These two standard tricks are dead easy.
1) The tape and coins are no use whatever in preventing the person from seeing
out of a crack between the tape and the nose. It is just necessary to squint a
little, and the tape will come free. Putting the hand to the forehead as if
thinking hard helps, even if you don't touch the tape. Basically there is no
blindfold short of a full head bag that will prevent seeing. I did this for
many years with a cloth blindfold until presbyopia made it too hard to read
without glasses, which would be hard to explain being under a blindfold.
2) The Amazing Kreskin did one similar--or maybe the exact same one--people
remember differently than what happened in such situations with great
regularity. I suggest the following scenario: Passes the deck with a rubber
band around it. (The function of the rubber band is to make it more likely that
the person sees only one card.) After everyone looks, he names three cards (or
as many cards as people who looked) and says to each in turn: Is one of those
cards yours--Is one of those cards yours, etc. Every card in the deck is
identical except the outside card. Everyone saw the identical card, so everyone
said yes, mine was one of those you named.
Remember, the simplest solution is probably the one used.
don
Donald McBurney
University of Pittsburgh
Hatcher, Joe wrote:
> Hello Tipsters,
> We fairly often have on TIPS demonstrations suggested that make us
> appear to be mindreaders, ostensibly to demonstrate critical thinking to our
> students, and to appeal to the latent ham in some of us. One hazard of
> demonstrating such things to students is being viewed as an authority on
> such matters....
> Last week a "mindreader" came to campus and performed two tricks
> which I've been asked to explain twice already; I was there and I have no
> idea how he did them. But I'll bet (or I'm hoping) someone out there does.
>
> First trick. MR puts coins over eyes and duct tapes himself blind.
> Asks for items from the audience to be collected by a student helper (swears
> she is not in on it). Items are held beneath his hand, and he, after
> dramatic pauses, describes and identifies them. This also occurred with a
> ticket stub to a theater, which he correctly identified as having cost $2.
> Second trick. Takes a deck of cards held together by a rubber band.
> Tosses it to a member of the audience, tells to "crack" the deck and
> remember the card seen. That person then instructed to toss the deck to a
> second person, same instructions, and to a third person. MR then proceeds,
> dramatically, to tell each person which card they saw (three different
> cards).
> The first trick I can imagine has the involvement of a second party,
> the second I have no clue.
>
> Any help?
>
> Joe
>
> Joe W. Hatcher, Jr., Ph.D.
> Professor of Psychology
> Ripon College
> Ripon, WI 54971 USA
