Michael Kras
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Marked Down by Jay SankeyMARKED DOWN BY JAY SANKEY
Effect: A Sharpie is removed for the spectator so she may sign the object used in play. After it has been signed, the magician takes back the Sharpie and visually jams it halfway into the cap! The squished down Sharpie can be immediately exmained by the spectators.
Review: Being a huge Sankey fan and seeing some old rare Sankey stuff at the magic shop yesterday, I picked a lot of it up. One item was Marked Down. I opened the package, and dumped out what appeared to be a good 2/3 of the marker appearnelty jammed into the cap with the remaining 1/3 still protruding. This was an odd and fascinating sight on it's own. Then I grabbed a normal Sharpie and started working along with the instructions.
You are given a full front to back page of well written instructions... nothing too in-depth as this is such a simple concept and 10 pages of broken down instructions are not necessary.
You are supplied with the gaff Sharpie in the package, which is well made and fully examinable. This gimmick, however, doesn't do any work in the effect, as the entire bit is accomplished purely by sleight of hand. The effect is very visual and surprising, just what you would expect from Sankey. Love him or hate him, you must agree he's got one of the most off-the-wall creative minds in modern magic. He can take the simplest methods and sleights and turn them into pure visual eye candy.
The sleights used in this are easy to perform and angles are very good. The Sharpie cannot be seen visually descending into the marker cap but really, I think a gradual performance of such an effect wouldn't look nearly as good. In Sankey's effect, it looks like you put the Sharpie back in the cap, suddenly shove your hands together, and push the length of the Sharpie into the cap. It looks very good and will undoubtedely surprise spectators who have absolutely no idea that anything like that will happen.
However, although this is a good little effect, there are some problems with it as well. One problem I will address first is the fact that after the Sharpie has been shoved into the cap and the Sharpie is dropped to the table, you are still dirty. However, spectators will undoubtedly grab for this unusual object you have dropped in front of them to examine it, and you have all the time in the world to ditch the dirty work. There is no worry about the spectators examining the Sharpie as the lid cannot be removed. This isn't a problem at all, because presumably, if 2/3 of a marker has just been shoved into a one-inch plastic cap, it would be extremely difficult or impossible to remove the lid again.
My second problem is an important one... drawing attention to this little bit. Recapping a marker isn't an action that spectators are at all interested in watching so I fear there will be little to no attention to this effect unless the magician directs them to watch the Sharpie. I'm sure a good patterline can obtain this attention but I think simply doing the effect after the Sharpie has been returned to you will go, for the most part, unnoticed... this is unfortunate as I feel it would be a stronger bit if the performance appeared to be casual and off the cuff. But like I said, good patter will give you all the attention you need.
Overall, I give Jay Sankey's Marked Down a 7/10 rating. This a very unexpected, visual, and bizarre effect that is a lot of fun to perform. It's practical, easy to do, and takes up very little pocket space. If you do walkaround or simply perform a lot of signed card or signed coin effects, this is something for you to consider. It's pretty hard to find but a bit of searching will find you what you need.
Michael Kras
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Ben Train
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I think it's a stinker.
Allow me to explain.
1) not as unique an item as you might think. Virtually every supply store (stapels, etc) carries right at the register, a mini sharpie that looks ALMOST identical.
2) Since most laypeople don't care as much about sharpies as we do, and don't handle them as frequently, the change won't register as well as something else might (Such as an outright vanish). So, why bother?
3) All the issues Mike has already pointed out.
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Michael Kras
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I remember pulling it out when we were jamming, everyone thought it was a brutal purchase 
Regardless, I'm starting to like it and think it has potential. But you're right about the mini sharpies too.
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