Okay. I'm going to try to summarize briefly and respectfully.
Hardcore close-up performers are having a great time with Crush. Professional magicians, buskers who may or may not be full time/pro, and younger performers who have a new effect to add after having already apparently established themselves with close-up material. In general Crush seems to be going over very well with these kind of performers.
I fall into the "30-something techie who does this as his hobby" stereotype. From what I gather and have read, it's a pretty sizable cross-section of magic enthusiasts. Crush is considerably less practical for me. The only constructive negative review I have read was from someone else in a similar situation.
This doesn't mean the effect sucks, or is inherently bad. Parts of the gimmicked handling left me feeling fairly impressed. Other people are still receiving very positive reactions from performing Crush.
Should the chance to perform this in the wild present itself then I will. I'm curious to see the reactions, and will even try to report back. But finding that chance comes back to what looks like the big dividing point: Crush is not for everyone.
I'll start with the obvious: Look at how long it takes the bottles or cans to Crush in the promotional videos. Do you have the skills to build a full close-up performance around those few seconds? That would be one consideration.
My remaining practicality issues for taking this out of the house quite yet have a lot to do with the actual workings of the effect.
Finally, it makes my kids smile to see it. Even if I only do it at a couple of birthday parties or to entertain the little ones on a boring Sunday afternoon then it has that much value.
So. I hope that in writing, reading, and responding to reviews, people think about matching the effect up to the proper performer. It's my opinion, albeit one based on observation, but Crush looks far more valuable to some groups of performers than to others.
