seems as if it is going to be really obvious to people how you do it
Don't worry - that's how it feels with most spoon/fork bending. Done right, though, it works extremely well.
Liquid metal was a bit disappointing for me, compared to Banachek, Kuffs, Bavli etc. I agree - it's a good trick, but when doing metal bending I don't want people to think "that's a good trick".
The way he does the tine bend doesn't make sense - IMO Banachek's one is much more convincing - but I guess it's each to his own.
You can do the routine with most forks eventually, but it's good to start with cheaper forks - which you should be able to get in most countries.