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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
 Posted - 09/13/2005 : 23:47:32 [Permalink]
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| My faith is restored in your skeptic skills, filthy, now that I read your follow up answer. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 01:06:59 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
My faith is restored in your skeptic skills, filthy, now that I read your follow up answer.
Heh, I was too intellectually lazy to figger it out for myself, so I just beat it -- easy enough as the opening hand was always the same and the knave on the end, the diamond, always vanished whatever card was picked.
Also interesting to note that the finishing 5 card hand too, is always the same. And, at a quick glance, all face cards look pretty much the same. Clever and very simple, as the best tricks always are.
It is both funny and sad that the responses were so off-the-wall -- people looking for wheels within wheels where none existed. This fluttery, little blurt was either amazing or pathetic, your choice: quote:
From Marcela S.:
Okay-- that was way too freaky for me!!! I do admit it was awesome but at the same time it scares me because it seems that there is no limit to the power of our minds -- or yours at least -- that could be good or it could be bad. Have you ever considered that we may not be meant to use all the power our brain has because it could lead to our destruction?? Just a thought!! Thank you!!
Small wonder the con men do so well and the scummiest of polititions achieve high office. Nobody thinks, and this lady must be one of those who believe the tired, old 10%-of-the-brain guff.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 05:49:11 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by GeeMack
This is an old magician's classic called "The Princess Card Trick". I was one of the first to write a CGI program for posting this on one of my web sites.
I saw it almost 10 years ago for the first time, in a Power-Point presentation version. I was baffled on the first go at it, as I was unprepared for the trick. However, knowing the limitations of the computer and what a program could do, I immediately recognised it as a trick of some kind. I needed a second go at it to figure out how it was done. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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LizW
Skeptic Friend
USA
113 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 15:15:55 [Permalink]
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quote:
by Filthy
As I selected no card, any card the game selected to remove could only be wrong. Kinda like cold reading: tell the reader nothing and he debunks himself.
As someone with a bit of experience with the mystical powers of cold reading. I find out more about a person from their dress and their body language than I do from anything that comes out of their mouths. Mwa Ha Ha (my evil laugh). Plus I have an unfair advantage with all the conversations, magazines, t.v. shows and podcasts around our place, I can cold read a skeptic at 50 paces.
Back to the trick. It took me two tries to figure out that I knew this trick. I learned it from the Penn and Teller Book "Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends". The responses cracked me up though. |
You learn something new every g****mn day! |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 17:05:00 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by LizW
quote:
by Filthy
As I selected no card, any card the game selected to remove could only be wrong. Kinda like cold reading: tell the reader nothing and he debunks himself.
As someone with a bit of experience with the mystical powers of cold reading. I find out more about a person from their dress and their body language than I do from anything that comes out of their mouths. Mwa Ha Ha (my evil laugh). Plus I have an unfair advantage with all the conversations, magazines, t.v. shows and podcasts around our place, I can cold read a skeptic at 50 paces.
Back to the trick. It took me two tries to figure out that I knew this trick. I learned it from the Penn and Teller Book "Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends". The responses cracked me up though.
We are all cold readers. It's a cultural survival skill, really.
But the pro cold readers such as John Edward rely upon rapid-fire 'hit or miss' questions that go far beyond what we do in our everyday lives. Even the questions that miss tell the pro a little about his victim subject.
But that was a very neat card trick, wasn't it?
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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LizW
Skeptic Friend
USA
113 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2005 : 15:02:21 [Permalink]
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I loved the article, Filthy!
I left a suggestion in book reviews you might like. |
You learn something new every g****mn day! |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2005 : 15:51:27 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by LizW
I loved the article, Filthy!
I left a suggestion in book reviews you might like.
Thanks! I enjoyed researching it. It's a fascinating subject.
Another I'd like to see done are card tricks; not the electronic kind, but with a real deck. Card mechanics are even more highly skilled than the pro cold readers.
Another interesting topic might be math tricks, that I have never been able to figger out... 
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2005 : 17:27:43 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by filthy
quote:
Originally posted by LizW
quote:
by Filthy
As I selected no card, any card the game selected to remove could only be wrong. Kinda like cold reading: tell the reader nothing and he debunks himself.
As someone with a bit of experience with the mystical powers of cold reading. I find out more about a person from their dress and their body language than I do from anything that comes out of their mouths. Mwa Ha Ha (my evil laugh). Plus I have an unfair advantage with all the conversations, magazines, t.v. shows and podcasts around our place, I can cold read a skeptic at 50 paces.
Back to the trick. It took me two tries to figure out that I knew this trick. I learned it from the Penn and Teller Book "Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends". The responses cracked me up though.
We are all cold readers. It's a cultural survival skill, really.
But the pro cold readers such as John Edward rely upon rapid-fire 'hit or miss' questions that go far beyond what we do in our everyday lives. Even the questions that miss tell the pro a little about his victim subject.
But that was a very neat card trick, wasn't it?
John Edwards's show is now on Brazilian TV. I watched it once and it made me want to hurt him. Furiously.  |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2005 : 23:19:04 [Permalink]
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| OK, while we're on the subject, David Blaine's new show was on again tonight. I understand how one gets a person to pick a number or card by subliminal suggestion and then predict the choice. But tell me how does Blaine get someone to name a person that is important to them and arrange to have a taxi drive by with that name written on the side? Or how does he end up with that name written on his arm or chest? Does he read the folded note and write the name or does he somehow suggest the name to the person? I am amazed by that guy's tricks. |
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GeeMack
SFN Regular
USA
1093 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2005 : 14:17:13 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal...
Does he read the folded note and write the name or does he somehow suggest the name to the person?
Almost always the magician reads the note or gains the information through some sort of trickery or ruse. There are several methods for doing this. Possibly the real note is exchanged for a bogus note which stays in view of the audience, leaving the magician access to read the real one. There are special items built for magicians such as electronic clipboards that work like a computer touch pad. If a paper is placed on this board and a note written on the paper, it can transmit a copy of the note to a remote location. The method may be as simple as someone with binoculars watching from a nearby window while the note is written and sending the magician a message by a walkie-talkie type device.
Usually on eBay there are CDs and DVDs available for pretty low prices with explanations for many tricks seen on the David Blaine shows. These usually aren't instructional videos like a magician might purchase to learn new material. They are more or less simple exposés providing the basic secret methods to many of the current popular tricks. Search eBay for "Blaine magic". But when it gets right down to it, it's really more fun and more entertaining when you don't know the secrets. 
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2005 : 15:34:49 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by GeeMack
But when it gets right down to it, it's really more fun and more entertaining when you don't know the secrets.
I completely disagree. I really enjoy magic, but it drives me absolutely batty when I can't figure out how a trick was done. I need to have some general inkling at least. Not knowing irritates like a splinter under my skin. Nothing "fun" about it. Personally, I like seeing the method behind a trick revealed at the end. That way, I can appreciate both the effect the trick has on me and the craft behind an illusion's setup and execution.
But that's just me. I was actually thinking about starting a thread on this subject. I'm curious to know how most people feel about magic tricks. Do they like knowing how it was done in the end or would they rather be kept in the dark?
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 09/19/2005 15:35:52 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2005 : 16:41:27 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by H. Humbert
quote:
Originally posted by GeeMack
But when it gets right down to it, it's really more fun and more entertaining when you don't know the secrets.
I completely disagree. I really enjoy magic, but it drives me absolutely batty when I can't figure out how a trick was done. I need to have some general inkling at least. Not knowing irritates like a splinter under my skin. Nothing "fun" about it. Personally, I like seeing the method behind a trick revealed at the end. That way, I can appreciate both the effect the trick has on me and the craft behind an illusion's setup and execution.
But that's just me. I was actually thinking about starting a thread on this subject. I'm curious to know how most people feel about magic tricks. Do they like knowing how it was done in the end or would they rather be kept in the dark?
I love a good magic and/or mentalist act!
And like everyone else, I sometimes get crazy trying to figure it out; but if the truth be known, I really don't care one way or the other. I don't have to know.
I think that half the fun is in the figgerin', and if I don't get it the first time I see it, well, there's always the next time not to get it again. 
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2005 : 01:00:44 [Permalink]
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It's fun to see the mystery, but I'm ready to figure out how those tricks of Blaine's are done.
I'll go for the electronic message or other observation for the name on the car.
So what kind of optical illusion makes it look like you are reaching into a glass case? And also one you can't detect from close up since there are folks close to him when he does it?
I've seen that Ebay stuff for sale. I'd never buy a CD though. Too much money just to satisfy my curiosity. |
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furshur
SFN Regular
USA
1536 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2005 : 06:38:41 [Permalink]
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quote:
But tell me how does Blaine get someone to name a person that is important to them and arrange to have a taxi drive by with that name written on the side? Or how does he end up with that name written on his arm or chest? Does he read the folded note and write the name or does he somehow suggest the name to the person? I am amazed by that guy's tricks.
I saw a show on how it is done and basically as with most magic it is pretty simple. [The 'real' magic is not simple, such as slight of hand which is a wonderful art form in my estimation.] What Blaine does is he says, "write the name of someone important to you on a piece of paper." Then, as he takes the paper he says "did you write in script or print it". Which ever way the person responds he says that he wants it written the other way. As he is saying this he rips up the paper and throws it on the ground. Well of course he palmed the paper and walks away turns his back and looks at the paper. This part is never in the filmed part of the trick. At this point he can contact a confederate or write the name on his arm while he is away from the crowd with his back turned.
It really is that simple I saw a film with the out takes of him ripping up the first paper.
Here is how to levitate like Blaine. This trick seems really stupid and obvious but I have done this several times for different people and there reactions are an riot - they are stunned. It only takes about 15 minutes of practice to get the angle right to make it look 'real'. Ever notice the angle that Blaine stand and how he very carefully positions himself relative to the audience?
I am not knocking him, I think Blaine is a wonderful magician and always enjoy his performances.
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If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2005 : 07:11:12 [Permalink]
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The best I have ever seen was a slight of hand act performed by a street magician in Las Vegas. His props were cards, coins and chips. He wore a black, long-sleeved pull-over and white, silk (I assume they were silk) gloves. He worked at a tiny table covered with black velvet and his audience was all but on top of him.
It was truly amazing the way he made the chips and all disappear, reappear and multiply. He also mixed it up, like starting a trick with a coin and ending up with the coin, a card, and a couple of chips. Through it all, he kept up a soft patter, as if he were speaking to his props.
Apart from knowing about false shuffles, I don't know how the hell he did it, and if I were a believer, I might have accused him of witchcraft, he was that good.
As it was, I left a $20 with him and walked away feeling enlightened.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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