In about 2007, Jay Sankey released his project called Invisible. For $25 bucks you get an invisible deck, tons of ideas, effects, methods, presentations, convincers, and more . . . over 2 hours of stuff. about 5 years later Daryl came out with Essentials In Magic: Invisible Deck. For $10 bucks you get a bunch of ideas, tips, etc., no deck and about an hour of stuff. Much of what was found in Daryl's DVD was also found in Jay's DVD. Although Daryl's is definitely worth your attention and purchase, I think that Jay's is more comprehensive.

It would seem that the pattern is slightly repeating itself as evidenced by the fact that the Paul Harris Hand Picked version of the Invisible Deck video has Jay's Handwriting all of it as well. It would seem that Jay has created the standard from which others may be judged.

Considering that 3 out of the 6 effects taught were Jay's and a fourth one - Beyond Invisible - is similar to another concept of Jay's . . . and considering that most of the "general stuff" taught on this video is also covered on Jay's DVD, the question is should you buy this one? It's $20.00 for less than an hour of stuff. So should you buy this one?

After all that, you may be surprised that my answer is yes. Here's why. First, the three Sankey effects are one's you should have and/or know about. If you've already got them, then consider this: the one that's similar to Jay's is still very much different enough and is a different effect completely. They share a small common foundation. Further, the other two effects, Invisible Deep 3 and Pit Boss are very good effects as well. Both of them are variations of marketed effects.

Many of you may recall my review of Pit Boss Junior was less than flattering. However, in this video, the routine, the handling, everything was so much cleaner and clearer than Pit Boss Junior. Also, this one uses a normal sized Invisible Deck rather than the awkward to manipulate mini deck.

Let me give you one minor complaint about this video, then I'll smack you in the face with all the good stuff. The section on "different ways to pair up the cards" was pretty weak and should have been cut. Joshua Jay basically spends about 2 minutes saying that you could arrange the cards so that reds are one side and blacks on the other . . . or you could do highs and lows. Really? Reds and blacks? Don't you think the audience would notice the strange lack of black (or red) cards when you spread through to show all of the face up cards? As for high/low . . . ok . . . how, exactly would you do that. He never really said.

It would be one thing if it was a casual mention during other segments, but this was a specific segment that had a title and a separate section on the video. Should have been cut. It was pretty much useless information. However, the good news is that this is truly the only fault worth mentioning . . . There are so many good points.

Remember, this series is meant to be selections from working repertoires of working pros and that's exactly what you get: 6 different effects from different working pros. Further, you get an excellent teacher, Joshua Jay, who covers everything from how the deck functions, how to remember the needed info, how to manage the audience, how to easily reset and so much more.

I really appreciated his tips and hints about what makes a good presentation and a bad one. If I ever get a chance to meet him, I'll give him a big ol' hug just for finally saying what needed to be said: don't embarrass your audience member with that hackneyed so called joke where you mock them for forgetting to remove the "invisible" cards from the "invisible" box before shuffling. Thank you! Additionally, there's one simple clever little subtlety that is so sneaky and so beautiful. It's something that anyone using an Invisible Deck should know.

I think another huge plus was watching Joshua Jay perform. He has a real knack for doing low key, non elaborate presentations that are the perfect balance between the those who under present and those who over present. He's not turning every effect into some long drawn out story, nor is he merely pointing out what he's doing (e.g., I'll take this and put it here, then I'll do this, etc.).

There are many folks out there who could take a page from his book of presentational prowess. This one, more than others in the series, really is good for beginners and pros alike. It's an excellent intro to the deck, its workings and more importantly its potential. On top of the 6 effects, you also get the original Eddie Fields version as well.

The bottom line is that there are plenty of good ideas and subtleties on this video that it's very much worthy of your attention. You are being handed on a silver platter the actual routines from actual pros. That's kind of a hard deal to pass up.

Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of GEM.