This is one of those effects that really is more of a niche thing because if you have a use or motivation for it, you might use it. Actually that should apply to most of your performance pieces, so allow me to clarify: If you are the type of person that does not hang around coffee shops and prefers the bar or pub, this is probably not something you will get the chance to use that often.

The packaging, I thought, is quite clever. It pays tribute of sorts to the sleeves you put on your cups to help diffuse the heat of the hot liquids, and the part that holds everything is reminiscent of the bags that the little coffee house cookies come in. Nothing particularly fancy, but clever. I like it. Just saying...

Anywho...the production quality of this DVD was not studio quality and it was kind of all over the place, but overall it was good. The audio was clear but in various scenes (including the live performances) there was a lot of ambient noise and echoes that were also being picked up by the microphone.

The video clarity was also all over - the live performances were all good but during some of the explanation scenes, the lighting was off and the video was a tad fuzzy, in others the lighting was great and the video was clear.

Most of the explanations were comprised of two shots: The close-up to the face if he was talking about certain non-method points of the effect, or they were at waist level if he was explaining any parts of the method. There are some variations, but this was the bulk of the DVD.

At one point the audio and video were out of synch, but not so much that it really affected the ability to learn. If you are a lip-reader you may have some issues.

I also want to point out that this DVD is burned and not pressed, so that may or may not cause some playback issues for some viewers.

Something I just have to take a second and both THANK(!) and congratulate Chris for/on was the point where he mentions, during the "what you get" portion of the DVD, that he personally puts everything into each package himself. He goes on to say that if there is anything missing or different from what he is showing you, it is entirely HIS fault and that you should contact him to make it right. Bravo! Too bad many creators do not put more of the responsibility on themselves like this.

I would consider the ad copy to be 100% accurate but there was one little thing that I would take an issue with and in my opinion, it was not meant to be a deceptive comment. It says that you will learn "various routines and ideas," which some people may take to mean you will learn some different effects. That is not the case and you really learn 3 ideas for effecting the penetration: one with a lid on the cup, another in a "challenge"-type situation and a third with the top of the cup open. The rest of the ideas are more subtleties to make the cup look used, to be able to pour out a small bit of liquid to make it look used, etc. Most of those extra bits I find to be overkill for this particular effect, but in the right situation they would make sense.

The gimmick is not pre-made but everything you need to make it comes in the package. The required arts and crafts are not difficult at all and should take you less than 10 minutes.

As for the actual method - it works as described and it is not hard to do. You just need to be able to do some acting and the rest practically takes care of itself. If it were any easier to do, it would be "self-working".

He shows you a way to get the gimmick into and out of the cup in order to begin and end clean, but it is sort of process-y (read: convoluted) for what you are appearing to do, which is simply to pick up a coin and penetrate it into an empty coffee cup. Personally I can think of better or more effective ways to clean this up than what it shown, but it is still workable.

The technique that Chris teaches for getting into the part right before the penetration is a very good technique; not new by any means and it may even be familiar to you if you have been doing magic for a while.

He goes over the various types of cups that will work best with this effect, he teaches how to assemble the gimmick properly, what not to do and even gives a great way to make a backup template of the gimmicks. The particular piece you get in the box is sized for Uk 10p/US $.25 coins, but he also tells you how to make your own for coins of any size you want to use.

You want to be sure to go slow with making your gimmick using the included materials - if you make it too small your first time around, you will be out of luck and will have to make up a new set using new materials. Just go slow and follow his instructions and you should be okay - it is better to make it too big and have to trim little bits off than to make it too small.

A few parts of the DVD were difficult to watch because they were a little repetetive and at some points, he was speaking so fast I had to go back and watch the section over a few times to make sure I heard/understood everything correctly. One thing you cannot really complain about is the thorough instruction!

Overall if you hang around coffee shops and already use the cups or other coffee shop items for effects, this is a possible addition to your collection. It kind of has that feeling of being a "right place/right time" kind of effect - it is not a showstopper but a neat little in-between effect to throw in here or there when gathered with your friends. If you like what you see in the trailer, you will probably like this method.