Episode 28 - Mind Control Scam [Discussion]

[murphy1d]

Hahahaha..just watched Bullet Proof (Grindhouse) for the first time!

Butterfly, am I supposed to give you a lap dance now? (just watch the movie peeps).

[murphy1d]

And yeah, Its Death Proof, but I can't edit my previous post now.

[murphy1d]

OK, here you go. For those who haven't seen it yet.

[jeff_in_florida]

So i just watched this eppisode and right after I finished my friend Pheobe logged on so I decided I just had to try this one out on her. Here is the IM conversation

Jeff (2:13:37 PM): Hey want to see something cool?
Jeff (2:13:40 PM): its a magic trick
Pheobe (2:13:46 PM): k
Jeff(2:13:59 PM): I can say something - a poem to be precise.
and it will put a thought in your head.
Jeff (2:14:26 PM): first, read this poem (a robert frost piece):


The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


Let me know when you’re done.
Pheobe (2:17:46 PM): done
Jeff (2:17:53 PM): ok now think of a playing card
Jeff (2:17:59 PM): and tell me which one
Pheobe (2:18:20 PM): queen of hearts
Jeff (2:19:08 PM): Queen of hearts? really? check this out.
search Reverend Byron Triplett on YouTube
watch the first video that pops up.
Pheobe (2:21:39 PM): holy shit
Jeff (2:21:49 PM): I made you think that
Jeff (2:21:50 PM): hahahaha
Pheobe (2:23:44 PM): damn thats pretty sweet
Jeff (2:24:01 PM): ok so want to know how i did it?
Pheobe (2:24:33 PM): ok
Jeff (2:24:55 PM): watch this
Jeff(2:24:56 PM): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs98icS6q-Q (it is the link to the eppsidoe on youtube)
Pheobe (2:30:57 PM): ......
Pheobe (2:31:00 PM): glares
Pheobe (2:31:06 PM): i feel cheated
Pheobe (2:31:18 PM): bambozaled
Pheobe (2:31:19 PM): ........
Jeff (2:31:21 PM): haha
Jeff(2:31:38 PM): you were the first person to log on after i watched this so i had to try it
Pheobe (2:31:58 PM): lol

[metacore]

I just did the trick on a friend of mine, but I did it a little differently.

After doing the trick on another friend, they said they immediately tried it on a third person. It happened to have worked(and I was all WTF. These two people have the same birthday too), but I realized that if it didn't it would obviously be figured out, and the trick's over and very short lived, so all I did was add two things.

After they say something like "no way?!" I say "what do you mean, no way, do you not think it's real?". If that is enough to snap them out of it, I clue them in, but most people just say "well, obviously, it's real". This is when I really mess with them. Now I say something like "just try it on someone else to see how real it is". This way, you're kinda playing a second trick on them, because it's not going to work, but now they won't even know what to think, since it really did work on them.

However, because my friend tried it out right away, he told me right away it didn't work a second time. After I finished laughing, I asked what card his friend gave him, and after he told me I said "wait, are you sure you showed him the right video?" and gave him the link for the new card.

Now, he's three times as confused, and I just tricked his friend by proxy.

I think you guys can replicate it, and your friends' reactions would be three times as good if you can pull it off. Also, assuming they are smart enough to figure it out, instead of assuming they are crazy or something(like noticing I gave him two different url for two different videos), you could send them the link to mindcontrolscam.com, and Scam School just got a new fan.

[lazyorbit]

i just caught on to brian brushwood's scam school (watched scams, sasquatch and the supernatural lecture then wiki-ed him) and the tricks are freaking awesum...

this trick is my favourite because i can't keep a straight face when pranking someone, and i can do this over msn! i can laugh in my seat and still sound serious.

i've pranked 6 people in two nights, this is absolutely aweeeessssssssuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmm

[travissheridan]

So, one of the challenges I immediately faced was when on-lookers said that a different card came to mind. There were three people besides my mark and each "played along" by taking a deep breath and closing their eyes.

Easy fix: Hold hands with your mark.

The holding of the hands creates greater connection. It also gives a believable out wen an on-looker claims to think of a different card.

Other bonus: Great for meeting chicks. If there is one thing Scam School has taught me, free drinks are good, chatting with hotties is better.

Here is a perfect scenario that recently played out:
Cute girl was with a dumb-ass DB at a local bar. She (and he) instantly became my marks. I wanted to separate the two of them and try to move in. Their body language told me that they were together, but together together (wow, I feel like I was transported to Jr High). I was doing some walk around stuff in their general area when the DB (predictably) asked to see something cool. I stroked his ego by telling him that I usually work with a beautiful assistant and asked to borrow his lady for this experiment. He beamed with pride (he was so easy to bait). Went through the mind control scam (with holding her hands) and they looked up the video on his iPhone. She smiled and he was only mildly amused. In exchange for lending me his lady to be mu assistant, I wanted to offer to buy them both a drink. I asked if he wanted to make it interesting by trying a little prediction experiment. He wanted to try to prove that I was not really as cool as his lady thought (she was still smiling from the last trick) so he bit. I then did the "a few pennies for a beer" and he was so certain that he was going to show me up. I introduced the wager at this point: He wins and I buy a drink for he and his lady. I win and he buys a drink for me and his lady.

I won. She laughs at him and with me.

She and I went out the next night.

Scam School rocks.

[samwisethebrave]

Brian could you do another mind control scam? I've done the card one to several of my friends and a lot of them are like "cool does that work with other stuff too?". So if you could waste another...really long amount of your life (I imagine making all those videos took forever even though it's obvious that only a couple parts are changed) to make us another mind control prank, that would be really awesome. (basic colors, etc)