The description is sparse, but it sounds like a "Light & Heavy Chest" type of effect....using playing card boxes??? I don't really know.

Charlie Frye, Meir Yedid, and Wellington Enterprises are all involved - which speaks highly of this trick/prop.

Its just that without a video or a better description - I'm still vague, but interested in this.

Aside from me writing to Meir, I thought I'd ask anyone here - if they have this, and what they think of it? plus performing conditions, etc.

Thanks.

--Moxahalla


https://www.mymagic.com/p/walk-around-ma......ir-yedid

Further research shows me that the "effect" of the above "Heavy Handed" trick - is that of the "Charpentier Illusion" (aka "3 Deck illusion").

Many examples are found on Google & Youtube.

"Heavy Handed" incorporates a "gimmick", so perhaps it becomes an additional fooler for those who know of the basic scientific principle involved.

I'm not at home but in reading this thread of which I had been unaware of this principle, it makes me want to go home and try it out as a possible use with Industrial Revelation.

Sounds fun : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iItQVjrk00g
But with "heavy handed", can the spec open the box ?

No they can't look in the box.
In fact there may be something wrong with me but the illusion just didn't work when I tried it on myself [as suggested in the instructions]

Hey thanks Markymark. Mmm I will try it with 3 decks to see if it work for me

Does this trick add anything extra to the traditional scientific principle? I would love to see more reviews for this trick.

I don't have "Heavy-Handed" but I do have the version from Grand Illusions that is shown in the video link above. It is a strange illusion, to be sure. The Grand Illusions version is nicely made.

Edit.

The size–weight illusion, also known as the Charpentier illusion, is named after the French physician Augustin Charpentier[1] because he was the first to demonstrate the illusion experimentally.[2][3] The illusion occurs when a person underestimates the weight of a larger object (e.g. a box) when compared to a smaller object of the same mass. Similar illusions occurs with differences in material and colour: metal containers feel lighter than wooden containers of the same size and mass,[4] and darker objects feel heavier than brighter objects of the same size and mass.[5][6] These illusions can all be described as contrast with the expected weight.[7] The expected weight or density can be measured by matching visible and hidden weights, lifted in the same manner. This gives an expected density of about 1.7 for metal canisters and 0.14 for polystyrene blocks.[8] Density expectations may assist in selecting suitable objects to throw.[9]

An early explanation of these illusions was that people judge the weight of an object from its appearance and then lift it with a pre-determined force. They expect a larger object to be heavier and therefore lift it with greater force: the larger object is then lifted more easily than the smaller one, causing it to be perceived as lighter.[10] This hypothesis was disproved by an experiment in which two objects of the same mass, same cross section, but different height were placed on observers' supported hands, and produced a passive size–weight illusion.[11] Recent studies have also shown that the lifting force quickly adapts to the true mass of the objects, but the size–weight illusion remains.[12][13][14] The illusion therefore cannot be explained by the manner of lifting, and must be due to some perceptual rescaling based on prior expectations. The rescaling has been described as sub-optimal (anti-Bayesian), in that the central nervous system integrates prior expectations with current proprioceptive information in a way that emphasises the unexpected information rather than taking an average of all information.[14][15] It has also recently been suggested that the illusion may not be anti-Bayesian, but may instead rely on more complex yet still optimal inference processes than traditionally suggested.[16]

Other models describe the rescaling as partly beneficial, in that it enhances discrimination. Contrast effects are common in many perceptual modalities, and are similar to physiological adaptation. Adaptation can be explained as a change in the gain of the system, the gain being set to the appropriate level for maximum discrimination and for protection against sensory overload. Contrast effects may similarly be related to efficient neural coding.[14] If the selected range is either too high or too low, as in the size–weight illusion, there is both a contrast illusion and a loss of discrimination. It has been found that weight discrimination deteriorates if objects are lighter than their expected density,[17][18] or heavier than their expected density.[17] Models of this type can account for perceptual rescaling without involving the manner of lifting.

I recently bought this and am not disappointed. I decided to make it more of a trick than a puzzle by talking about the princess and the pea or some other story where each card box is a mattress and how the movers could lift them but the queen demanded to be carried in. Unfortunately she had put on a lot of weight making this a challenge (as I place a queen of hearts and have them lift the first one). Just playing around with idea. Thought I'd share. Meir talks of using a quarter or poker chip but this effect needs framing and purpose, other wise it's just a puzzle.

I love this trick but having a heck of a time coming up with a good storyline for it...I love the queen gained weight scenario...but I would probably change it to the king gain weight...it's ok to fat shame guys...but not gals lol. If there are any other creative storylines I could use with this...I'm all ears.. One angle I have used was I put a feather on top when I ask them to lift just the top deck.

I saw a fellow do this years ago who had a terrific throw-off that added immeasurably to the experience.
He came into Fantasma Magic shop in NYC where I happened to be that afternoon. I think he was from the Pacific Northwest, and he said he had something to show us that he'd made himself.
Three rectangular wooden blocks, each painted a different color as I recall.
He set the blocks on a cloth-covered platform, like a little stage.
Each of us got a chance to lift the wooden blocks and experience two of them feeling heavier than three and even one of them feeling heavier than three.
Very cool, but we were all thinking the same thing: remote controlled electromagnet or some other contraption hidden inside the cloth covered platform.
The guy played it perfectly, seemingly clueless that we might suspect his little platform of housing some shenanigans.
Finally one of us said, "Can you do it without the little platform?" or "Can we look underneath?"--something like that.
"Of course!" he says, and proceeds to remove the cloth, revealing the base simply to be an overturned cardboard box akin to a shoe box, which was empty.
Then we were allowed to repeat the experience with the blocks resting on the shop's glass topped counter.
Very good!

Don't see a problem at all with saying a guy or girl gained weight? How is that fat shaming? IMO, it's life, many people gain and lose weight throughout life? Some more than others? I believe that's simply a fact not shaming. USE the story! Don't let this "WOKE" culture being pushed on us corrupt your brain from discernment and common sense.