I was very excited to receive this DVD, but after watching it, I must say now, I am very disappointed. Almost all the methods are very old, and have been improved over the years by other magician. I could not find any text on screen at all, so it was not possible to know what was said on the one part there was speaking in Korean.

If you want know how things are done, and that is all, buy the DVD. If want to be able to perform the effects yourself, forget it. Gimmicks are shown and how they are used, but nothing is explained how to make any of the gimmick except a flap card which is a take on the old "Acrobatic Card" from the 1970's.

Terribly over priced, for not getting any good information. Save your money for something you can actually do after the instructions.

I hesitated in buying this "System" because of the cost. I should have waited or passed on it altogether. For $60 there isn't much there. If you are new to m agic and what you see in the trailer intrigues you, I would still be hesitant in making the purchase. There is no system presented on the DVD. There are no spoken words, at least not in English, to explain what to do. The video is clear in what is need to be done in order to accomplish the effect but again, very little of it is innovative or new. I guess I saw the price and thought there would be more included, routine ideas, etc. But you only get brief video demonstrations of what to do to create the effect. For some it may be enough, for me, I'm afraid not. I don't do reviews and this has got to be the worst spending of $60.

Worth the money? For sure.
There are some wonderful things on here and if the topic interests you, you'll find a lot of useful material.

However, the DVD is built up of very short sections. Quick performance. Quick explanation. And no "play all" option that I'm aware of. It's been taking me more time to navigate between each section than to actually watch each section.
Very frustrating.

It's another one of those "silent" lessons, which is upsetting. Watching Ponta teach silently is one thing -- you see the action, you mimic the action. Not perfect, but acceptable. Here though, there are devices in play, and the explanation of the devices is pretty much done by pointing at them.

This isn't so much an artist system as it is a peek at various systems used by... artists. Here's one application for a magnet. Here's one application for a topit (and I still have NO clue what his topit looks like or how it's setup in his jacket)

There is no "discussion" of how to routine this various principles together, how to retrieve a load, etc. (There's a brilliant piece with a silk and elastic... where does he retrieve it from? Does he walk on with it?)

Part of this review comes from responding to other reviews about this product. Some called this a total waste of money and the worst spending of $60.

For those that just want my opinion, BUY THIS DVD if you plan on working on a manipulation act that looks like real magic. Period.

For those that would like a more detailed reason as to why I give this such high praise, please read on.

This DVD is probably one of the most important ones to come out in a long time. Why? Because it makes you work. It makes you think. It makes you come up with your own material. Routines are not just handed to you, although there are some smaller routines that could be part of a larger routine. So if you are looking for pre-made, no-practice needed magic, keep looking.

The DVD is broken up into sections. It does not play from start to beginning. That was never the purpose. The purpose was to teach methods that you could employ for your own routines. This way you could look at what you want to work on and go from there.

Gimmicks are shown when applicable, but they do not show how they are made. I don't think is a bad thing. When you buy a DVD on foo can routines there's not a section on building a foo can. First, there are proprietary issues at hand; secondly, you might have a better way of doing it. Of course this would force most to find the information and make big boy decisions about how you want to use this information. So put the work in or walk away and let the real artist's step up.

One negative comment made was that the methods shown were old and that there are modern improvements. That's like saying learning the backpalm is old so don't use it. It's one thing to know about it and quite another to do it well. The masters understood that practicing the best methods well is worth more than knowing 100 methods that you muck through.

Some other comments suggested that the DVD gave no routine ideas and that there was no discussion sections. Again, put the work in for yourself. Lukas was trying to show you how to fish, not provide you with a fish dinner.

Many commented on the language issue. I have purchased many DVD's by non-english speaking magicians. All have attempted to communicate their methods... some successful, some not so successful. I believe this one communicated well in showing how the items were used. Granted it is always better to utilize words with action, but unless you speak another language this is about as good as it will get. Again, put the work in and you will see amazing results. Imaging learning from an ancient master who shows you instead of tells you. If you want to learn bad enough you will figure a way to do it.

And for those that have been Penguin Magic buyers for any length of time you can get these in the Choose 5 for $99 section. So that makes them $20 each. A steal at that price. And you'll get 3 more items to put on your shelf and never look at again.

Magic has taken a beating from the public because there are far too many "magicians" out there that want fast and easy. This usually makes the magic for most audiences convoluted and cheap. Comedy, although not bad, has been given a place of importance in front of wonder. This is a sad state of affairs for the Art in Magic.

I personally was moved when I watched the trailer. Maybe it was the music, maybe it was the videography. My guess is I saw some amazing moments that brought wonder back to my life. Isn't that we are supposed to do as magicians?

So get this DVD... put in the work... and bring wonder back into the world.

Here's an honest review.

This product has an extremely high price tag, regardless of where you buy it from.

The Dvd is roughly 1.5hrs long with production quality that rivals that of a homemade youtube tutorial produced by a 10year old with no idea what they are doing.

The Interface is a nightmare.

You only learn ideas from watching the instructions. You can not learn and then work on the material. You have to spend more money to either buy a couple of the items in the video from the Production company or make them yourself. (good luck)

The dvd has several parts that attempts to go into detail with a gimmick, but fails to teach anything that is remotely helpful. When there is dialogue, it is in a different language with no subtitles, so you are lost on what is talked about. It also looks like some of the material was thought post actual filming, and then just filmed on a cellphone with horrid lighting.

This product is not worth Your time or Money. If you wish to learn material like this, look else where and just play with what you have and what you know. That is the only way to create material like this, that you will actually do.

I was really hoping to like this DVD but I can't bring myself to even consider its existence a good idea.

If you want to learn the future you have to look to the past. (learn or study material from the what others have done in the past and then expand on it, change it, play with it. Then you will innovate, and create material you can be proud of.)

Thank you.

Good choose for starting your career on stage! I didn't have experience for the stage magic. This DVD help me to organize my thoughts for stage program!

This DVD is NOT for some quick ideas to throw together or for complete you routines that you'll be able to do. The material definitely requires your originality to mix into your current manipulation routines, but if there are ideas you like in the trailer, then that's what you get. There are a mix of a old ideas and ideas that at least I haven't seen before. No, there isn't any spoken instruction, yes there are a few gimmicks that you would need to make or purchase so again, this probably isn't something for the light hobbyist. I'm glad I picked this up though!

I knew that the techniques used on this DVD would be way out of my league, but I just bought this so I could kick-back and watch some beautiful magic (fortunately, I got this in the 5 for $99 deal). The presentations ARE magical and inspirational, but I would have to agree with other reviews that it should have had a continuous 'Play-All' button. It was frustrating to go back to the menu again after each segment (which all ran very quickly). This DVD is not for beginners, but does have beautiful and artistic presentations which gave me ideas on presenting my own magic. Most of the tricks featured, however, I will probably never use----almost all of them require additional equipment.

So many great ideas. You do need to get your hands dirty and make a few gimmicks but I really like the ideas. Something about crafting your own gimmicks that makes magic more especial. Two thumbs up.
( I almost wanted to give a bad review so nobody else buys it lol)
Luiz castro.

This DVD is great because it teach you about all the tools a magician needs in one place. every tools is explain by showing you how to use it with a sample routine. every thing is shown from the front then from an expose view like an over the shoulder shot which is great to understand everything.

I really like his explanation on how to use the topit with a closed jacket.

I didn't put five stars only because there is a couple of chapters (like the silk comparison) that is not in music like the others but where he talks in his native language and there is no subtitle. and also because you can't watch the DVD all at once. you have to watch every chapter individually because at the end of each chapter the DVD returns to the menu.