A total utter waste of money. Loops Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 by Yigal Mesika & Finn Jon is torturous to watch and way too expensive for the level of instruction you get. If you want to know the history of Loops, by all means, pony up the bucks and buy this. If you’re having trouble sleeping at night, play this and you’ll be nodding off in no time. The video above should give you enough idea of what effects you will be taught and none of them are difficult to figure out for anyone who is familiar with Loops…or IT for that matter.

A much better video for your Loop-minded money is The Million Dollar Knot from Penguin Magic. If you’ve played with Loops for longer than a few minutes, you know they break and you only get 5 on the card when you buy them. So you’d be better off buying an inexpensive, “Instant Download” video that teaches a few effects and, more importantly, shows you how you can make your own Loops very easily with two items that should already be in your magician’s case. The Million Dollar Knot also comes with a spool of PET2.0 that, in my experience, is better than Mesika Elastics for stretch, strength and most importantly, invisibility.

Forget Yigal Mesika and Finn Jon (and Luna Shimada¹ for that matter) and steer clear of Loops Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

1. who talks like she’s wearing vampire teeth, but isn’t…odd [↩]

I’m back.

It’s been over a year since my last post here, but something has inspired me to come back. That something is Paul Harris’ True Astonishments DVD Boxed Set.

We all know magic can be expensive and that, quite often, you get little for cash you put down. This is not the case here. You get 9 DVDs packed with great effects to amaze and enchant audiences and a bag of goodies to help you do it. It all comes in a beautiful case that you can display proudly.

This DVD set made me want to perform magic again—that’s how good it is.

Buy it. I know it’s expensive, but what else do you think you’re going to spend your money on at the magic store? Another magnetic gimmick that is so pathetic you’ll never have the guts to perform it in front of a real audience? Don’t waste your time. Promise yourself that you won’t buy another magic gimmick for the next 8 months to a year, buy Paul Harris’ True Astonishments, lock yourself in a room with a DVD player and a screen and study…practice…master this stuff—it’s worth it.

Honestly.

So much of the magic on YouTube does damage to the performing art of magic; finally there is real magic on YouTube. Jay Sankey has began adding comedy videos to his blog a couple of days ago and yesterday he began posting those same videos (and a few product deoms) to YouTube.

Of the three comedy videos he has produced so far, the one above is my favorite (The Amazing Larry #1 is a hoot too).

Enjoy.

Jay Sankey is an amazing performer. Few magicians today affect their audience as positively and profoundly as Jay. In this DVD, Jay takes a look at The Invisible Deck and applies his years of performing experience to one of the few trick decks real magicians actually use.

I should first like to corroborate Jay’s sell-job of the Invisible Deck seen above¹ and add that for the $10 price tag, you’d be hard pressed to find a more powerful and magical effect than this deck. If you don’t own an Invisible Deck, you really should. If you’re starting in magic, this deck should be one of your first purchases.

Now— the DVD—Jay demonstrates the “classic” handling of the Invisible Deck (and even then he can’t help but add his own spin) as well as a few handlings that are available in a rather inexpensive book called “Invisible Secrets Revealed.” On top of all that, he adds many of his own ideas and, in so doing, adds that trademark Jay Sankey blend of simple brilliance and insanity to the mix. These routines and ideas are well worth the $20 to $30 price tag. If you’ve grown bored with the old ID routines, this DVD might bring some new life to your performances or even give you ideas from which you can springboard and create your own innovative handlings.

So, get the Invisible Deck and learn how it works. Perform (as opposed to “demonstrate”) it for your audiences. Once you’re ready for the next level, give Jay Sanky’s DVD a look.

I’ll leave you with what is probably the most familiar performance of the Invisible Deck that has been made in the last decade——David Blaine and his mind boggled friend.

1. sadly this video has been removed and Jay’s own YouTube channel holds nothing useful to put in its place [↩]