I have seen many demos of Jay's effects, but sadly to say, I do not own any of his DVD's. His humor is a bit of something one has to get use to... But I said to myself: "I can "

But where do I begin?? He has so many out there. What are your recommendations?? I am mostly interested in Card, Paper Money and Rubber Band effects.

Which DVD is a Bang for my money to start off with??

Thanks.

Hi!!

What is your skill level? he has beginer DVD's ( that have wonderful effects that are workers ) and more advanced DVD's.

Chris

Check out Front Row Sankey. Great, usable material, not a lot of setup. Also has good variety. Cards, coins, matches, paper money, rubberbands, etc.

This DVD more than paid for itself very quickly for me.

Kevin

I have some trouble adjusting to his humor, too (especially on DVDs like Non-Stop Magic Party), but I do like his (older) material. I have many of his DVDs and probably turn back to "The Very Best of..." vols 1 - 3 most often. After those, my favorites would be "Sankey's Secret Files," "The Sankey-Sanders Sessions," and "Anytime, Anywhere." He also has some terrific published material in Sankey Panky and Sankey Unleashed.

The Very best of Jay Sankey

I would be buying Non-stop magic party.

It is a video he made when he was in love with the magic not with the money and fame.

He is seeming more himself on this video and less of the magic god he is thinking he is now a days because of all the magicians who is kissing his bottoms all the time.

It is interesting to be seeing the changes over the years what a little bit of fame can be doing to a person in how they are perceiving themselves and are acting on the camera.

Thanks for the suggestions.

My skill level is intermediate (I guess-- I could never understand how one can determine this), but I can do any sleight with practice and much time into it. I never say "I can't do it", despite some frustration. Watching someone do the new sleight tells me that IT IS POSSIBLE (except if his hands are bigger than mine, but I'll try to adjust).

Please continue to post suggestions of Jay's DVD's.

Thanks.

Front row

Juan, I understand what you are saying but I saw Jay live last year and he is still very much in love with magic, very funny in person (his humor and his magic play much better live than on dvd) and extremely kind and generous. I don't know where you are getting your generalizations from.

As to which dvd's are good, I certainly don't have everything he's put out but I would highly recommend:

Very Best Of (L&L dvd set)
Front Row Sankey
Anytime, Anywhere
Secret Files
Revolutionary Coin Magic
Real Work on Bars and Restaurants

I don't own Sankey-Tized 1 and 2 but I have most of the effects contained on them and they are all great so I would also recommend that set.

All of the above dvds are packed with great tricks and valauable advice.

Sankey-Tized 1 and 2....

I'd go with Secret Files Vol. 1 & 2, Front Row, Greatest Hits, and 22 Blow To The Head. Have fun in your search.

I'm a really big fan of Revolutionary Coin Magic. Other videos by Jay might have more variety (in that they're not all coins) but every idea on this dvd opened my eyes to a new effect or presentational angle I had never really thought of. I still get annoyed by the fact that you have to watch every chapter on the dvd in full in order to see an application of the principle/sleight being taught- as opposed to a more traditional performance/explanation teaching style. But this is a minor distraction from an excellent set of magic.

Since we're on the topic of Jay Sankey videos, every now and again I come across a video on ebay from 1987 by Jay called "masters of excellence". The slip case is notable for a picture of sorts of Mr. Sankey sporting a full head of hair. I did a search once and couldn't find any info about this video Anybody know anything about it?

I'll go with his "Very Best of" series.. Those 3 DVDs contain a wealth of information, and the effects can be tweaked to suit anyone.

22 Blows is my favourite

I agree. I love these 3. I still watch them every now an then. I think that these should have been titled "Greatest Hits".

I prefer Sankey-Tized
air-tied is even sold alone at PENGUIN

For walk around magic, "Front Row Sankey" is his best. For pure Sankey insanity, you could check out his revolutionary series (card or coin magic). As far as his best effects, and his most watchable DVD, you can do no better than his "the very best of..." series 1-3. It's produced by L&L publishing I believe and could probably be ordered on their website. It is filmed in front of the standard L&L canned (staged) audience though, but entertaining nonetheless.

BTW, for anyone who has seen several L&L produced DVD's- is it me or is the guy with the sandy blonde mullet and 70's porn star mustache, who always seems to be in the front row, really annoying? I could not stand that guy on the Osterlind Mind Mysteries series LOL.

Okay, I have a question. You say you don't respond to Sankey's humor... then why do you want to buy one of his DVDs?

There's something about learning from a DVD that, for me, makes the performer's personality very important. I'm going to be sitting with this person trying to pick up what they're saying, and they have to be someone whose personality I connect with in some way. Or, rather, the person has to be someone who doesn't actively put me off.

I picked up a Sankey DVD a while back after just getting back into magic because I thought I had to. The local magic store was lined with his products -- which I now understand why after reading one of the above posts -- and he seemed to be someone you just had to know about. I bought one of his DVDs and while I think he's a passionate and engaged teacher, two things put me off: the really cringe-y humor, which I found not funny and laced with too much of that "look at me, I'm funny" vibe -- he's almost like the Rupert Pupkin character in "King of Comedy"; and then his constant hucksterism even in the body of the DVD. I've already bought the DVD, he doesn't have to keep telling me how brilliant every effect is.

Also, I found it kind of annoying that instead of just teaching a move he has to make everything an "effect" with its own dopey name. If I wanted to go back and see his demo of a move that is actually in Bobo's, for example, I have to remember what snazzy title he's come up for the routine that uses it. And then there is a lot of repetition in his work. Even on the one DVD I could see the same principles get used again and again.

I wound up trading my Sankey DVD for some other stuff which I've found a lot more practical and fun to watch.

If you're a Sankey fan, more power to you. The guy's coin work is pretty great, and I think his routining is really strong and thought out. I guess all I'm saying is that if you don't jive with his personality, there are plenty of other people out there making DVDs you should check out. I wouldn't assume that there's something on Sankey's work that is so entirely unique that you need to learn it from him. (And yes, I realize that I'm basing this all on watching one DVD and checking out his marketed effects... )

Definitely Front Row, and Boris Pocus has some good tricks and also fun to watch.

For those that don't like Jay's Humor, get David Acer's wonderful "On Screen" DVD. There are soem spots with Jay on it. In one, Jay is in a magic shop and does a David Roth as a pirate impersonation. I screamed laughing the first time I saw it.

Chris