is certainly the only type of magic I do, then you will be quite aware that you do not get paid to make people feel confused, uncomfortable, uneasy, or to 'prank' people at school or work.
If you are a hobbyist, or a beginner, or maybe even a kid who does do some magic at school, then having the idea that it's OK to be mean to people just for a laugh, is the wrong way to start in magic.
The aim of magic is to make someone witness the impossible, not to make them feel uncomfortable, uneasy or confused.
Only someone who can create the experience of MAGIC for a lay audience can call themselves a magician.

I will say this once now, and forever again until people learn...
Puzzles are not magic, Scams are not magic, Pranks are not magic.

Bends are not magic, and the whole way this was marketed to magicians is, I feel immoral, and wrong.


Overall
Well in summary, I'm pretty angry. I don't like this.

Do not buy this, instead buy...
a) something that is actually about magic,
b) if it must be Sankey get Front Row Sankey and Create Your Own Magic.
c) preferably though a book,
d) maybe Lesson in Sleight of Hand, by Bill Tarr, or Sleight of Hand by Edwin Sachs
e) or if you are starting out, get the Nick Einhorn books, one of which I think is called Art of Magic and Sleight of Hand, but is a bit easier than the books mentioned above.

If you like puzzles, pranks and scams (which are not magic!), then search for Scam School on Youtube, I'm pretty sure that has most of the material from bending the real is on there.

If you want to ask someone for their phone number, my method (please edit if this is exposure) is to go up to the person and say, 'Hey, can I have your phone number?' The person will usually say 'yes' or 'no' and from there you can reply accordingly. Enjoy!

Just for your information,
I'm not selling my copy, for the good of magic I'm destroying it, any ideas?

Jing wrote:I'm not selling my copy, for the good of magic I'm destroying it, any ideas?

http://www.willitblend.com/

His stuff can be hit & miss so i am not surprised. Quantity over quality I'm afraid.

By the sounds of things, Paul Zenon's books on pranks and scams, 100 Ways To Win A Tenner priced at £7.50 (or less) would seem to be a better bargain! Michael Ammar included a 'prank' in his lectures a few years ago whereby it looks as though somebody has torn the wallpaper but all the other stuff was top class magic so he's forgiven.

Jay Sankey tends to be get a bit boring and extremely annoying after awhile. He has some stuff that is pretty clever and actually worth trying out, while he has a majority of other stuff that makes you want to smack him upside his head for thinking that it was a good idea to put out.

He released more than a few 'bends' on Youtube, which was enough to make me realise it was basically the easybartricks web site with a gloss finish.

He also had to constantly defend himself over calls of exposure for releasing those tricks on to Youtube, and I'm not so sure he was successful.

I respect Sankey, I think he's alright, but he really does churn it out. Somewhere along the way, the quality has to suffer.

Grimshaw wrote:He released more than a few 'bends' on Youtube, which was enough to make me realise it was basically the easybartricks web site with a gloss finish.

He also had to constantly defend himself over calls of exposure for releasing those tricks on to Youtube, and I'm not so sure he was successful.

I respect Sankey, I think he's alright, but he really does churn it out. Somewhere along the way, the quality has to suffer.

You'd think with all the money he's making from all his releases like every month that he'd be able to buy a better video camera, better camera man, better place to perform and would actually show the stuff on people who aren't just the camera man or some "Invisible" spectator.

...would actually show the stuff on people who aren't just the camera man or some "Invisible" spectator.

Hence why Front Row Sankey is so good, he can't show stuff that is below top quality if he's performing to real people.

sankey dosn't make as money as you think what with all the time and money he invests in reinventing the wheel, magus capsual, ear plugs, holly molly to name but a few, that said I love my magus capsual and the ear plugs are good too.
and his dvds are regularly ripped off and file shared, with the shear volume of stuff he churns out and no one can say he dosn't pack his dvds with extras its not suprising he occasionaly brings out a clanger or six.

playsmartcasino wrote:A bend is a deception. A hoax, a con, a trick. Inspired bends are shared with other people, not with an eye on the technical specifics of the bend, but instead with an eye on the experience of those who WITNESS the bend.

That sounds very good on paper with all the capital letters and things, but I dont think that a few bar tricks are worth £26.

A bend is a deception. A hoax, a con, a trick. Inspired bends are shared with other people, not with an eye on the technical specifics of the bend, but instead with an eye on the experience of those who WITNESS the bend.

You know that thing when you tell someone they spilled some food on their shirt, and then when you point at it, you flick them on the nose. This a a BEND - a deception, a hoax, a con or a trick.

It's also used by complete idoits, and no-one like the experience of witnessing this bend.

You all owe me £25 now because I told you my bend.

I do magic, not hoaxes - ooooh an alien.

playsmart's post, which was an advertising ploy, has been removed.

I've had to stop following Sankey (ooer) on twitter because he is using the site to constantly advertise and push his products on people. My word, did it get annoying!

Alec

Alec Kobain wrote:My word, did it get annoying!

Everything about this product is annoying. Its a lot of nonsense, and he will lose a lot of respect because of it.

And the twitter - oh good heavens - the most annoying person, even more annoying than people who beg to be RT'd. Here is a recent tweet:

Jay Sankey wrote:This deception is more emotionally engaging than 99% of card tricks. http://youtu.be/YssZLa915XY

I don't know whether to laugh, cry or rub my face on a roughcast wall.

Anyway, safe to say I won't be buying this. I enjoyed your review as it confirmed everything I thought. I feel sorry for your eyes after putting them through so much torture. Brave man.

Kev

I watched the Youtube clip you linked to right now. My god, that's... not horrible. Just silly. And so pointless.