Rarely do I find tricks that promise less than they deliver. With this one I expected quite a bit
from the ad copy but was overwhelmed by what I've received.
First of all it is not just a
simple 30 minute explanation video. They took the time to structure everything and describe it from
all possible angles. Not just theory, it starts off with a real-life demonstration and later on
there are many more full-length real-life scenes, including a stage performance. I can't remember
having seen anything like that before.
Finally, I also got several bonus effects included,
which seem strong enough to be sold separately one day. So the total playing time was somewhere
around two and a half hours. And due to the performances, bonuses and other stuff it did not feel
repetitive at all. I had to watch it in one go but I guess there are people with a shorter attention
span...
Now, obviously one small drawback is that you don't get ready printed cards. But I
understand the reason: They want to provide a packet including street, parlour and stage gimmicks in
many languages. So they can't print all of them at this price. But all templates in all those eight
languages are there and it was really easy to make the gimmicks. I had all the necessary tools (glue
stick and scissors) at home. They even took the time to make different gimmick templates for US size
paper and UK size paper. That was also a nice surprise.
Let's have a look at the routine:
There are certain factors that make a good mentalism routine for me:
1) It must be meaningful
for the spectator (different to a book test, which is not linked to any spectator)
2) You can
add-in other elements to extend the spectator's experience (such as cold reading)
3) You are
well ahead of the spectator (different to "blank night" routines, where you need to be most careful
at the very end)
4) It must be easy to perform and can be learned within a day (different to
Isabella's Star by Peter Turner)
Tarino meets all four criteria with flying colours. Even the
first time I used it already proved it. That makes it easily 5-stars for me.
Looking at
similar mentalism acts: A friend of mine showed me Past-Present-Future by Rick Lax. While that has
the advantage of having beautiful cards included I feel it does not get the same level of impact as
Tarino does. In Tarino the spectator sees a divination of her very own priority list of life values.
That is for me at least one order of magnitude above the impact of seeing the text
"Past/Present/Future" on their selected card. But that's just my view.
Bottom line: I can
HIGHLY recommend Tarino to mentalists of all levels who wish to add more meaning to their mentalism.