Could I go wrong with either Daryl's Card Revelations or Best of Sankey series for possible x-mas gifts? I have been into magic for about a year and I would consider myself intermediate.

I have Daryl's Card Revelations 1-5 DVD's. I like them quite a lot. Just remember that they do not include the sleights, controls or moves necessary to perform all of the revelations, you must either know them or learn them elsewhere.
Bob

Both are good, but the sankey stuff has actual routines that are generally very good to excellent in quality.

I think Sankey is the way to go depending on which Sankey tapes you are looking at... I personally recommend Sankeytized I and II. Awsome stuff and hilarious to watch as well... He has several marketed effects on this video which he teaches you how to do. Hope this helps.

I just got turned on to Sankey a few weeks ago and I love his stuff! He's got a dark sense of humor but his magic is truly top-notch!

The sankey tapes are good for intermediate skill level since there is a great variety in material (both difficult and easy stuff) AND Sankey really makes you want to perform magic. He's contagious!

I have the Card Revelation series, and honestly I think you should ask for the Sankey series. The Revelation series is nice, but it is literally just hundreds of ways to display a chosen card. Each and every trick is of the "pick a card" variety, and each and every thing he shows you are just multiple ways to display that chosen card. In fact, many of the methods are just variations of previously shown methods. So all in all, your money is better spent on Sankey's series. Just my opinion of course.

I tend to agree with Negrette...I watched Card Revelation 2 last night and after a hour it got a little boring. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love Daryl's stuff, but one or two of these videos would be more than you would ever use!

Why limit it to Sankey or Daryl? So much good stuff is out there I'm sure you would be interested in other stuff!

Books, books, books, books, books, books, books, books, books, books, books, books!!!

There is more USEFUL stuff on the daryl Revelations DVDs, but I agree with Ruben (again, and as usual) BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS, AND MORE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!

I m a Die hard Jay sankey fan and have been for years now...I would be byass to say get the Jay Sankey, but get the jay sankey and well Ruben says books books and more books, but If I m correct I think Jay Sankey has some books!
Hope this helps at least a tiny bit
Mina
:dance:

Get the Sankey series. His coin work is superb and he's an excellent teacher. Learning a hundred ways of revealing a card will essentially teach you one trick. To the spectator they're all the same no matter how cleverly and skillfully you reveal that card. I would also recommend all of the Aldo Colobini videos. Great teaching, great effects, and a true pro.

I know there are many good magic books on the market today and most magicians I know favor this medium to learn the craft. There are, however, people like myself that do not learn very well from books. I am a very visual, hands-on type of person so videos are ideal for me!

I often read posts which debate books versus videos. Videos, while typically much more expensive than books, are worth every Penny to me - it's how I learn!

get the sankey stuff, they are all great! Especially his new dvd's secret files.

Definetly go with Sankey's stuff. I was VERY disappointed in Daryl's revelation series.

Daryl's items seemed repetative...did I mention repetative...well it was repetative. Seriously, Daryl explains very clearly and I learned a lot from them, but Sankey is just plain entertaining! Have to go with Sankey.

I have both and I'm going with Sankey on that one!

Not very helpful...why not tell us WHY you were VERY disappointed...Such a post doesn't provide the member seeking information with anything other than a subjective viewpoint without any substantiation or justification.

As for myself, I also prefer jay Sankey's tapes as they contain more workable real-world routines (but not all of them may be suited to your style and/or performing venue). The material is also more varied whereas Daryl's set is simply card revelation after card revelation after card...you get the point?!

I agree with magicbern. Daryls get a little boring. It is just simply revelation after revelation. Sankey's has a wide variety of effects. With that being said I think Daryl is great and some of the revelations are great but you do not need all of these volumes. I would definetly go with Sankey's dvds on this one.