View Full Version : Episode 55 - Watch Cali Lewis, Tony Hsieh and Jay Adelson get scammed! [Discussion]
travislopes
04-02-2009, 03:36 AM
Brian performs some magic tricks in front of some big wig web celebs!
Watch and download here. (http://revision3.com/scamschool/webcelebs/)
minton
04-02-2009, 04:44 AM
good episode, I was really hoping we were going to learn how to do the flash cash trick...that one would be great to add to my arsenal!!!
I guess I lose some geek cred since I didn't know any of the "celebs"
Like the ending. Mock people for not attending to your class :-)
eminemdrdre00
04-02-2009, 06:18 AM
Ah what the heck...why didnt he reveal the secrets?
Ah what the heck...why didnt he reveal the secrets?
I dont know about you but it would be fun to let that wait a week or a few days to figure it out on my own. What do you other think?
dpsoccer12
04-02-2009, 07:30 AM
Brian,
Two things regarding episode 55.
The first is, were you really deceived by Tony's trick the first couple times, or were you just being a good friend and going along with it?
The second thing is, i was kinda sad that we didnt get to learn a new scam. I was excited upon seeing the money changing trick, but alas you didnt teach us. :(
Overall though, love the show....keep up the great work
metacore
04-02-2009, 09:53 AM
Well, there are pretty much only a couple of ways it could have went down, I think.
Well, I figure he either somehow saw the name, and the rest is BS filler to throw you off(very doubtful, but who knows) or he really did just figure it out from some of the clues he got(also, I'm assuming, you ask anyone for a celebrity's name, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are probably the first two names that pop into their head.) I mean, it was cut in a way to show it's more or less the same line of questioning, with little tweaks to fit the answers and responses, and personality(geeky for the host of the geeky show, and action, cause, well, chances are it's either an action movie or a comedy, and he could have just said no and you move on to comedy), then, you have an idea of the movie and the first letter of the star's name(he does the first letter thing in the book test as well) and some statistics.
Or, most likely, I'm way off in both counts. Still, everyone go around and ask people for the first celebrity that pops into their head, I sorta wanna see if it's true.
Well, I figure he either somehow saw the name, and the rest is BS filler to throw you off(very doubtful, but who knows)
Might be that the card they are writing on is soft and show on backside what they wrote.
Use a pen that requires some more pressure than normal and card that is soft. Might work better if you prep the card in some way I haven't found out how yet. Will be back with some other ideas.
Or just a really good 20questions player.
tjpeople
04-02-2009, 01:08 PM
Last time I checked it was Scam SCHOOL. I want to be schooled on the tricks!
For the Celeb guessing game, ruling out him seeing/in some way reading the card, There is one obvious way that works great for an edited show. (Shown on an amazing scale by Derren Brown) Do we know how many different people he tried the trick on and failed? It's not a super long trick he could have tried a bunch of different web celebs and the ones that failed we never saw.
Last time I checked it was Scam SCHOOL. I want to be schooled on the tricks!
.
Lets not be like that. Its good in a educational purpose. Problem based Learning is fun. How nice is it to be spoon feed like a infant :-) every time. Work those brain muscles. You too will figure this out. Im guessing Brian will spill the beans later.
/Robion
certainphate
04-02-2009, 02:17 PM
the dollar bill trick is called "extreme burn" there are some tutorials around the net for it but they are hard to find since richard sanders is currently selling it for around 30 bucks. if you ask me the trick isnt worth that much dough. check the magic cafe forums for a tutorial
jdhore
04-02-2009, 02:46 PM
For the celeb guessing trick i noticed he put the card in his wallet...Perhaps it was a gaffed wallet that somehow allows him to see it?
Also, if he has the actor/actress, guessing the movie isn't all THAT hard.
happyhippyharry
04-02-2009, 04:26 PM
Brian,
The second thing is, i was kinda sad that we didnt get to learn a new scam. I was excited upon seeing the money changing trick, but alas you didnt teach us. :(
Me too! I was gutted when I found out we didn't learn it :(
Perhaps Brian could divulge.....
minton
04-02-2009, 05:08 PM
hmmmm....money changing trick could make a great live show tutorial!!!
certainphate
04-02-2009, 05:10 PM
for those of you too stubborn to search....
pIitwIMnCZE
brian wont teach this becuase it is owned by another magician and requires purcahse
mrpopular
04-02-2009, 05:28 PM
Omg he pulled out the big gun tricks... and didn't teach us ...
(in My Best Darth Vader coive) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
mrpopular
04-02-2009, 05:41 PM
Oh ya my theory on everyone picking Angelina jolie or Brad Pitt has something do with the business card. maybe it's says Mrs. Angelina Smith
millenia20
04-02-2009, 06:57 PM
Oh ya my theory on everyone picking Angelina jolie or Brad Pitt has something do with the business card. maybe it's says Mrs. Angelina Smith
It could just be some sort of sleight of hand that lets him check it or it might be like what you said. Derren Brown does a lot of that NLP stuff, where there's some sort of hint on the card of something in the background that would put the initial image into someone's head.
travislopes
04-02-2009, 07:18 PM
It could just be some sort of sleight of hand that lets him check it or it might be like what you said. Derren Brown does a lot of that NLP stuff, where there's some sort of hint on the card of something in the background that would put the initial image into someone's head.
This definitely isn't some slight-of-hand. This is a variation of the trick Brian does where he has the victim pick a word out of a book and figures out the word.
millenia20
04-02-2009, 10:00 PM
This definitely isn't some slight-of-hand. This is a variation of the trick Brian does where he has the victim pick a word out of a book and figures out the word.
I've seen that trick a couple of times. It's pretty neat. I've been very interested in those "mind reading" tricks over this past year.
nikto
04-02-2009, 10:19 PM
As far as guessing the celeb, I think there's something going on when he pulls the second card from his wallet (the one to write the movie name on). Look at around 3:47 into the video. Seems to have his wallet open longer than needed to just pull out a card. Somehow he is able to sneak a peek at the first card at that point. Know the celeb, then make an educated guess of the movie using some prompting. That's my guess.
Also - why would he need to go back to his wallet for a second card to write on? Why not just start with two blank ones out ahead of time? hmmm...
black_magic
04-03-2009, 02:54 AM
Yeah - it's also worth noting that 2/3rds of the movies he got wrong. I'm betting he is cold reading that part (the same thing 'psychics' use a lot of the time) - I wouldn't doubt there is an actual trick to getting the actor/actress though.
uuilliam
04-03-2009, 03:36 AM
Brian id like to know if in the trick at the end: did you genuinly not realise he put all that tissue in your hair or was it set up?
minton
04-03-2009, 03:39 AM
I'm guessing the evil smile at the camera at the end was a sign he knew the trick...remember from leno his acting skills are the greatest on earth!!!
thekendon
04-03-2009, 04:07 AM
As far as guessing the celeb, I think there's something going on when he pulls the second card from his wallet (the one to write the movie name on). Look at around 3:47 into the video. Seems to have his wallet open longer than needed to just pull out a card. Somehow he is able to sneak a peek at the first card at that point. Know the celeb, then make an educated guess of the movie using some prompting. That's my guess.
Also - why would he need to go back to his wallet for a second card to write on? Why not just start with two blank ones out ahead of time? hmmm...
Yeah, that is what I was thinking too. I tried it using that method and it worked moderately well, but he was able to guess how I did it (though I made him think that his guess was wrong).
shwooddotcom
04-03-2009, 04:16 AM
Brian id like to know if in the trick at the end: did you genuinly not realise he put all that tissue in your hair or was it set up?
LOL... nah. I'm a good support man, though. I suspected where this was headed and made sure to focus in tight on the deck. If you watch closely, you can see me suppress a smile just after the first time he chucks the tissue.
What a fun time, though. Tony was great!
zipbow
04-04-2009, 03:05 AM
Brian, I think the camera man just gave away the bill change trick accidentally. But I still can't quite figure out how the "upgrade" is done so quickly.
I really liked the mind reading trick. I'll need a new wallet to pull that one off... don't think my money clip works with that... If only there's a way to guess the movie title too!
zipbow
04-04-2009, 03:10 AM
Yeah, that is what I was thinking too. I tried it using that method and it worked moderately well, but he was able to guess how I did it (though I made him think that his guess was wrong).
If you did what I think you did, perhaps you can slide another card over to cover up (while you pull out the second blank card). That way if your friend wants to inspect the trick it won't be as obvious.
radzack
04-06-2009, 09:41 PM
One moment brian was scamming tony, I walk away for 10 mins and come back, and he has tissue in his spikes. Fun night :)