PROS

The routine is fun and entertaining. It is very engaging. We will talk a bit about what you don’t see in the trailer in the “CONS” section, but these pieces couldn’t be shown as they would likely tip the method. Having said that, the pieces that you don’t see are very engaging and entertaining.

The trailer doesn’t show the entire routine, so here is a summary. You ask two participants to play rock paper scissors hidden from your view. You then ask them to decide (also secretly) whether they will individually always lie or always tell the truth. You then ask them a series of questions and you are able to tell them who was lying or telling the truth, who won, and what they presented (rock, paper, or scissors). The questions are clever. I would say that most people will not figure out the method.

As the ad copy states, this is something that you can do entirely impromptu with no gimmicks or props of any sort. It involves just your mind and the mind of two participants. There is no pre-work, no stooges, no instant stooges. Sometimes, you purchase an effect where they have a whole list of things they are not, like no threads, no magnets, etc., but when you get it, you realize that there is something else that either requires a bunch of prep work or isn’t very practical. This literally requires no prep work or props of any sort. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to prepare your mind. You will need to learn a method, and you may even want to use a cheat sheet.

The effect is suitable for any level performer, from beginner to expert. You can do this routine entirely using your mind with a sequence of “things” that you will remember, or you could use a cheat sheet and not have to remember complex “stuff”.

This effect is also very well suited for any sort of venue, from casual magic settings to walk-around, parlor, or stage. However, if you plan on doing this walk-around, you won’t want the same audience members seeing multiple performances. The outcome could be different each time, but as you will see in the “CONS” section, this could be deemed more or a really well thought out puzzle than magic. It can come across magical, depending upon how well you perform it. In the performance section of the DVD, I think Jay does a pretty good job “selling” the magic. He uses a premise that a person may say one thing and their body language may communicate the opposite.

The method is good. It is based on a very good Banachek effect and it is explained with Banachek’s permission on the similar method used.

The explanation was concise and just ok. Let’s just say that you should be able to learn the routine just fine with the explanation.


CONS

This is one of those effects where they can’t really show an entire presentation, so the trailer video is not going to show the full extent of the effect. You may be inclined to think that what is shown in the trailer is the entire effect. IT IS NOT. There is a question and answer portion of the effect after the participants do the rock, paper, scissors. In my opinion, it doesn’t ruin the magic, but I think it relegates the effect to a very entertaining puzzle. I think your more intelligent audiences may even figure it out or have an idea that it is logic driven. I personally think this is more puzzle than magic. It’s like the following puzzle: You are stuck in a dungeon with two doors, door A and door B. One leads to freedom and the other leads to your death. Behind each door is a guard. One always tells the truth and the other always lies. You don’t know which door is which or which guard is which. You can ask one question of one guard. What question do you ask and what door do you take?

Another caution is you will need to remember a series of logical items. You may be inclined to use a crib or cheat sheet.

There are a few performances, a couple of which were filmed on an iphone. Granted, the audio is terrible, but frankly I don’t really have a problem with this. I think it shows some completely impromptu performances without the impact of a camera “crew”.

Having said all this, I still think this is fun and entertaining.

VERDICT

You should go into this purchase with your eyes open and realize that there is more to the effect than what is shown on the trailer. So, you have been warned. Having said that, I think it is a very strong routine. I for one, am going to add this to my short list of impromptu effects.

I debated whether to reduce star rating based on the fact that the trailer didn’t show the entire performance. However, as with many mentalism routines, they just can’t show the entire routine without giving away some secrets. Because they could have done a better job with the ad copy in communicating more clearly that there is more to the presentation than what was shown, I have deducted a half star.

This is a great effect that you can perform anywhere, at any time, with absolutely no props.

This DVD is a study in contrasts. The concept and trick is excellent and that alone deserves 5 out of 5 stars. It is based upon a Banachek effect and is in fact endorsed by him. It is truly prop-less mentalism that can be performed with no notice. However, the production quality for such a great trick is lacking and the promotional video is somewhat misleading due to the editing.

In Rock Paper Lies, the performer asks two participants to play Rock Paper Scissors behind his back and not to reveal who won. Then the performer asks each spectator to either be a liar or truth teller. If the spectator is a liar, any question asked of them by the performer must be answered with a lie. And, of course, if the spectator chooses to be the truth teller, he must always respond truthfully. The spectators can choose the same or different roles. Then, the performer ask only three questions, which each spectator answers according to their role, and the performer is able to guess the winner, the roles of each and what was the winning hand i.e. paper over rock.

This effect is fun to perform, easy to learn and very compelling. It is endorsed by Luca Volpe, who does the introduction/trailer for the DVD. It is also endorsed by Richard Osterlind and Banachek himself. However, the promotional video does not show the performer asking the necessary questions so a purchaser that has not read this review may believe that the spectators merely play rock paper scissors behind the performer’s back and the performer is able to guess who won and how without any questions. This is not the case. The ad copy is accurate.

The questions asked of the spectators do not feel like fishing because the performer is asking them to be able to test his body language reading ability.

The performances on the DVD are also lacking. There are 3. The first one is fine and shot with high quality audio and video. However, and unbelievably, the next two performances are shot on an iPhone and the quality of the audio is horrible. It is as if the creator, Jay Di Biase, was walking around, stopped any people on the street (in one case a noisy street) and did the routine. It is surprising that Titanas took such little care in such a great project.

Also, the explanatory section of the DVD is poor. Di Biase explains the method using one spectator and not two. He has the one spectator play both roles. It could have been explained much better, but it just wasn’t. That is not to say that the effect is hard to learn because it is very easy to learn.

The DVD also contains some art work that can be used in a stage or parlor setting. It contains pictures of a rock, paper, and scissors. It also has diagrams for the liar and the truth teller. This is a nice touch and the artwork is great. And, if you don’t understand the oral explanation, there is a cheat sheet. I think that most people won’t need the cheat sheet. If you can get over these issues, you will love this project.
There is an alternate version of a truth teller/liar effect with 3 people (and not using rock paper scissors) but that is only briefly explained and not demonstrated.

The bottom line here is that this is a very impressive mentalism routine that does not require any set-up and can be performed anywhere at anytime. It would have received 5 out of 5 stars if the promotional video was not edited in a way that would be misleading and if the quality of the demonstrations and explanation were better.