Kaleidoscope by Jay Sankey

[Michael Kras]

KALEIDOSCOPE BY JAY SANKEY

Description: Jay's latest collection of over 20 creative new sleight of hand creations. Effects range from cards, to coins, to pencils, to matches, to ice, to sugar packets, and even cocktain swords.

Review: It's been a while since I last purchased a Sankey product. I'm a loyal fan, but nothing in recent memory has really "grabbed" me. However, when Jay released the trailer for the highly andticipated Kaleidoscope project, my interest was rekindled. The demo shows little in terms of effects, but it shows enough to grab my attention. As soon as it went on sale, I ordered it and waited patiently for it to arrive.

A few days ago, it showed up. I opened the package and immediately admired the cover art. This is one of the coolest covers I've yet to see on a magic DVD. Missing are his logo and familiar text fonts.... instead, the cover is just a solid, colourful, kaleidoscopic image. That's it. It looks simply awesome. But we can't be judging a DVD by its cover now. Let's look at the content!

The material is some of the most varied you're likely to see on a Sankey DVD. Seems like Jay is finally listening to screams of "Rehash" and "New trick, same sleights" and has released some innovative stuff... and a lot of the effects on here ARE fairly innovative. But enough rambling... without further ado, here we go with my review of... THE EFFECTS!


Piece De Resistance: Jay's approach to the "Torn Corner Of A Card To Impossible Location" plot is a very, very good one. In this, a freely selected playing card has its corner torn off. He gives the remainder of the card to the spectator, in an attempt to make the corner vanish and reappear back on the card. The corner DOES completely vanish... but alas, the corner is still missing off the card. Where could it have gone? The card is then torn up a bit and INSIDE THE CARD, the missing corner is found. It, of course, perfectly matches. This is like Card In Orange without the orange. A gaffed card will have to be made and will take you about 3-5 minutes, but it's well worth it. Make up a bunch of gaffs, get them set, shock the world. This is simply excellent, a fantastic start to the DVD. Unconventional Sankey, for sure. 9/10

Numb: A borrowed pencil penetrates a borrowed sugar packet, before finally restoring the sugar packet completely. This is a funky effect with a move sometimes scene in Sankey-esque effects... this is extremely practical, PERFECT for restaurant work, and very deceptive. 7/10

Walking Wounded: This is an effect that could have appeared on Revolutionary Card Magic... it's just that kind of effect and would certainly fit the bill. A card with a chunk torn out VISUALLY transposes with a selected card the spectator himself is holding. This is crazy good, classic Sankey thinking. This is definitely worth your time. Oh, and yes... the torn card is completely justified. You'lll love this. 8/10

The Gathering: Grains of sugar emptied out of a sugar packet magically fuse into a sugar cube while in the confines of a napkin. What a creative, clever idea! The method is dead simple and very standard, but I can see the effect playing well. Not a profund mystery, but very cool. 7/10

Last Coin Trick: I just didn't get this one. This is a rather unnecessary vanish of a coin. It's rather unnatural and, as I said, completely unnecessary. It looks like a coin is dumped into your hand off a card box, then completely vanishes. I thought the effect was going somewhere from there, but it didn't... it's just a coin vanish. This one fell flat for me. 5/10

Imprompthrough: I'm sure a big selling point for this DVD would be in the description of this one effect: "A borrowed pencil melts through a borrowed coin, but leaves the coin completely unharmed. NO gimmicks, NO extra coins, everything borrowed, completely impromptu, fully examinable". Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Well, it is. I'm not saying this is a bad effect... it's just not great. Jay really breaks this thing down, analyzes every move to create a perfect illusion. It's clever, and looks great, but it's flawed. I can, however, see this being a FANTASTIC lead in to a gimmicked Pencil Through Quarter (as Jay suggests on the DVD. Just for that, this gets a 7/10.

Extended Version: A Joker changes into a selected card in a very cool, visual way. This is essentially a very beautiful, albeit flawed, colour change. It looks very nice, but requires two gaffed cards to accomplish. For some, it may be worth it... for others, not. Me personally? I'll stick to my Erdnase. 7/10

Descendant: WOW. That's what I said when I saw this effect. It's a CRAAAAZY visual. The sharpened tip of a pencil is visually dragged down to the center of the pencil, leaving an impossible object which may be examined and even kept by the spectator as a souvenir. This is amazingly cool. While the method may not be to everyone's liking, this is a great effect to carry around. You can make your own gimmicked pencil fairly easily and you will likely want to make a bunch to give away as souvenirs. Trust me, this makes a GREAT giveaway. This is innovative stuff, one of the truly revolutionary pieces on the DVD. 8/10

 

[Michael Kras]

Tenfold: A unique approach to a bill change. This is a very well justified, presentationally driven change. It does not require a thumb tip... the method and execution are very much "off the beaten path". The change uses a classic Sankey move (a move considered to be his best ever) to great effect. This will only work with American currency, so we Canadians are out of luck. But you Americans... go out there and have a ball with this. This is a very useable effect. 8/10

Snatchbook: The demo for this on the DVD is very off-putting. It looks very standard... and it is. Essentially, a book of matches has all of the matches "stolen out" magically, leaving an empty matchbook and a fistful of paper matches. Any method you think of now is likely the correct one. I'm sure someone could make this into something good, but I didn't care for it. 5/10

Airborne: Another colour change-based effect. A random card is tossed into the air, whereupon it VISUALLY changed midflight. I have seen Martin Lewis do something similar, but Sankey's handling is fairly different. In short, this looks gorgeous. It will require a very simple card gaff, but I'm willing to bet you've already got one. This is well worth consideration, a very strong effect with a beautiful visual. 8/10

Dark Deeds: A transposition of a coin and a key... despite one of the objects being wrapped in a dollar bill and held securely by a spectator from beginning to end. This uses the spectator's sense of touch to great effect, and adds a nice bit to a transposition that would otherwise be rather standard. Still, this may be just what you're looking for. This is a great worker's piece. 7/10

Burning Down: Hot tamale! This is good, good stuff. Remember "Descendant" from a little while back. This is it, with a match. This, however, is better than Descendant in my opinion. Essentially, you light a wooden match, letting it burn down for a few seconds leaving a blackened head. Once that is done, you visually and cleanly drag the "burn" from the top of the match to the center, leaving a match with a burnt middle and a completely restored match head. This looks awesome, the method is very clean and sleight-of-hand wise, quite workable. Again, Jay has really broken this one down and made it into something practical, workable, snappy, and visual. This is great for workers, and great if you're pressed for time and can only show a "quick trick". The gimmick can be made impromptu and within a minute, unlike the gimmick for Descendant which must be made on your own time and can be made in about 5 minutes. I can see myself using this. 9/10

Marrow: A practical worker's piece, like Bill In Lemon with a drinking straw instead of the fruit. A borrowed bill has its corner torn off for verification later on... the bill then vanishes, and impossibly reappears rolled up in the center of a WRAPPED drinking straw. This is just excellent. Again, very practical, a great worker's piece, and very easy to do. Also, the main visual, of the bill being squeezed slowly out of the straw, is a beautiful, inherently magical moment. This is one of my favourite effects on the disc. You'll love this. 10/10

Piggy Bag: I'm upset that Jay gave this away for free on his website... it's that good. A coin repeatedly penetrates in and out of a sealed plastic baggy. Organic, ordinary props and crazy visual magic make this an ideal piece for the walkaround performer. All you need is a plastic baggy and some pocket change and you're ready to go at a moment's notice. Great stuff. 9/10

Shaft: A cocktail sword is broken into two pieces, both pieces are swallowed (a la "The Sword Swallowing Illusion"), then both piece are regurgitated and completely restored. I didn't like this at first. The method struck me as obvious and weak. But, upon actually playing with it and working on it further, I began to like this a lot. If you really look at it, the method is quite clever and quite practical. This makes for a nice, quick, humourous bit that's good for table-hopping. Many of you may not like it at first, but give it a chance. I'm sure it will grow on you. 7/10

Transfixed: A fresh handling of the Torn and Restored Card plot. In this, a freely selected card has it's corner openly torn off, then restored moments later. Clever method, very practical, very easy to do, this is the perfect Torn and Restored. It's very visual, very magical, and I'm very fond of the method. This has joined the ranks of my favourite Torn and Restored Card effects. 8/10

Another Dimension: A printed photo of a coin on a small square of paper becomes a real coin in magical manner. The method is... very standard. That's not necessarily a bad thing to. It's creative, a nice original little idea... and the simplicity of the handling may make this just the ticket for you. The demo video for Kaleidoscope is very deceiving... in the demo it looks as though the paper is folded, then unfolded, showing the coin has gone from being a photograph to being real. That is not the case, at all. Still, I'm sure someone out there will make great use of this... but that someone won't be me. 6/10

Supercool: This effect has caused a bit of controversy due to its striking similiarity to a Michael Ammar effect. When looked at with a general viewpoint, they are the same, yes. But, when you see the full effect play out, and see how it is all routined, they are two quite different piece. In case you don't know by now, a selected card vanishes from the deck and reappears in the card case... FROZEN in a block of ice! Is this practical? Ohhh no. I can't see ANYBODY using this for table hopping. However, I see HUGE potential for formal shows. This could make a great closer. Jay's routine is well constructed and provides a lot of subtleties and additions that make the effect all the more convincing. He covers everything in the method explanation and you may definitely want to give this a go. If you don't mind putting in a little effort to achieve a super-strong effect, this will be just what you're looking for. 7/10



On the DVD there are also numerous bonus features, including some nice bonus effects, short magical discussions, and even a few humourous video. These being special features, I will not review them here and leave them as a surprise for you when you purchase the DVD.

With clear teaching, a great collection of (mostly) innovative material, and a DVD packed with great stuff, this is an enjoyable watch and, if you're a Sankey fan like me, a must-have. This is the best thing Jay has put out in a while and it's well worth your consideration. For my final overall rating. I give Kaleidoscope by Jay Sankey a good 8/10. Great stuff.

This DVD can be purchased direct from Jay himself at www.sankeymagic.com

Michael Kras

 

[Dima]

Great review! Jay gave away Marrow AND Piggy Bag on the site. Two of the best effects by the look of it.

 

[Jv]

Great review! I was hoping to purchase this, and you seemed to help me with that choice...thanks.

 

[SamRochon]

Good review, I was hoping to learn more about the effects on the DVD, so thanks!

 

[stoneface]

How about search and destry, icebreaker and walking wounded? Or are those bonus'?

 

[cm763]

How about search and destry, icebreaker and walking wounded? Or are those bonus'?

On Jay's site, he has them listed as part of the bonus section.

 

[Michael Kras]

Walking Wounded is NOT a bonus feature... it is the second effect I review.

 

[Cliff|Bumgardner]

Michael, to answer your question, "The Ice Man Cometh" (what Jay calls "Supercool") was used by Michael Ammar in his walk around restaurant work. In THE MAGIC OF MICHAEL AMMAR he discusses a method of doing so. It seems Jay just copied the effect and didn't even include some great (and much-needed) information about it.

I'm sorry, I don't care if the routining is different (I understand that routining can make it a different "effect"), Jay blatantly copied Ammar's effect. You just can't tell me that a corner-torn card-to-ice (that is inside a card box, etc.) is not a rip-off of Ammar's work. Perhaps Jay is playing with some Ed Marlo ethics here?


Though this seems like an interesting DVD with some good and varied effects, I am concerned that Jay is saturating the market. I like Sankey's work, and the guy makes me laugh like a baby, but he is constantly releasing new material. I don't think that he can keep up the quality and quantity without sacrificing one for the other.

Just my thoughts, good review nonetheless, Michael.


C