Agreed.

It's not for everyone and that is fine. If you just want a quick trick to perform at social gatherings, you may find it overpriced. If you already have an object-in-can trick you like and that's all you want, then you're already good to go. If you think you know how this works, then you are right and wrong. I assure you that you don't know all of the methods, but perhaps you don't need to.

This is for the student of magic who wants to take a deep dive into one plot and the thinking behind it. I know more than a few people who spent $300 on Tim Conover's recent set just for the volume on the Cylinder and Coins.

There are effects where you get multiple methods, but really one is the best and the others are inferior methods that you'll never use. This is not one of them. There are methods that are super-visual. There are methods that are impromptu. There are methods that are quite bold. And most of them have their place. For instance, Greg Wilson's favorite method was the boldest one, as you might expect. The faint of heart might hesitate to use it.

If your plan is to just do this once and walk away, the project may be overkill. But if you're in a crowd and want to repeat it (if you're any good, the audience will want you to repeat it) then this is great. There are methods that look very fair. Once you have conditioned the audience to the effect, you can then repeat it with a completely different method while it looks the same -- and it cancels out the previous method. This is how you get to repeat it without getting caught.

In the end, there are two separate questions.
1. Is it a good trick?
2. Is it worth the price?

There's really no question that it's a good trick.

So is it worth the price? That's entirely up to you -- are you willing to pay for a Masterclass on this plot or not? Whatever your answer is, you're right. If you do take the plunge, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

I have to apologize to Johannes. He VERY kindly invited me to join in to watch the video. At first I said I didn't want to do it because I didn't want to seem unfair. He said it would be fine and he would want me there no matter what. I accepted and when he let me know the time I was moving all day.

So my review is as follows. He reached out to me with ZERO expectation of being "positive". He would accept literally ANY review or viewpoint I was willing to give. He believes THAT MUCH in his product. Without having seen it I can only offer the review of the kindness of him offering to let me watch, and his confidence in what he has produced to let me just say what I really thought.

I apologize again as I am not able to review the actual product, but I believe that the interaction and the genuine nature of his offer is VERY positive in my viewpoint. I believe I have enough information to say he is a genuine person and believes in his product 100%.

Best of luck sir!

If the price were a little lower I don’t think it would be such a big deal. I have Johannes other releases, and they are all solid. I think he articulates himself well and remains professional here on the Cafe while some other creators might crash out.

As for the effect, I think it looks great. I’m going to bust out my original breakthrough DVD and see the similarities. While I agree that you can’t show everything in a demo, I think that you do have to give us a little piece of something. Just a little taste of cake so we know whether or not we will like the whole thing. Especially since times are tough. If I didn’t have the coupon, I would NOT order.

Also imagine if magicians were 100% honest with the quotes they put on products. No doubt that this product is good, but I don’t think it’s a secret that magicians will happily endorse other magicians even if the product is garbage.

It goes back to whether or not you trust Johannes and believe he will make good on his money-back guarantee. Anyone who thinks it MIGHT be worth it can buy it, and if they don't think it was worth it, they can get their money back.

I had the pleasure of being part of the group and I was impressed. Johannes was completely transparent, and even requested we point out any negatives so that prospective buyers would be aware. I am no expert on this effect but found nothing negative to report. It's completely thought through, the method is "easy", he gives multiple methods and sequencing, and is a gentleman to boot. I'd say he's lived up to the ad copy. If the effect appeals to you, I'd definitely recommend it without a second thought.
Thanks Johannes. Also, it was nice to put faces on some of the community who's posts I've enjoyed for years!*
Cheers.

*except for Unmasked...ugh

^^^^^

Ok, here's my honest and elaborate review. Not only of The Breakthrough System (TBS from now on), but also of Johannes as a person and creator. Because that's were a lot of the criticism was directed...

We were welcomed in a Zoom call with a group of I think 7 guys from the Café. Really nice to put some faces to names!

When Johannes started talking I immediately thought to myself: this is a highly sensitive, intelligent and creative guy. Not a business-minded guy like for instance Craig Petty (nothing wrong with that btw). And I think he comes across as sincere in what he says and writes. We ended up spending more than 90 mins with him and that impression only got stronger and stronger.

First he took a lot of time to explain how he creates. He stressed he is not interested in typical magic props, like cards. He can hardly hold a deck in the mechanics grip. He only wants his audience to experience magic in casual situations with things that are there naturally.
He illustrated this by showing a creation of his where he twists his finger in some really bizarre ways. And he immediately offered to send us the tutorial afterwards, if we liked it. This was spontaneous generosity btw, not some manipulative quid pro quo to get a good review. I'm very sensitive to that dynamic and I saw none of it. It was just a nice guy sharing smth with fellow magicians for the love of the art and for enjoyment.

Then we got to the core of the meeting: he showed an 18 min video with an overview of all the methods in TBS, all the ways he invented to make a tab penetrate the bottom of a can (7? I lost count...)
Now this may sound boring, but it actually was both captivating and really good fun. I was fooled badly more than once and one method (the one Greg Wilson likes the best) made me laugh the hardest I have laughed this year. It was SO bold. And it fooled me completely! (I am already looking forward performing it that way and just laugh internally while executing the move).

What I think makes this a great project is -apart from how impossible it looks- the repeatability. Because now you can do something you can do with very, very few tricks: when people ask you to repeat it you can. Not once. Not twice. You can show it four or five times. Until they are left with no explanation. And then... you can have THEM do it! And you can even repeat THAT.
If that sounds boringly repetitive: it's not. Not at all. Because remember: this only takes four or five seconds. You show the tab, put it on the bottom of the upside-down can, shake it and BOOM, it's inside. Clean as a whistle. If you repeat that five times in a row it wil still only last two minutes max. And they are action-packed minutes, with a great build-up.

Because after the first penetration spectators will be surprised, but they will also think: "Hold on, that happened really fast and I didn't know what to look for." They will ask: "Do that again." For sure. Now the great thing is: you can. The second time it will be even more baffling. And the third time... even more. And then you can offer THEM to do it. I think that is super strong. Remember, you are not having them pick a card. You have them perform a ******* miracle. To have THEM do it... TWICE (by the same spec or a different spec, whatever you want)... that is a sequence very few tricks can offer. And I think it holds tremendous value, especially in social situations. You can really leave your friends with the feeling that you obliged to their requests of showing the again and again. And leave them with no explanation. And on top of that you had THEM do it... twice.

Another pro I see is that the methods are quite different and it's fun to perform them. This will not get boring to do. Johannes explains how he jazzes with the sequence all the time. Like when David Blaine asked him to show it at Blackpool. He deciced to immediately let David just "do" the penetration and skip the first fases, to go for the maximum impact.
Another nice thing: the moves aren't difficult. He told us he was quite nervous because it was David Blaine, but never worried about screwing up a move. Because the moves are quite easy. I think this is good news for all the amateur magicians, as it means you don't have to first practice this for three months (or keep on practicing it all the time to be ready to perform).

Now for the cons:

One con is the price if you don't use it. I think it's too expensive to just watch and just let it sit in your library. So you want to consider if you like the plot. I do think the price is fair, because of the enormous amount of work Johannes has put into coming up with so many creative and incredibly deceptive ways to make a tab penetrate a can. You are paying for his time spent creating, I feel.

The second con is maybe that he doesn't provide you with a presentation other than to just show it. I asked him about this and his reply was that he uses magic to start conversations about how the mind can deceive the senses and how we can perceive that what we think we see as reality or the truth.
That's not my cup of tea. But this is so good I'm sure I'll come up with something. But it's good to realize you wil have to do that yourself.

So... I'm buying it. Johannes offered to show us the whole tutorial, but I want to support him and this creation.

Thank you, lunatik, for mentioning me. This was fun.

Thank you for that - would you be able to comment on how this is better than Sinful or Capture (or Prohibition if you don’t want to do the 30 second preparation for Capture). Thanks!

I'm sorry... I don't know these. The closest I ever got to this plot is performing Miser's Dream 30 years ago, from a book by Lewis Ganson...

No worries, thank you!

I was one of the Cafe members on the call yesterday with Johannes and the others. Let me be clear, I purchased this when the pre-order was first offered. I was always interested in this plot but never wanted to wear a ring or have to be set-up before performance. So far you heard from 252life, The Unmasked Magician, and CardGuyMike who attended the meeting. I have to agree with all three of their opinions and will not repeat their points. This is not just Johannes showing you a method, this is a masterclass on the plot. That being said, 2 hours of instruction along with a 1 hour session with Johannes, I feel this is meant for people who really love this plot. After the meeting it was obvious to me that Johannes loves this plot and is trying to leave no stone unturned so he can include every detail for many different scenarios. I can say that every penetration Johannes showed us looked fantastic and believe layman will not have a clue when performed properly. As CardGuyMike mentions, due to the different methods taught you will be able to repeat this (if your one that likes to repeat things and feels a need to do so) with confidence that nothing will be found out. The method or methods are not complicated and easily obtainable. As The Unmasked Magician mentioned to Johannes at the meeting, it may take some practice to get the overall "flow" or "smoothness/continuity" of the routine. But honestly, I feel everyone will be able to get there without any issues. Not to mention the SYSTEM is definitely going to be fun to practice.

After the meeting ended, my opinion of Johannes was that he is a very genuine person that absolutely cares about putting out the best product he can. There was never a moment during our time together where I thought, "this guy just wants to make the most money he can". I left the meeting with the impression that Johannes wants to share everything he can with this plot and hopes that everyone, once mastered, will be as excited as he gets when discussing or performing this trick. Now can my assessment be wrong of Johannes? Of course and if it is I would tell Johannes that he is in the wrong business and should go into acting.


I will absolutely be performing this when warranted and even more so looking forward to the release after our time together. Actually, I am looking forward to future releases from Johannes. IMO, I truly believe that whatever Johannes is going to release he is doing so because he truly believes in the product and not to just "flood the market" with releases which we see from some creators with the end result being some of those releases are good but some are not so good.

It was great getting to meet the other Cafe members that were attending. I thoroughly enjoyed them all and their comments!

Thanks again for the invitation to the meeting Johannes, your time and generosity!
Also your mention and trust lunatik!

I also found it nice to go into personal exchange here and like to share my perceptions.

What made this meeting mean? The human factor made it especially for me.
Already the video clip from Blackpool worked ten times more than this website, which was not entirely successful for me.

This personal touch and enthusiasm of Johannes permeated the online meeting yesterday from minute one!
Johannes is an absolute enthusiast for the topic and lives what he does 100%.
To be honest, he reminded me a lot of Tobias Dostal. The two should get along well!

The meeting went for me from ten at night until twenty past midnight.

As already mentioned, Johannes made it clear early on that this project is a deep study for the plot.
You have seen that he has invested a lot of time.

I think the project is for:

- People who encounter the object beverage can more often in everyday life

- People who like spontaneous dynamics - e.g. you present it once, someone comes to it, you repeat with another method and in the end maybe even inspire a third person and the whole round with a third method (or one of the countless others) and with increased impossibility and more eye candy.

- also for people who just like to perform

- People who attach more importance to practicality and reliability than to completely new methods and the next best trick (the methods are diverse and solid but, for example, no electronic CTC gimmick). It's meaningfully more like the Toibox project from Kamm and less like a Lightning Box from Kohler.
Toibox is a giant in my opinion! I hope you can understand the train of thought.

- People who can also enjoy the theoretical thoughts and psychological mechanisms behind the well thought-out choreographies

- People who like the plot

- People who like to perform impromptu or would like to make it look that way. The methods give both variants here.

Who is it not for:

- if you exclude a large number of the aforementioned points for yourself, you might want to skip it.

Johannes was also very open, communicative and cooperative when it came to criticism of his website or the discussion behind the marketing and pricing policy.
I can only say that at no time did I have the impression that he wanted anyone bad with it or that he was a greedy person.
Quite the opposite. We can be glad that there are such people in our community.

How did I finally like it?
I bought the product today and am looking forward to the release!
Johannes, if you're in Berlin, I'll give you 3 beers.

Thanks for the great round.

I hate I missed this. Thanks Lunatik for lisiting me. Johannes, I apologize that my work got in the way of the demo.

Another thing (peripheral to the actual product) is that he accepts that the website/marketing angle, etc. was not necessarily the best! It's the tool he had fastest access to, from following along to a popular YT marketing tutorial, and we spent some time talking about what worked, what didn't, and how to (hopefully) avoid people dismissing or being upset about the marketing, and how to promote a more organic way.

Overall, a super productive zoom call, and I'm excited to see how he manages to figure out his "brand" so to speak, and make sure the trappings of his product sales match up with it!

I will completely surprise you now. I must sincerely apologize, if this is possible in the magic community. I did not like the way this was marketed. Why? Because there are some who have paid off a house without delivering the product. However, in all fairness, I trust the number of satisfied reviewers who "saw the goods." So I will endorse it fully and say, I was wrong. I do not want to mention some of the disasters that have preceded this project with this type of marketing and people left without the product being delivered. But obviously, this was different. So I wholeheartedly endorse you Johannes. I actually think that magic needs to be taught in a "whole toolbox" type of way, to overcome the challenges of the quick internet search for a reveal, etc. Thanks for delivering. I think you can understand my skepticism from some of the crash and burns from some top names in magic. But you have delivered in a stellar way, and I congratulate you!!! Cheers, and best wishes to all the reviewers and you, Johannes!!!

Glad to hear you lost your distrust, countrymaven.

Why are people seeing this for free, when those that paid for it months ago still have nothing? Really devalues preordering when people who haven’t invested are provided materials for free because they complained about marketing. Why not share the same info with actual paying customers as the project develops?

Nobody got anything for free. Read the thread carefully, please.

Hi Brandon. These people did’t get the product for free and many of them bought it afterwards. What they got was basically an experience of seeing me “playing the piano” but it does not mean they are now able to immediately play the song without the actual detailed tutorial. They just saw enough to judge the value and the content of the system. My goal was to get reviews from people who have no association with me and gain nothing from sharing their opinion, because more people can relate to them than the big names like Cyril or Dynamo etc.

I’m still giving final touches to the product/masterclass and I want to give the best experience to my customers and that’s why I don’t want to share anything half-baked to my actual customers. Only a few more days…

Thank you everyone who joined the call it was great to meet you and thank you for sharing your thoughts about what you saw!