Draven Reviews: Breaking Point by The Mengel Brothers

Title: Breaking Point

Artist: Johannes Mengel

Producers: Mengel Brothers

Retail Price: $14.95

Learning Difficulty: Easy

Length of DVD: 55 Minutes

Product Link: http://www.mengelbrothers.com/breaking-point.html



I’ve seen a lot of geek magic. I’ve performed a lot of geek magic, and let me tell you it takes something special to make me squeamish. Even with my phobia of needles I have still managed to perform the human pin cushion on a few occasions, and the real way too. With real needles, and real skin. So I didn’t expect I’d ever come across something so unique that I would sit back and say “nope” to. Then came along Johannes Mengel. He found my breaking point.


The illusion is a simple one: Break your finger at the joint and then bend it in very unnatural and realistic looking ways. The reactions are visceral. The illusion is very visual, and dare I say it but this isn’t going to be the kind of illusion you can just perform anywhere. This is going to be one of those Jim Pace’s The Webb kind of illusions where you’re going to have to pick your audiences wisely otherwise you may give someone a nasty shock they weren’t ready for.


Topping out at just under an hour long the instructional video is solid on instructions. Even watching Johannes explain everything just hearing the sounds and seeing him bend his finger out of joint over and over again was enough to make my skin crawl. As typical with a lot of the magic videos being produced these days this video tends to oversell itself by discussing things like the type of reactions you can expect, and post production after thoughts. There’s nothing wrong with these things mind you, but it feels like it’s just trying to squeeze a subject dry for the sake of content. I spoke to Johannes about this directly and his response was heartwarming. He genuinely cares about the people who would buy his tricks and simply wants to give them as much product value as he possibly can. With that level of care what you end up with is an hour-long video to explain something that should take twenty minutes, and the rest should come to you thru experimentation, practice, and performances.


If you like Geek style magic, if you like grossing out your audiences, if you like giving them something they may not be ready to watch, then I highly recommend Breaking Point for you. I should point out that Breaking Point IS an illusion and at no point in time are you putting your body in any danger, nor are you at any serious risk for personal injury. Though your audiences will swear otherwise.


When I give my product scores below I am measuring them on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 Being absolute the worst score possible, and 10 being the absolute best, making a score of five average. The four points that I grade upon is Product Quality, Teaching Quality, Sound & Video Quality and Overall Quality.


Product Quality: 9

I’m giving this a 9 on the grounds that it took me two weeks just to power thru the video. This stuff is the shyte that gets you serious audience reactions.


Teaching Quality: 7

Good tutorial. Very informative. Felt that it was too long.


Video & Sound Quality: 9

Sound and video were both great.


Overall Quality: 9

This is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. But for those who thrive on the weird and the freaky this will be an instant favorite.



Have a product you want reviewed? Want to see if it will stand up to the Draven Seal of Approval? Contact me directly at draven@williamdraven.com to find out how your product could be on the next Draven Reviews! Don't forget to like my blog where all my reviews are posted at www.williamdraven.wordpress.com.
 
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Reactions: KyleB10
Oct 10, 2015
20
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Title: Breaking Point

Artist: Johannes Mengel

Producers: Mengel Brothers

Retail Price: $14.95

Learning Difficulty: Easy

Length of DVD: 55 Minutes

Product Link: http://www.mengelbrothers.com/breaking-point.html



I’ve seen a lot of geek magic. I’ve performed a lot of geek magic, and let me tell you it takes something special to make me squeamish. Even with my phobia of needles I have still managed to perform the human pin cushion on a few occasions, and the real way too. With real needles, and real skin. So I didn’t expect I’d ever come across something so unique that I would sit back and say “nope” to. Then came along Johannes Mengel. He found my breaking point.


The illusion is a simple one: Break your finger at the joint and then bend it in very unnatural and realistic looking ways. The reactions are visceral. The illusion is very visual, and dare I say it but this isn’t going to be the kind of illusion you can just perform anywhere. This is going to be one of those Jim Pace’s The Webb kind of illusions where you’re going to have to pick your audiences wisely otherwise you may give someone a nasty shock they weren’t ready for.


Topping out at just under an hour long the instructional video is solid on instructions. Even watching Johannes explain everything just hearing the sounds and seeing him bend his finger out of joint over and over again was enough to make my skin crawl. As typical with a lot of the magic videos being produced these days this video tends to oversell itself by discussing things like the type of reactions you can expect, and post production after thoughts. There’s nothing wrong with these things mind you, but it feels like it’s just trying to squeeze a subject dry for the sake of content. I spoke to Johannes about this directly and his response was heartwarming. He genuinely cares about the people who would buy his tricks and simply wants to give them as much product value as he possibly can. With that level of care what you end up with is an hour-long video to explain something that should take twenty minutes, and the rest should come to you thru experimentation, practice, and performances.


If you like Geek style magic, if you like grossing out your audiences, if you like giving them something they may not be ready to watch, then I highly recommend Breaking Point for you. I should point out that Breaking Point IS an illusion and at no point in time are you putting your body in any danger, nor are you at any serious risk for personal injury. Though your audiences will swear otherwise.


When I give my product scores below I am measuring them on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 Being absolute the worst score possible, and 10 being the absolute best, making a score of five average. The four points that I grade upon is Product Quality, Teaching Quality, Sound & Video Quality and Overall Quality.


Product Quality: 9

I’m giving this a 9 on the grounds that it took me two weeks just to power thru the video. This stuff is the shyte that gets you serious audience reactions.


Teaching Quality: 7

Good tutorial. Very informative. Felt that it was too long.


Video & Sound Quality: 9

Sound and video were both great.


Overall Quality: 9

This is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. But for those who thrive on the weird and the freaky this will be an instant favorite.



Have a product you want reviewed? Want to see if it will stand up to the Draven Seal of Approval? Contact me directly at draven@williamdraven.com to find out how your product could be on the next Draven Reviews! Don't forget to like my blog where all my reviews are posted at www.williamdraven.wordpress.com.
Thank you for the thorough review! Much appreciated. I just purchased his "Breakthrough" effect and have been curious about this one.
 
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Reactions: Mengel Brothers
Oct 10, 2015
20
19
Hi Kyle, thanks for your interest in Breaking Point. How did you like Breakthrough by the way?
Hi Kyle, thanks for your interest in Breaking Point. How did you like Breakthrough by the way?
Breakthrough is a great effect! Really clever and well put together. I haven't performed it too many times yet. I'm still adjusting my performance here and there. I'm a shorter guy so I am playing around with that a little. I really appreciate all of the effort that went into the explanation though and I enjoy the Mengel brothers sense of humor. I hope to see more from you.
 
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Reactions: Mengel Brothers
Sep 7, 2011
73
16
Estonia
Breakthrough is a great effect! Really clever and well put together. I haven't performed it too many times yet. I'm still adjusting my performance here and there. I'm a shorter guy so I am playing around with that a little. I really appreciate all of the effort that went into the explanation though and I enjoy the Mengel brothers sense of humor. I hope to see more from you.

Thank you so much! It's really rewarding to hear such feedback after all the work we put into the product!

Regarding seeing more form us, then I'm planning to release 2-3 smaller effects this year. One of them is similar to my last release Breaking Point in the sense that it's shock magic, which people really believe is real. I've had to convince my girlfriend several times that it's only an illusion :)

Johannes
 
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Reactions: KyleB10
Oct 12, 2016
114
57
25
Utah
I'm having some trouble with the sound of the finger dislocating. Is there anything I can do besides continuing to practice and experiment? How do I know what I'm doing wrong?
 
Sep 7, 2011
73
16
Estonia
I'm having some trouble with the sound of the finger dislocating. Is there anything I can do besides continuing to practice and experiment? How do I know what I'm doing wrong?

Hi! Like I explained in the tutorial- if you are having any trouble with the moves make a video of you doing the move and I'll give you personal tips on how to improve! You can send the video to my email or FB!

Take care!

Johannes
 
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Reactions: Lindel and KyleB10
Sep 7, 2011
73
16
Estonia
Yeah, thanks for checking in. I'm getting a pretty consistent sound now, and my family cringes every time, even though they know it's fake. Thanks again for your help!

Ha-ha :D yeah, knowing that it's fake doesn't sometimes help, the imagination of people is powerful... But great to hear you got the sound working!

Plus, if you like cringeworthy tricks, then I have something new for you for Halloween ;) I'll start filming for a new release this summer. I'm not sure will it top the "most horrifying trick of the year" title Breaking Point got from Penguin Magic, but I think it will come close :D
 
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