Honesty Hurts - Stone Cold Magic Magazine

Better Late Than Never

So this month, the first obvious bit of news is that this is the first time in recorded history that an issue of Stone Cold Magic Magazine didn’t get out the door by the end of the month . . . sorry folks . . . it’s been crazy around here. Between keeping up with orders of my Frixion DVD and keepin’ up with my web projects, I’ve been slammed, not to mention my ecclesiastical responsibilities, and – oh yeah – I have a family . . . Oh wait, and my wife and I just celebrated our 16 anniversary last Friday. But wait . . . there’s more . . . but I won’t bore you with it. We’re finally here, so let’s celebrate!

New Website I built

Speakin’ of crazy busy side web projects, I just finished building a site for my good friend and everybody’s favorite Canadian, Jay Sankey. Check out his site, if for no other reason, to see all the crazy pictures of Jay “The Early Years” that we posted there. Check it out here: Jay Sankey. And if you don’t wanna see pictures of Jay, then just check out the site to glory at my mad programming skills. 🙂

Getting Reamed by The Faint of Heart

Seriously, if you can’t stand the heat, get the heck out of the kitchen! I pride myself on writing bold, honest reviews. I try really hard not to be biased about a products of friends. That said, I need to bring up two reviews I’ve written in the past. Both are about a similar product. One got a good review, and the other got a medium review. Since writing the not-as-positive review, I’ve received tons of emails from people who think I was playing favorites . . . so let me set the record straight right now.

The two products:

Wrap it Up By Jay Sankey

Gum by Jeff Prace

Click on the appropriate link above to read each review. I wrote Sankey’s back when I used 10 points rather than 5 stars as the range, so divide all of my numbers in half to get an accurate rating of how I feel about Jay’s DVD. Here’s the bottom line . . . They both (Gum and Wrap it Up) do tricks with gum. In both cases there are multiple handlings where the gum seems to come from your mouth. Then it is magically restored to a wrapped and unchewed piece of gum. In Sankey’s routines, I gave him high ratings on most versions. A couple versions got a medium score, one of which was for the gross factor. It looked gross.

On the Prace video, his effects (3 of the 4) appeared to use gum from his mouth, but he took it a step further. He took the apparent gum and stretched it between his fingers and then wadded it up into a ball . . . sure the illusion is perfect, but it’s gross. Whereas Sankey’s version was a simple grab (apparently) the gum from your mouth and simply place it on the wrapper. In fact, you can take the wrapper to your mouth and apparently put the gum on the wrapper directly from your mouth without ever touching it.

In both Jeff and Jay versions, there is no actual gum coming from your mouth. However, Prace’s just looks gross. Sankey’s does not. This is the one point I can’t stress enough. It is the biggest criticism I’ve received on this review . . .

“Well you liked Sankey’s, but you don’t like Prace’s . . . I think you’re letting your friendship with Jay cloud your judgement.”

That’s simply not true. If you read the review of Prace’s DVD, you’ll see that I gave him more positive comments than negative ones. You’ll also see that my biggest complaint was that the trick looked gross, but if you can get past the gross factor then buy it. I also mention that the bonus card trick, and the privilege of “meeting” Jeff Prace almost make it worth the cost of buying the DVD.

Overall I felt I gave both products a fair shake. One reason that Jay’s came out ahead of Prace’s is the fact that they’re both $25.00, however, with Prace’s you get 5 effects (2 of which are alternates of each other) and nothing else. With Jay’s you get 12 different handling ideas, plus all the props you need to perform the effect for the same price. Add to that the fact that his doesn’t look disgusting like Prace’s, and you get a better product, in my opinion.

By the way, that’s all this is folks . . . my opinion. If you don’t agree, I’m totally cool, but don’t start accusing me of something I’m not doing . . . playing favorites. If you read the review of Prace’s product, it’s hard to say that I didn’t give it a fair an honest review.

Transparency

On the subject of reviews and honesty, I should mention one other thing. Occasionally, I’ll carry products other than Stone Cold Magic productions. Know this, I do not and will not carry products unless they are, in my opinion, Gems. What that means is that I won’t carry a product I haven’t personally reviewed. By the way, just because I reviewed it doesn’t mean I’ll sell it. I only will sell it if I think it’s a Gem. I try to be pretty open about this stuff . . . hopefully my loyal fans here have seen that to be true. If you see room for improvement, please shoot me an email with suggestions. Until then, enjoy the July 2010 issue of Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

Please take a moment to reply to this article.

Grandpa Chet says:

August 2010 at 1:58 pm

Have to agree with you, Jeff – and not just because we’re friends. I read the “Wrap It Up” and “Gum” reviews to be just about equal, and noted the newer rating system, translated, would give them the same rating. The Gross Factor is important – but, I think, is a plus for younger people and Jay; whereas us married and stable people who are not Jay want to act a bit less like our kids (or grandkids, in my case). My grandkids – all of ’em, from 1 to 13 years of age – would LOVE the Gross Factor in any magic.

Jeff Stone says:

August 2010 at 4:58 pm

@Chet – Re: Gross Factor . . . I’m with you. Many people I know had no problem with that. If the gross thing doesn’t bother you, then Gum might be your thang.

Joseph says:

August 2010 at 10:05 pm

Thanks for the transparency and for clearing up the main differences between Sankey and Prace. I didn’t feel you were playing favorites, but I could understand people thinking you were. If your friendship with Jay is anything like I have with my friends, you could probably tell him his breath stinks and so does his DVD, if you really felt that way!
Any-hoo, wondering if you’d be so kind and give us your take on a DVD by the New York Magic Project: 4 Quarters, featuring Magick Balay? Thanks for all you do!

Jeff Stone says:

August 2010 at 5:24 am

@Joseph – You’re right . . . in fact, you’d be surprised how many effect Sankey hasn’t published because they didn’t pass the “Jeff Filter.” I’ve been very frank with Jay since we’ve met, and it’s paid off in spades. We both have a high level of respect for each other for that reason. As for the other product, I’ll see what I can do . . . Do you have a website for the people who produced it?