BENDING THE REAL BY JAY SANKEY

Bending The Real is the brand new project released by Jay Sankey that has created a ton of buzz over the past couple of months. The concept of a “bend” is not necessarily a magic trick... just a moment of astonishment, curiosity, wonder, concern, or rage (more on that later) that inspires an altered sense of reality. These can come in the form of stunts, practical jokes, bar bets, scams, magic effects, and more. On this DVD project, Jay covers 25 bends, briefly demonstrating them, teaching the methods, and explaining the psychology behind each one. The DVD also comes with a neat looking, nicely produced booklet with short entries and essays explaining theories, concepts, and psychology behind bending. This booklet is short, but a nice addition and has some very good entries to further your understanding of “bending”. If you received a pre-order copy, like I did, you would have gotten a second bonus booklet that looks identical and includes even more in the way of concepts, theories, and ideas.

I popped open the DVD case and next to the DVD found a small plastic baggie of gimmicks. These gimmicks are for Steve Morrison’s effect Hijacked and Sankey’s own Vanishink, Zero Gravity, and Descendent. I will cover more about these gimmicks as I review all 25 bends below.


Pirouette: This is an effect in which a plastic spoon from a school Caféteria, fast food restaurant, or coffee shop mysteriously twists itself at the stem a full 180 degrees. This is essentially a spoon bend with a plastic spoon, which I feel is somewhat weakened by the fact that the spoon is plastic and pliable. However, the condition the spoon is left in cannot be achieved by simply twisting the spoon, which is what gives the bend a strong level of deception. My school Caféteria always has these lying around and I’m eager to try it out! 7/10

Reconnection: After breaking the tab off of a coke or energy drink can, the tab is impossibly restored back on to the can! Depending on your situation, this is almost completely impromptu, deceptive, and has a method so simple your Grandmother could do it! I also feel, structurally, the bend has a nice, natural flow to it, something I feel Sankey has a knack for in his work. I can see this playing very strongly at a party. Plus, you end clean! Always nice. 8/10

Vanishink: This is also marketed separately by Jay, and it is a way in which to vanish a Sharpie under extremely fair, impossible conditions. It reminds me of a Norm Neilsen Bottle Vanish and it is very strong. It requires a gimmick which is included with the DVD, but with each performance you will have to destroy a gimmick. They can be easily made over and over again provided you have the required material to keep producing them (I can’t say much more without hinting to the method). This is a great, surprising method for vanishing a Sharpie, albeit somewhat limited. 8/10

Private Property: This is a bend that helps you obtain a phone number from anyone you want. That’s really all it does. It isn’t magical, mysterious, or astonishing. But, if you want a cheeky way of getting a girl’s number in the form of a bet that raises some strong intrigue at the outset, this will be right up your alley. This is the kind of bend you’ll use to get a date, but I see no other purpose for it. 6/10

Airborne: A bar bet type of bend in which you bet that you can lift a heavy glass bottle with a thin sheet of paper or a piece of paper currency... and, of course, you do just that. As a bar bet or a puzzle, this is very effective and I can see myself using it at the right time. Nice little bend to whip out if you’re drinking with your buddies! 7/10

Skin Deep: In a coffee shop, you give a spectator a wrapped straw to hold onto as you retrieve a wooden stir stick. After breaking off a healthy chunk of the stir stick, the broken off bit melts away and vanishes completely from your hand, only to appear inside the wrapped straw the spectator has been holding the entire time! The set up for this takes no time at all and all of the materials to do it can be found inside literally any Starbucks. This is a great, organic, almost impromptu bend that I can see being extremely powerful for your spectators. I can’t wait to try this out! 9/10

Digital: A low-tech, easy as pie way to divine the serial number on a borrowed bill. Given this bend’s casual structure, the method will fly quite easily and deceptively. If you can attest to the strength of a serial number divination, you’ll love this casual, organic, impromptu method for a strong piece of mentalism. 8/10

The Offering: A unique way to offer someone a piece of gum from one of the blistered gum packages. This bend is unique, surprising, and unexpected... it’s a casual, laid back, perfectly natural bend that is not at all out of place until the interesting moment upon which the gum is popped into their hand. The method is dead simple but, given that this bend has no real lead-in and just “happens”, it will totally fly and surprise your target completely. Fun stuff that can be done anywhere! 7/10

Reality Break: This is a simply sweet way of breaking and restoring a wooden stir stick the next time you’re in a coffee shop. This bend is completely impromptu and uses a nice auditory convincer to really sell the illusion. Reality Break is visible and audibly deceptive, dead easy like most everything else on this project, and completely surprising. 8/10

Hijacked: The only card effect on the DVD is one that has been previously released as a single trick... this is Steve Morrison’s Hijacked, a gimmicked packet effect in which four jacks impossibly and cleanly transform into the four aces. There’s a multitude of possibilities here and the change is clean and simply incredible for a spectator. My only gripe is that this is, of course, a prior release. While it’s nice the gimmicks have been included, I’m always a bit bothered by re-releases like this. Also, I don’t like the idea of card effects at all being used as bends, as it just doesn’t feel organic enough to me. So, while the effect itself gets a 9/10, its inclusion on this project gets it a final 6/10

Tasting is Believing: This is just plain cruel. This is one of the few bends on the DVD that falls under the strict category of a practical joke, and I feel it to be kind of mean spirited. Imagine your friend going to take a sip of his Coke at a fast food restaurant and getting a mouthful of mustard or ketchup instead. Yeah, that’s basically what this bend does. Not only do I feel this is downright cruel, for a friend or even an enemy, but you will also have to do your friend the courtesy of replacing his drink for him as the set up will likely leave the drink ruined. I would never ever use this... maybe you will, but I’m just not that kind of bender. 2/10
Sweet Surprise: A sugar packet is emptied into your hand, and the grains impossibly pass themselves straight through a solid china plate! This takes less than 10 seconds to prep and can be done with great ease if you’re at a breakfast restaurant and your friend excuses himself to the bathroom. The construction of this makes it a nice little “event” with a strong payoff. Nice, seemingly spur-of-the-moment, magical bend that I definitely will be trying. 8/10

Cornered: A mentalism bend in which you divine a word or phrase on a corner torn from the page of a magazine by a spectator that has been balled up and placed securely in a glass. This is ingenious, minimalistic, and oh-so-strong. You need to be seated at a table to do this but other than that, all you need is a single magazine and a clear drinking glass and you’re all set to go! This is another one of the bends I’m extremely eager to try. Very strong stuff. 9/10

Whew!: This bend occurs without you being anywhere near your target. For them, what they think is a parking ticket under their car windshield turns out to be not at all what it seems. This sort of fits under the category of a practical joke, but instead of being mean spirited, this has a pay off that will absolutely make someone’s day. At first, they will be upset and perhaps angry, but once they understand what’s really going on, there will be a nice sense of wonder and curiosity. I love this... it’s not magic but it has a unique magical quality to it. If the mood strikes me, I’ll definitely try this out. 8/10

Echo: This effect features a strange synchronicity between a straw and its wrapper. Although I cannot see this bend playing all that strongly, it has a nice mysterious quality I like. I tried this bend out in a coffee shop about a week ago (the bend is featured for free on Jay’s Youtube page) and my spectator was quite intrigued.... not awe-struck, mind you, but intrigued. I honestly do not see myself using this much in the future but I have no doubt many others will. 7/10

Sound Effect: There’s not much about this I particularly like. It’s essentially the age-old method to make it sound as though you’re violently cracking your knuckles. It’s a nice little jokey stunt, but many people do already know it. Although it’s the only bend on the project that requires nothing but your own two hands, I will never use this overdone little finger trick... it’s certainly not my style, not to say it may not be yours. 4/10

Storm Cloud: Here’s another practical joke. Let me put it this way... this is meaner than Tasting Is Believing. Basically, it’s a prank that makes a huge cloud of dust appear in a room or an office. This leaves your target with a room covered in dust and a lot of stuff to clean off. This is the most mean spirited practical joke on this DVD, another thing that I would never use and I hope you also will never use. 1/10

Descendent: This has been one of my favourite Sankey effects ever since it appeared on a Kaleidoscope. Basically, you drag the sharpened bit on a pencil down the length of it and freeze it in position in the middle of the pencil’s body. It looks super weird and super cool! I’ve always felt this to be one of Jay’s most creative ideas in recent memory, but a few things disappoint me. First of all, this marks the third time in just over a year that this effect has been marketed in a DVD and single trick format. Secondly, while the ad copy states you get the gimmicks for this effect, that’s not true... Sankey only includes ONE part of the gimmick and it is far and away the easiest part of the gimmick to make. I don’t even understand why he included this part and not the other, as the other part can be a real pain to put together. The effect itself gets an easy 9/10, but for all the reasons stated above I am going to have to lower the mark to a 4/10.

Toolong Tea: One of my absolute favourite bends on this DVD! Created by Mike Skutt, this is a very surprising and astonishing bend to do at a coffee shop if you order a tea. As you go to remove your tea bag by the string, the string just keeps growing and growing until it is over four feet long, leaving you standing on your chair holding a very long tea bag! Sankey is right when he states that this is more of an event than a trick. Do this in Starbucks, and you are guaranteed to get all eyes on you. Brilliant, surreal stuff. Love it. 9/10

Inside Job: Created by Eric Leclerc, this is a wonderfully minimalist, situational version of the classic Cap In Bottle Effect. Anytime, anywhere, impromptu, and done seemingly spur of the moment. Not really my thing, but will definitely find its way into many people’s hearts! I can see this being a great go-to Cap in Bottle effect for an impromptu situation. 7/10

Zero Gravity: Suspend a borrowed cellphone, wallet, or other somewhat heavy small object impossibly on a borrowed bill or piece of paper! This is a marketed effect of Sankey’s and the complete gimmick has been graciously included. I think this is very clever, although to perform the effect you must already have the gimmick in your hands set up and ready to go. Therefore, it must be set up just before you show it. Fortunately, the set up takes a very short time and I feel this effect is totally worth it to carry with you. It creates a great, impossible image and ends nice and cleanly. There’s a lot to like about this. 8/10

In Red Ink: A silly bar scam involving word play. There’s a lot of build up for this one that results in a payoff to undoubtedly produce nothing but groans and chuckles. There are lots of little scams and bets out there just like this one and, if that’s your thing, you’ll love this. I may try it out a few times for a laugh but there’s really not much to it and it’s really not my thing. 5/10

Buried Treasure: Now THIS is an awesome bend. You walk into a store to purchase a package of candy, but then reveal you don’t even have close to enough money to pay for it. Before you leave, you tear open the un-purchased candy and inside find a $5 bill. You gladly pay for the candy and walk out of the store with a smile. Simply put, I love this. There’s a fair bit of set up, but this seemingly spur-of-the-moment bend of coolness can be whipped out in a convenience store and provide a rush of different emotions in whoever is working behind the counter. There’s the awkwardness and frustration of you not being able to pay for the candy, the anger of you opening the un-purchased goods without having the money to do so, and the sheer moment of shock and surprise when you reach into that package and remove real honest-to-god money. Sweet. The only drawback is that you end up paying for the same candy twice as the candy has been specially prepared by you prior, but on the DVD Jay states he feels it’s worth it. I happen to agree. 10/10

Remote Control: This little mentalism ditty with a borrowed bill closes the DVD. With this tool, you accurately predict a digit of a bill’s serial number selected by the spectator in a very fair manner. This requires you to make a simple, organic gimmick, and while this isn’t anything I’d ever do, there will be mentalists out there who will absolutely eat this up. The problems arise in borrowing the bill. Obviously, the effect will be stronger if the bill you use is borrowed, but the method creates a strong discrepancy that may not necessarily go unnoticed after the fact. Jay has a way of recovering this, but the way of recovering in my opinion completely cancels out the main effect. Either way, I do like this, although I personally will not use it. 7/10


So, is Bending The Real worth it? That depends on you. If you’re a magician and performer who loves spur-of-the-moment bits of cool that will astonish, confuse, surprise, puzzle, and even inspire those around you and slightly alter reality, even for just a moment, this is definitely the DVD for you. With the booklet, DVD, and bag of gimmicks included, this really is the complete package... and at $35, extremely fairly priced for what you get. While there are a few duds in the mix, the amount of pure bending gold cancels them out. You’re not so much paying for a DVD of tricks here as you are paying for a concept. This is just the beginning of your journey into the world of Bending. Jay has given you the tools... now it’s up to you.

Wow--awesome review. Thanks for the detail!

I found these forums after receiving “Bending the Real” by Jay Sankey and doing a Google search to see if there were any reviews of it that matched my own mixed feelings about the product. After reading the discussions here, last night I sat down with a page or two of notes to write my own review but found that Michael had beaten me to it.

Thank you for such an extensive and detailed review, Michael! I’d still like to add my own two cents on the product and perhaps a different perspective.

First of all, to put things in context, a little bit about me. I’m a beginner in magic, or perhaps better to say a returner. I was into it as a kid, but then drifted away as I got into music. Now in my 40s, the last couple of years I have got interested again, buying a few books and DVDs. I have next to no experience as a performing magician, but many years of performing professionally as a musician and actor so know a fair bit about playing to an audience and presentation.

So it was with interest that I read the descriptions of “Bending the Real” on Jay’s website. It sounded to me like a DVD of effects, some that could be performed impromptu, plus a few gimmicks and a couple of booklets with some theory and his philosophy of performing. Not a bad deal for $35, I thought. My previous experience with Jay’s products was his Assassin’s Pouch, a neat little bag that I have found useful even for non-magic-related use, so I thought I’d give it a go.

When the DVD arrived and I watched it, my first thought was “What did I just spend my money on? What a load of rubbish!” Admittedly, I didn’t watch it from the beginning but just selected a “bend” at random so probably did not get the best first impression. Likewise, the burned-out effect on the camera-work is extremely distracting and rather pretentious. Having watched it through a couple of times now, my opinion has changed somewhat – there is some good stuff in there, along with a fair amount of filler. Michael has done a good job of describing the effects so I will not duplicate his work, just give my opinion on them.

I think the material on the DVD falls into three categories: Firstly, there are effects that are very strong, or could be given a good presentation and context. I would put VANISHINK, SKIN DEEP, DIGITAL, HIJACKED, CORNERED, DESCENDENT, ZERO GRAVITY and REMOTE CONTROL all in this category.

The second category are items that to me are just at best cheap gags or at worst mean-spirited pranks: PRIVATE PROPERTY (sorry, didn’t appeal to me at all), AIRBORNE (sucker trick), TASTING IS BELIEVING, WHEW (pointless in my opinion), SOUND EFFECT, STORM CLOUD, IN RED INK (another sucker trick) and SHATTERED all fall under this heading for me.

The remainder are all OK effects and gags that will appeal more to some people than to others, and will largely depend on the individual’s performance style. I didn’t personally get the big wow from BURIED TREASURE or TOOLONG TEA, but that’s my personal taste.

The little bag of gimmicks is a nice inclusion, though there is nothing in there that I couldn’t have made myself with relative ease, other than the cards for HIJACKED. You will still have to do some “making” to perform some of the effects on the DVD, however.

As for the booklets, one of them contains material defining bending and so on that is available on his website. The other I expected to explain some of Jay’s philosophy of performance and his theories of magic, perhaps something along the lines of a much-scaled-down version of Darwin Ortiz’s “Strong Magic”. Instead, it contained little of any substance; some discussion about a sense of wonder and more about the notion of bending. Both booklets contain a couple of suggestions for further practical jokes.

So to ask the question of whether “Bending the Real” is worth it, I’d have to go along with Michael and say maybe, with the caveat that it is NOT what it may appear to be at first glance. Maybe my expectations were too high. That's possible. If these reviews had been available when I pre-ordered it, I would probably not have bought it myself, at least not for $35, but I think there will be people out there for whom this DVD will be right up their alley.

Hi All

On one level I'd second and third the excellent reviews from Michael and Andy G - I suppose that only time will tell how strongly some of these play as I try them out on unsuspecting 'bendees' although for me, some of the things that look good on the DVD will leave you with SIGNIFICANT clean up issues once you have delivered the killer 'bend' - VANISHINK and REMOTE CONTROL for example.

On another level - I think I understand what Mr Sankey has tried to do here, he is looking (in a very light touch way) at the psychology behind things happening out of the ordinary, and of course your ability as someone with complete knowledge of what is going on to be able to observe from a third-party perspective, the reactions that you are creating in people.

I'd guess my take on it is that the tricks on the DVD and the two booklets are trying to highlight a philosophy that you can take on and make your own and extend through developing your own 'bends'. For the casual amateur the DVD, Booklets and Gimmicks are the end product in their own right. For others of us, this is a 'tool kit with opportunity" it offers us stone in our shoe; something to challenge the way that we think and to dare us to try and be more creative in the way we deliver our stuff... there is more to close-up and street than cards and coins. This DVD tries to teach an attitude as well as provide some basic 'bends' to highlight the ways that the attitude can be applied.

My closing comment is that (for me at least) it seems to get lost in the middle between being a DVD full of tricks and an essay on the philosophy and psychology of impromptu non-coin and non-card (with the exception of one) routines.

Thanks to the other 2 guys who have provided detailed and overall fairly written reviews.

Steve H-B
AKA Mag1cman

Your observations are extremely fair as well and I believe they hit the nail on the head! I would have perhaps liked to see a bit more focus on the philosophy and psychology of bending. The project feels a bit unfocused in that regard

Hi Michael

I was going to come back with 'unfinished' rather than 'unfocused' BUT I'm not sure which I believe? If Mr Sankey was on here, would he be saying to us that he has merely opened a door for us to pass through and left us the space to define our own landscape on the other side? I'm not saying I'd agree with him by the way, at the end of the day he is selling and people are buying a product.

If his intention was/is to start a 'philosophy' or a 'niche', in the same way that 'mentalism' has developed then he should have written a couple of good essays on the topic and put them out through the more reputable professional magazines available to those of us who take our craft seriously enough to buy and read such publications, rather than putting it out there in the way that he has done.

Maybe I am reading waaaaaaay too much into this and he just wanted to drop his old stock and came up with a 'spin' to do it; that in itself might be classed as a 'Bend' ;-)

Steve H-B
AKA Mag1cman

Thanks for the reviews, guys! Now I understand what this dvd is truely about.
At first, I thought this dvd is more about theories on magic presentation and some views on magic structuring with some magic effects.
Feel a bit dissapointing though, because there is too much hype on this dvd before its release.

The advertising on this dvd is Misleading....

I almost pulled the trigger on this one, but now I'll just move on. What place does pranking have in magic?
I'm sure the hardcore Sankeyphiles will praise this 100% brilliant.

You're missing the point in that this isn't focused on magic. Although the target demographic is to magicians, this focuses on a grander scope of just flat-out "deception". This embodies magic, practical jokes, bets, scams, puzzles, etc.

Great review Michael.

Unfortunately I think that this is all hype / marketing, but then as I don't own the DVD, what do I know!

Bends...pah!

Bring back the likes of Front Row, Anytime Anywhere etc!

Charlie

With respect to the magic effects, these are intended to be presented in a casual, non-theatrical manner. I think a legitimate gripe would be that there is not much in the way of convincers at the beginning of the effects. To paraphrase a famous magic quote, before you turn an apple into an orange, it is important that everyone is certain you started with an apple. A good example is "Inside Job," a cap to bottle effect in which your spectator never actually sees the bottle empty or the cap outside the bottle before the cap is "magically" inside the bottle. Several effects on the DVD fall into this category, and if this is a concern, you should know this up front.

But the methods are consistent with the premise of the DVD -- creating seemingly impromptu miracles with borrowed or available objects. In such cases, unlike a traditional magic performance in which everyone knows from the beginning that you plan to perform a magic trick, there will be little heat on your props before the effect begins. The magical nature of the effect will only become apparent when it is over, and of course by then, it will be too late for them to reconstruct. But due to the lack of conviction on the front end, I think most of these are more likely to come across as puzzles than magic.

The construction of these effects means that you will often only be able to perform one at a time. Few would be appropriate for a "set."

While I don't really like this DVD release, the general idea of a "bend" is cool and I've been using it to good effect. I look at it like... if I were really magical, then surely things wouldn't be "normal" wherever I am? The bends let me make the very nature of me being someplace cause unnatural things to occur. It just adds a bit of mystique, and I've been using some of Sankey's bends to do that. I still think the DVD is hype, and most of the effects not so great.

But I will say, that while I agree that most of these effects can't be reconstructed...if you do them right, it won't matter. I'm not a fan of most of these "effects", but the Inside Job has had great reactions for me, and it's the one I've done most. Either me or one of my students supplies those water bottles at my studio, so they are all over, and I've probably done Inside Job to about 20 people. While a few have said "Did you already have the cap in the bottle?" I simply just remind them they saw me unscrew it from the top, pass it through the bottom, etc. Even my wife has tripped out on this one for a while now, and she figures out a lot of stuff.

Anyway, I do like the DVD's general idea, just far too much hype, and most of the effects are mediocre, and some are just lame.

Will

I don't get it. Why call it a "bend"? What's wrong with calling them "tricks"? Oh yeah, I get it, because he couldn't market it to death as something "new and fresh" otherwise! Sheesh!

Yes, Sankey is a great marketer and there is no doubt the rebranding of these effects as "bends" is largely marketing motivated. But that isn't to say it is entirely a cynical money grab. I think he has made an honest attempt to, with a few notable exceptions, bring together tricks that are consistent with a common theme and approach. The idea is that you are hanging out with friends and suddenly something bizarre and inexplicable happens -- in some cases surprising even you. These are tricks to be done casually in casual settings and without theatrical pretense. It is the context of the performance that is unique.

I will use as an example "Inside Job," and effect I referenced in an earlier post. Many will look at this and say it is inferior to many methods because you don't clearly show the condition of the bottle before going into the effect. While this would be critical to a stage performer or even a close up performer who establishes a theatrical presentation before going into the effect, it isn't as big a deal when the effect is presented in the "bending" context. For example, you are standing around with your friends drinking from a water bottle. You appear to screw off the top of the bottle and slam it through the bottom of the bottle so that it is now inside. Prior to this moment, no one was paying much attention to the condition of the bottle, leaving you free to verbally reconstruct that condition as you like.

The primary condition for an effect such as this is that it appear impromptu and be examinable after the effect is complete. There is no need for it to be examinable before because at that point, no one expects a magic performance. Unlike a theatrical performance, however, which provides you with a certain distance from your audience and therefore an excuse (perhaps based on expectation) not to hand your props out for examination, the "bending" effects are intended to be more intimate affairs where such an expectation would be out of place.

That is what I believe Sankey intended to accomplish with this DVD -- pulling together effects that would allow more casual, intimate performances that will, due to the context in which they are performed, get more startling reactions. This is because there is a greater distance between the audience's expection of what will happen and what does actually happen than in a traditional magic performance.

I would be the first to admit that he is not 100% successful in this effort, as not everything on the DVD fits so neatly with this approach. As examples, the card effect "Hijacked" and some of the pranks don't seem appropriate for this project. But there is a lot of material on this DVD and if the premise interests you, you will probably find something you can use.

Man, I just don't get it.

You know in Japan, there are people who eat their own vomit - perhaps that could be used as a metaphor for here. Is that a correct application?

In this thread, the word Bend is used 62 times. LOL.
Btw, this DVD doesn't look like I would like it, a bit weird with all the practical joke stuff..

Kyle

There is a certain inherent degree of "weirdness" in magic, in general, but the practical jokes thing seems to be another category altogether.

I am a huge Sankey fan. But this DVD looks terrible. Jay is sometimes brilliant and sometimes awful. Just this past week, Sankey had both the worst DVD, Hardcore, and the best DVD, Insider, reviewed by the Wizard Product Review (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4Vr18ja3RE&feature=feedu_more ).

The reality is that if a Sankey DVD looks good, it probably is good, but if it looks bad, it probably is bad. Jay tends to give a lot of previews of some effects on his DVDs. For example, he has revealed lots of items off of his Hemispheres and 22 Blows to the head DVDs and even just those free effects where worth at least half the price of the DVD. Actually, I have sometimes been irritated that he gave away some great effects on DVDs that I had paid for. However, in this case his preview effects of Bending the Real were mediocre at best and lead me to believe along with the luke warm response he has received here, that this one is a loser.

If you are looking for a Sankey DVD, there are so many better you can buy. Insider is his most recent DVD that is clearly great and there is consensus on Front Row Sankey and Sankeytized as two of his best. Also, as mentioned above, Hemispheres and 22 Blowa are also two great DVDS for mental magic.

I'll be attending Jay's Bending the Real lecture in Detroit on June 7th. If I enjoy the lecture, then perhaps I'll acquire the DVD.