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thoughtcast magic
lie finder
INSTRUCTIONS
Note: Television and Video Performance Rights are NOT INCLUDED with the standard purchase of this trick. Want to do this on a screen of any kind? Email us and we can let you know how we can help!
Installing and Activating Lie Finder
Now that the remote is set up, let's use it with the Lie Finder App!
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If you purchased Tell the Truth from the thoughtcastmagic.com store and you are a new customer, you should have received a email that a new account has been set up and to reset your password. Please do that before continuing. If you already are a customer and have an account, Tell the Truth will automatically be activated for the email you provided at checkout. Either way, you can visit thoughtcastmagic.com/portal to see all the products you have activated. If you need help with this, you can always email us for help.
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Go here and download the Lie Finder app from the App Store.
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When you download the app and open it for the first time, you will notice you cannot control the outcome. This is on purpose, so if your spectators download the app on their phone out of curiosity, it will not work for them like it works for you.
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To activate the app and set it up for use in your show, make sure your phone is connected to the internet, and tap on the green light in the lower right hand corner 5 times quickly. If you start tapping the button as fast as possible, it will eventually open the secret login screen.
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Enter your email address and password that you set up for the Portal in step 1. If this is successful, you will see a "Login Successful" message.
Now, whenever you open the Lie Finder app, it will use the remote to control the outcome. On the home screen, the four red and green lights in the corners will light up when the up/down/left/right buttons on the remote are pressed, so you can double check the remote is paired properly before performing the effect.
The buttons each have a silver dot on top of them (this is referred to in this guide as the Directional Pad or D-Pad). The remote should be oriented so the D-Pad and battery compartment is up and the single button (indicated with a line) is down.
Here's what each button sequence does:
Left triggers LIE
Right triggers TRUTH
Up once triggers PANTS ON FIRE
Up twice triggers NOT SURE
Down once triggers REBOOT LIE (the setup for this is in the Settings below)
Down twice triggers STOP MESSING WITH ME
Center button pressed once on the above screens returns to the "SPEAK NOW" screen
When you press down/swipe down twice, you have to find the right timing...swiping too fast or too slow will only register 1 swipe...think of the right speed as the beat of the 1978 Gloria Gaynor hit "I Will Survive"
If you want to return to the Start screen, tap twice on the screen to go back. This is setup so you are less likely to go to the Start screen with the remote if you press it twice by accident.
The button on the bottom of the remote with the line on it doesn't do anything special, right now it goes back to the previous screen like the center button of the d-pad. But, you can also use it to feel for which way the remote is oriented in your pocket. We'll figure out something special to do with this button eventually (if you have a good idea let us know, support@tellthetruthapp.com).
Also, the buzzer can be triggered multiple times if you continue to press the left button while the screen says LIE. You can use this for a running joke, where you say a bunch of lies all in a row.
Remember - If you log into another device with your credentials, the previous device will be logged out automatically. So, make sure you are signed into the correct device.
Settings
The settings on Lie Finder are hidden. To access them, on the logo/start screen, tap on the same green light in the bottom right corner five times quickly, and the settings screen will come up. Here's an explanation of the settings:
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Animation Length - This setting defines how long the Lie/Truth/Pants On Fire animation will play on screen before it returns automatically to the "Speak Now" screen. This can be manually overridden (force the app to go back to the Speak Now screen) by pressing the center button of the D-Pad.
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Animation Delay - This sets a delay between the time you press the button and the time the app reacts. So, if you want to show your hands empty when the app reacts, you can set this setting, then in performance press the button and the app will react later (so you can show your hands empty).
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Bar Sensitivity - This controls how much the bars jump based on how loud the sound of the mic is.
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Random Lights - This will enable the random lights flashing lights. This is helpful if you are performing without a remote and swiping the screen to trigger the animations.
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Reboot Screen Image - This is the image shown after the Reboot Lie animation finishes. Due to Apple's app store rules, we could not have the app automatically show the Apple boot screen logo when the end of the Reboot lie sequence finishes. So, this is where you can set it up for your device. Below is a link to reboot logos, visit the site, and touch and hold the correct image for your phone to save/download to your camera roll. Then, in the Lie Finder settings, tap "Reboot Screen Image" and select the Apple logo you just saved from our site. Now, when the Reboot lie animation finishes, it will automatically show the correctly scaled reboot icon on your screen.
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Lock Screen Image - This is the image that is shown immediately after the Reboot Screen is shown. To use this, go to the lock screen of your phone and take a screen shot (if your iPhone has a home button, this is done by pressing home and lock simultaneously. If your phone doesn't have a home button, this is done by pressing the lock/siri button and volume up simultaneously). Then,go back to Lie Finder, tap "Lock Screen Image" and select your lock screen screenshot you just took.
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Show Lock Screen after Reboot - This is to enable or disable showing the lock screen you set up after the reboot sequence is over. If this is not enabled, the app will automatically return to the home screen of your device after the Reboot Image is shown.
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Lock Reboot Screen - This will lock the reboot animation that, no matter how much you tap on it, it will not go back to the home screen.
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Disable Swipe Control - This completely disables the swipe controls of the app and only allows the screens to be triggered by the keyboard remote only.
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Control Spectators Phone - This is an advanced feature and described in the section below.
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Customize Remote Buttons - This allows you to use the Lie Finder app with another remote solution. Tap this button to open up the config page, and then tap any field to change the default keyboard key that triggers this function. The controls map the same as the original Tell the Truth remote, with each swipe direction represented by a keyboard key, and "Handle Back" representing the center/tap button.
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Deactivate App - This is for moving the license for Lie Finder to another device. If you want to use Lie Finder on another device, before uninstalling Lie Finder, tap "Deactivate App" to deactivate your device, allowing you to log into another device. If you forget and cannot log in, go to tellthetruthapp.com/owners, log in, and choose "Deactivate All Apps" or "Deactivate Lie Finder". You CAN log into another device without deactivating as well as deactivating then logging in.
Control Spectator's Phone
You can control the Lie Finder app on your spectators iPhone! This is a paid upgrade, so if you don't have it active, when you press on the button in settings it will take you to purchase the add-on. Once activated, when your spectator downloads the Lie Finder app, you can connect to it and control it by doing the following:
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In Setting, tap "Control Spectator's Phone" and the screen will go black. It is now a remote control that you can either swipe on or use the remote to swipe.
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On the SPECTATORS phone, there are TWO methods to pair to their phone:
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Logo Tap: Have them (or you) tap the Lie Finder logo (in a gesture or on an offbeat), then watch for the green light in the upper left corner of their phone screen to turn on...it will flash twice, and in the time that double flash occurs, you want to tap twice on YOUR screen. If this worked correctly, your phone will vibrate once to alert you that the pair is successful, and the lights on your spectators device will turn off. Now, the lights are controllable by your phone as if you are controlling your own device.
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Tilt Switch: Once the app is installed, have the spectator place their phone on a flat surface. Once the phone is left horizontal/flat for 3 seconds, when they pick it up and hold it upright, the green light in the top left corner will flash twice, and in the time that double flash occurs, you want to tap twice on YOUR screen. If this worked correctly, your phone will vibrate once to alert you that the pair is successful, and the lights on your spectators device will turn off. Now, the lights are controllable by your phone as if you are controlling your own device.
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If you miss this double tap or it doesn't work/you don't feel the single vibration, you can either use either method again (this time the upper left corner lights won't flash, but it will still allow the auto pair), or look at the lights. The lights will flash a 4 digit code. If you imagine the upper left green light is UP, upper right red light is RIGHT, lower right green light is DOWN, and lower left red light is LEFT, you can now swipe this code into your phone (starting with any light in the sequence) and if it pairs successfully it will vibrate and the lights will turn off, allowing you to control the device.
Once you're paired, everything works the same as in your device, including the first 4 settings you have set for your app (Animation Length, Animation Delay, Bar Sensitivity, and Random Lights).
Some things to note:
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If your spectators device does not have internet, the Lie Finder Start screen will tell you this by flashing the lights in a counter clockwise circle on the start screen.
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If your spectators device disconnects while you are performing, your phone will vibrate twice to indicate the disconnect to you.
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If you disconnect from your spectators device, their app will go back into "normal mode", choosing truth or lie every 10 seconds at random.
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The reboot lie will not simulate the reboot screens like on your device. It will show the reboot animation, then black for 2 seconds, then crash the app and return to the home screen. This is on purpose, and is a good way to finish your performance of this trick. Once it crashes, you will feel your phone vibrate twice to indicate the connection is severed.
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To back out of the controller mode on your device back to settings, do a 2 finger swipe down gesture on the screen.
Writing Comedy for Lie Finder
They say if you give a man to fish, you feed him for a day. But, if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for his life. Luckily, for you, you don't have to write "jokes" to work with the Lie Finder. The Lie Finder is the only tool that makes the things you do now funnier.
Without getting too deep into comedy writing, what makes a joke get a laugh is literally one word: surprise. The surprise is often the punch/turn of the joke, and when you write a typical setup/punch joke, the setup establishes all the assumptions of the audience, and then the punch takes something from that setup and making it mean something else.
One thing. Two meanings. That's comedy.
But, this is where the Lie Finder really shines. You see, just the idea of a lie detector test can make a statement you say that you believe/act as true false, and can make a statement you believe/act as a lie true.
So if you say something in your show like "you are gonna love this", and hit the lie button, it will get a laugh (it's a bit self deprecating but for some performers this works)...
The other part that makes the process simple as far as writing is the idea that you can string a bunch of lie responses together as a sequence. If you watch the video, I show a clip from The Simpsons where Moe is strapped into a lie detector. He's asked the question the police wanted to ask, then he says "I got a hot date tonight" which buzzes as a lie. He then proceeds to say a string of statements, each one gradually worse and worse, until (spoiler alert) the absolute end where his "hot date" is actually ogling the ladies in the Sears catalog.
You can try this yourself. Say something that is clearly false (I'm the greatest human being alive) and then hit lie, then scale it back and hit lie each time. Again, the expectation is that you are saying the truth, so when it comes out as a lie and you back it up, it will get funnier and funnier.
Also, the classic "lie detector" routine for this is having a spectator on state and interrogating them (not with malice, but as if you're interviewing them for a job), and ask questions that are clearly true (like "whats your name", "what city do you live", etc etc). Then, ask a curveball question (a classic one to ask a man is "have you ever worn women's underwear") and whatever the answer is, make it so the lie detector is saying yes, he does wear women's underwear. Again, you have to be careful when doing this technique and use some tact, as you can easily come across as a jerk to your audience, but if your personality informs the audience that you are for the most part kidding around with them and not serious, you can get away with some things you wouldn't believe you could do (just ask David Williamson).
If you need more help in the joke writing department, below are some great books on comedy and what makes things funny, but as my friend Harrison Greenbaum likes to say: Writing comedy is like sex, you'll suck at it the first time you try it, but if you never try you'll never get good enough at it to do it in front of people.
Greg Dean - Step by Step Guide to Comedy