Jay Sankey is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

close-up magic Close-up magic (also known as table magic or micromagic) is magic performed in an intimate setting usually no more than 3 meters (10 feet) from one's audience and is usually performed while sitting at a table. Sleight-of-hand, also known as pr ...

ian and a prolific creator of magic effects. He has been an active stage performer since the mid-1980s.

Work

He is known as a

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

and authored a book about the art of stand-up, ''Zen and the Art of Stand-Up Comedy'' in 1999. However, he is best known for the many magical effects which he has published to help magicians develop their craft. His most well known works include his "Revolutionary Coin Magic" and "Revolutionary Card Magic" DVDs. In 2009, Sankey announced that Andi Gladwin and Joshua Jay were in the process of writing his complete works in a trilogy of books. In 2012 The Definitive Sankey volumes 1–3 were released in both a regular edition three book and a single DVD format and a deluxe version which has an extra DVD and is signed by Jay. Sankey's website reflects his extraordinarily large contribution of magical effects to the magic industry with this statement: "Jay also holds the world's record for creating more original illusions than any other living magician."

Effects performed by other magicians

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...

performed Sankey's card in balloon effect. Sankey developed effects for

Criss Angel Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, Magic (illusion), illusionist and musician. He is often referred to as one of the world's most successful illusionists, g ...

for less than a year before leaving the program. Sankey now produces humorous videos of himself in the persona of "Craigg Angelo."

Appearances

Sankey is featured in '' Spellz'', a

TVO Kids TVOKids (stylized as tvokids) is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by TVO (formerly TVOntario) in Canada. It was launched on April 1, 1994, and runs from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily. The brand also operates two 24-hour onl ...

program that he co-hosts with

Bridget Hall Bridget Hall (born December 12, 1977) is an American model. Early life Hall was born in Springdale, Arkansas. At the age of 10, she was modeling in Dallas, Texas. At this time she was living in the suburb of Farmers Branch, where she briefly ...

, co-produced by David Peck. He also performed in the second season of Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Episode 6, "Now THAT'S Bunny!", 10 August 2015).

Awards

In 2007 Jay won 3rd place in Edd Withers' The Magic Woods Awards for Best Book: for the book ''Beyond Secrets''. He has authored numerous books on comedy and magic, and has produced and appeared in numerous instructional videos intended for magicians and other stage performers.

Private life

Jay lives in Toronto with his girlfriend Sonia. He has two children.

References

Citations Sources * Sankey, Jay. "Zen and the Art of the Monologue" (1999)

External links

Jay Sankey's magic website

Jay Sankey biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sankey, Jay Canadian stand-up comedians Canadian magicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian male comedians