The Definitive Sankey Review

The Definitive Sankey is back in print, and we now have the opportunity to own over 1,500 pages, 2,000 photos, and 500 of Jay Sankey's finest magical effects.
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⏲️ Timestamps
0:00 - The Definitive Sankey is back in print
0:55 - A brief history of Jay Sankey
1:41 - What's in The Definitive Sankey?
2:11 - Sankey's essays
2:42 - Interviews, Q&As, Cartoons, & more
3:22 - A complete bibliography of Jay Sankey
4:04 - Don's Magic & Books
4:57 - Quantity of tricks - what are you getting?
5:51 - How difficult is the magic?
6:59 - Tools built in to help you read the book
8:04 - Were there any changes in the new printing?
8:53 - My recommendation for buying
9:51 - These are fun to read books

[@EruditeMagic]

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[@mathmusicstructure]

I've been waiting for these to be reprinted for years. It's amazing that it's a "best of" as well. Looking forward to these actually being on sale haha.

[@mathmusicstructure]

@@thelastshadowpigz thanks for the heads up man I appreciate it!

[@endgame64]

Also, Thank you for the honest and transparent review of this set of magic books, Jeff. I know this is part of your essential magic book recommendations, but this has been the most extensive video discussion on the set.

[@EruditeMagic]

You bet! Thanks for watching and taking time to comment 👍

[@Davlavi]

Sankey is great thanks for this review.

[@EruditeMagic]

Yup, it's quite a set!!

[@jackhigginbotham1654]

Part of me was hoping this review would line up with them going on sale on the website but alas, the waiting continues 😂 very excited to get my hands on these! Great work as always sir!

[@EruditeMagic]

Thanks, Jack. I've got my fingers crossed that the timing won't be too far off 😉🤞

[@rosscoman]

Having lived with these books since their initial publication, I've grown to really appreciate the "connections" and Top Ten features that you mentioned. Andi and Josh deserve a pat on the back for those, which I'd never seen in a book before (or, sadly, since).

[@EruditeMagic]

Glad to hear from someone who has spent time with the books. 📚 I agree with you, Rosco - I think it's a great feature. 👍 Thanks for chiming in! 💬

[@endgame64]

Glad to see everyone finally gets the chance to add this must-have set to their libraries. I only wished that a fourth volume could have been published to include all the new materials and the other tricks that were originally omitted 10 years ago.

[@EruditeMagic]

That would be kinda cool, wouldn't it??

[@endgame64]

Sankey continues to produce content and props to this date. I still receive his weekly newsletter for his latest offerings all the way from Canada.

[@ritchyflomagic]

Ive wanted these for soooo long!!! Im so excited!!

[@EruditeMagic]

So happy for you!

[@jimkl0]

Glad I bought these when they were not so expensive. Very nice review.

[@EruditeMagic]

Thanks, Jim!

[@davidlamarca899]

Jay Sankey is a true brilliant fertile mind in magic..his creations are crazy and entertaining as well...Those books are gold ...a must in every library collection👌👌

[@EruditeMagic]

Glad you feel that way, David!

[@az7500]

So glad these Books are reprinted. I met Sankey in 2004 during a lecture in Chicago. What a nice guy, in addition to being a creative tour de force. Jeff, I really look forward to your reviews each week. Can you feature (on occasion) top 1-3 tricks from each book that you liked personally?

[@EruditeMagic]

Not sure if I can or not, but I may add it as a discussion on the Discord server 👍

[@az7500]

@@EruditeMagic the time and care you put in the videos is impressive. I am grateful for your contribution

[@EruditeMagic]

Thank you, friend! 🙏

[@georgeyounts9391]

"Not everything is a treasue." that's my favorite line of this post :)

[@EruditeMagic]

Haha. Well, that's pretty much true across the board. The difficulty is always "one man's trash is another man's treasure" 😄

[@sc24evr]

I trust your reviews heavily. Love them!

[@EruditeMagic]

Many thanks!! 🙏

[@sergiflores659]

Release date?

[@EruditeMagic]

Hopefully this week 🤞

[@kalvheps5973]

Obviously the guy is a legend.A bit concerned how many decent tricks you get for your money as it’s quite an investment.But it’s great that Sankey fans and others that dipped out the first time around have the opportunity again to buy these magic books.

[@EruditeMagic]

Trust me - there is plenty to explore, enjoy, and perform.

[@MichaelKrasMagic]

You will have no shortage of excellent material. For every weaker effect in the Sankey canon there are like 5 good-to-outstanding ones.

[@jethro1963]

If anybody has seen Sankey's revisioning of Sponge Ball work called Earplugs, (using sponges that look like giant ear plugs) they may have had a small issue with the reality of the prop as I did. His idea was to reshape and recolour regular sponges to get away from their disadvantages, rolling off tables, lesser visibility, which was a good idea. I had thought about it and came to the conclusion that using sponges that looked like marshmallows might be less of a jump in reality especially if doing restaurant work. Patting myself on the back, I slowly came to the thought that maybe I should look to see if the idea was already out there and of course it was. I found a routine by Timothy Pressley using sponge "marshmallows"

[@EruditeMagic]

As the saying goes, "there's nothing new under the sun" 🌞

[@jethro1963]

@@EruditeMagic Or, it's all in Tarbell :)

[@EruditeMagic]

@jethro1963 😄💯👍

[@mathieuberquet3988]

Thanks for praising learning via books and for presenting great works. By the way, what’s your job with vanishing Inc ?

[@EruditeMagic]

You're welcome, Mathieu. I'm the CFO - finance guy

[@user-gi6rf6yj8r]

Thanks Jeff. Great review. Do we get a free set if we spot the typo on the back cover?😉

[@EruditeMagic]

I'll give you one guess... 🤣

[@jonahberg9280]

How much of this material have you used

[@EruditeMagic]

Quite a few pieces over the years. I hope you find some stuff you like!

[@jonahberg9280]

what are your top 5 magic books vanishing inc has produced ?

[@jwd3003]

I just went on to Vanishing Inc to buy the 3 volumes and it says they are out of stock. So they aren't or what is the story?

[@EruditeMagic]

They should be available for sale on the website soon. They're back in print as evidenced by the sales at the conventions in January.

[@jwd3003]

Thank you for your quick reply, I'll buy them as soon as they're advertised. All the best.@@EruditeMagic

[@MagicMax96]

Are they already out of stock I don’t see them on the site ?

[@EruditeMagic]

No. Hopefully this week!!

[@MagicMax96]

@@EruditeMagic perfect

[@jonahberg9280]

if i was to get one of these volumes which is the best

[@EruditeMagic]

Hard to say - depends on what you like. Check out the table of contents online and decide based on the topics. That's my advice

[@HanselSP]

Look for a trick with an Egg and a Ball…been my opening for some time ! (And is stage)

[@jonahberg9280]

they say he is the king of the shuttle pass

[@EruditeMagic]

Do they? I hadn't heard that

[@CraigDR]

This is a tough one. I've always been curious about these books. As they've been out of print for a while, I'd tell myself that I'd probably take the plunge when they inevitably came back into print. In the meantime I'd read his newsletters, watch his free content on KZbin (some decent, some a little cringey😅), and wait. Now that we're on the verge of being able to buy the tomes once again, I guess I'm not so sure. A lot of people may disagree but I am not interested in padding like essays, cartoons, and his complete bibliography. That is utterly useless to me and bloats what looks to be an already well-padded set. As I see the pages being flipped through in your review, I see big margins, lots of white space, and what might be a few too many pictures. Just my personal preference. As you said, this is a "greatest hits", with a lot of Jay's lesser material mercifully left out. I'd be a lot more eager buyer if we could get an even more stripped down version of the books -- maybe a single volume -- with the real substance, no cartoons or other filler, and his best material, of which I know he has quite an array. I would have also preferred that the material be grouped by subject -- mentalism, stage, coins, cards, etc. -- especially since it is multiple books. Not all subjects interest everyone. By making each volume a varied mix, it makes it more "necessary" for buyers to have to purchase multiple volumes, even if they are only interested in having a compete collection of Jay's coin or card magic.

[@EruditeMagic]

I hear you. However, I it was always intended to be a three volume set, so there was no intent to distribute the material in a way that made it difficult to obtain. That's funny that you see big margins and white space as I flip through. 😄 I see a very normal layout for a magic book, with a ton of stuff in it 🤷

[@MichaelKrasMagic]

The book is grouped by subject!

[@CraigDR]

@MichaelKrasMagic Meaning, each book in the trilogy is a mix of magic. If you were into just cards, for example, and wanted all of Sankey's best card material, it's spread across all the books, not in one volume.

[@CraigDR]

@EruditeMagic Perhaps you mentioned it in the video, Jeff, but I don't remember hearing it mentioned: the book sampler (available on Penguin and Vanishing) is very helpful when evaluating the books.

[@EruditeMagic]

Great point, Craig!

[@jameskelsey9825]

Are you allowed to tell us the release date?

[@EruditeMagic]

I'm *hoping* before the end of the month 🤞

[@jonahberg9280]

how much mentalism are in these books?

[@EruditeMagic]

A fair bit, but it's more 'mental magic' than mentalism. Definitely not the focus...

[@ScottRSmith1964]

I’ve waited years for these books. You saw that I was the first person to get to the Vanishing Inc booth at Magifest. I wasn’t taking any chances. I bought these books along with Allan’s books. These are my new favorite books. Allan’s book is my favorite! Allan Ackerman is not only a great card man, but he tells you the history of his magic. A beautiful part of magic that is disappearing. No pun intended. lol. If you don’t own these books you are missing out on the beauty of magic.

[@EruditeMagic]

Glad you love them, Scott - I knew you would! 😃👍

[@stephanel6637]

Wow, it'll sell like cakes!

[@EruditeMagic]

Excited for people to get it and dig in!

[@MagicMax96]

@@EruditeMagicI hope I didn’t miss the re release been waiting for this books for years

[@EruditeMagic]

You have not. Fingers crossed for this week 🤞

[@jan3003]

Perfect marketing. Its sad that at the end everything its just about sales, revenue and money money. A clear pass for me after the price increase.

[@EruditeMagic]

I'm currently sipping a Starbucks coffee. This cup of joe definitely costs more than it did 12 years ago, but I still want the content of the cup and feel it's worthwhile. Sorry you don't. 🤷

[@ScottRSmith1964]

Jan, are you kidding me? The information in these books are invaluable. Before I found out that they were reprinting these books, I almost paid $600 on the used market. Thankfully, Jeff saved me $400 by interviewing Andi on this channel a few years ago. He said it wasn’t if, but when he reprinted them. I waited and it paid off. Jeff keeps us book guys on the straight and narrow if you take his advice. If you miss out when they sell out the used market will start selling at stupid prices again.

[@RobertBallMagician]

Jay offers a lot for the buck. 😊😊

[@SpencerWayne]

What planet have you been on where companies keep pricing from 10-20 years ago?