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Sankey's Best Street Magic DVD
"# 20 of Jay's most devastating street magic effects!
# Includes 'lost Sankey gems!' Little know, wildly creative, hard-hitting effects from some of Jay's earliest DVDs!
# This is Jay's most flexible, jaw-dropping, 'in-the-hands' stuff ever! No table required, minimal set-ups. Just lethal, direct, between-the-eyes STREET MAGIC!
# Over 25 years in the making! All of Jay's BEST street magic on ONE DVD!
# Outstanding value & convenience!
# Freak out people on the subway, the bus, waiting in line at the movies, the school cafeteria, the clubs-ANYWHERE!"

Cost:
$25 when not on sale at SankeyMagic.com (Website is currently not loading or I would provide the direct link.)

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)

Most range between 3-5.

The Effects and their reviews:

1.CARBON PAPER/ The smoke burn off the back of a card travels to the back of a card held in the spectator's own hands!
Requires set up, you are left dirty and there's no immediate reset. Magic happening in the spec's hands is always a good thing so I won't dismiss it right off the bat but this boils down to you having to treat this as a gaffed deck. If you are going to go that route you can get much more mileage out of a svengali or others. I have not performed this.

2.SERIAL KILLER/ Predict the serial number of any bill!
This is not a prediction effect but a reading. A very practical two phase handling that leaves you clean. Performed with a "borrowed" $1. Instant reset for the next group of specs. I've performed this a dozen or so times with great success. I've never felt heat with this one.

3.TWO KINDS/ 'Early Jay' handling for a double prediction. The clever presentation does most of the work!
A clean two phase effect with no set up. Performed a handful of times with not much in the way of feedback so I've dropped it.

4.IDENTIFYING FEATURES/ A very fresh transposition between two dollar bills!
Requires setup but leaves you clean. One of the $1 bills can be borrowed. $1 bills can be replaced by lowest denomination (or at least the most common anyway) paper currency native to where you are. You can either leave both bills for souvenirs or keep one for rest on the next group. I've performed this a handful of times with varying results from blown away to frustration of all things. I've gone back to the drawing board on this one.

5.SOFT SPOT/ Borrow a ring of keys and magically cause a key to pass off and onto the ring!
Extremely visual! Very easy to perform with only one move that takes some practice. Best for a small group, definitely not one-on-one. Leaves you dirty but with easy cleanup. Instant reset for next group. This one is a keeper.

6.SOLO/ A shocking card trick with ONLY ONE CARD!
Well, kind of "with ONLY ONE CARD!" but not really. You'll need a normal deck of cards with no setup. You'll also need good spec management and verbal timing. Combine these things and you end up with one very visual trick that happens in the specs hand. I have yet to perform it as I can't confidently pull off the timing yet.

7.POSH/ A marked coin travels to the magician's pocket twice- under test conditions.
Requires setup, leaves you dirty and is obvious from a mile away. Yuck! No desire to perform this one.

8.BURDEN OF PROOF/ A twist tie melts onto a finger ring and can only be removed by the spectator!
Requires a setup but you're left with easy cleanup. Extremely visual. very nice effect that happens in your and the spec's hands at the same time. No immediate reset, unfortunately. This is a keeper.

9.PROXIMITY/ Jay created this 'lost Gem' many years ago and has used it in his impromptu work ever since!
After making two very bold moves you hand the deck to the spec and they work the trick from there. No setup and you're left clean. Don't like it enough to perform it.

10.IN A PINCH/ Impromptu 2 coin transpo. Looks PERFECT!
It really does look perfect. It does require some setup. I have yet to perform it as coins are somewhat of a weakness. Instant reset.

11.BODYGUARDS/ Jay's mean and lean handling of Elmsley's 'Between Your Palms' plot!
Long winded and knuckle busting work for little wow factor. Stick with Elmsley.

12.VITAL SIGNS/ Low tech, high IMPACT!
A quick trick that happens in the specs hands. Requires setup but leaves you clean. Have performed this a handful of times but haven't gotten the results that I think it can get. Back to the drawing board as I rework the presentation.

13.HYPNOVANISH/ Learn how to make a borrowed coin vanish and appear, anytime, anywhere! You can do it in the NUDE and still show your hands completely empty!
WOW! GENIUS! BRILLIANT! Brilliant use of minimal sleights! Brilliant use of conditioning! Brilliant use of patter! This drops jaws every time. The way Sankey presents it is perfect but just out of curiosity I reworded the patter and hypnosis it and use a borrowed wedding ring... Even better results.

14. LAYING ON OF HANDS/ A 3-phase mental card effect that can close any show without breaking a sweat!
No setup and a clean finish. I don't use it.

15.KNOT POSSIBLE/ Jay's inspired variation on the classic linking rubber bands effect!
Quick and visual. Great finish in specs hands. Two phases. Requires setup and leaves you with easy cleanup.

16.REUNITED/ Tear and restore a paper match, anytime, anywhere! 100% impromptu!
Depending on your definition of impromptu. Quick trick with "Meh." results.

17.DROP ZONE PRODUCTION/Make a window in the air with your fingers, then have a coin 'fall out of nowhere!'
Hokey and boring.

18.BLACK MARKET/ A killer mental effect with a simple book of matches!
Requires setup. No instant reset. ZZZzzz...

19.FORCED ENTRY/ Jam an ordinary straw through a bottle cap- then restore the cap!
Requires setup that will leave you extremely dirty while using obvious methods.

20.UNDER THE INFLUENCE/ A 2-phase routine with a borrowed ring and bill. Features a SWEET presentation!
Strong penetration effect with no setup and instant reset. Very easy to routine around. Performed a dozen or so times leaving many a spec with a puzzled look on their face.

Overall:
A couple of random notes-
*As you can tell by the descriptions above, this is "Street" magic in the way of the magician approaching his audience i.e. bar/restaurant, strolling, etc. It is not aimed at buskers.
*The soundtrack is horrible. I do believe it was done as a favor for a buddy so he could pad is resume. Normally it wouldn't be that big of a deal but it is loud in some of the clips and distracts from Jay's instruction.
*Only a couple of the performances are live and they are rather weak. A couple others are with assistants. The majority are Sankey lecturing into the cameras while repeating, "Now pretend the spec is over here...", "This is where the spec would hold the deck..." etc.

So, with all that said, I do recommend buying the DVD when it is on sale and/or with a bigger order to save on shipping. While there are a couple of misses on this DVD, Hypnovanish is just absolutely brilliant.

8.5/10

Good review.

Have to disagree with one thing. Carbon Paper DOES instantly reset because you make a new gimmick each time you perform it.

Plus, it's only one card which can be loaded in and out of the deck very easily. You don't need to treat this as a gaffed deck.