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0pus Inner circle New Jersey 1739 Posts |
Well, I was thinking about an effect on Dan Harlan’s “Packs Small, Plays Big” Mentalism Show DVD called “Mind Your Hands,” in which members of the audience are given mismatched pairs of gloves and form a line on stage by joining like-colored gloved hands together. The ends of the line are the colors of the remaining pair of mismatched gloves, which were left for the performer.
This effect is purely mathematical and uses what Harlan calls the “domino” principle. My thought is to discuss the problems encountered when dealing with socks: one sock disappears in the wash; one sock of a pair becomes lighter that the other for some reason; it is impossible to accurately match socks unless under bright lights. And that is why I brought my clean socks to the show – I will be seeking the audience’s help in pairing them. I show the socks in a small net drawstring laundry bag (it is actually a two-compartment bag with the same number of matched pairs plus one odd sock in each side). I have members of the audience take one sock from the bag (the first compartment) and then go back to each to take another sock from the bag (the second compartment). I have the spectators on stage put one sock on each hand and have them link up in a line as Harlan did. Each joined hand forms a matched pair with two mismatches on the end. I say that the mismatch IS a pair because I am wearing a pair just like it. I pull up my trouser legs and show I am wearing an identical mismatched pair. Does this work out mathematically? I think that I will have no duplicate pairs of socks; I will have bright solid colors; stripes and even brightly colored argyles. I believe that this will give the desired result. Am I correct? 0pus |
landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts |
That will work, but I'm not sure I understand why you need two compartments in the bag. You can throw in all the socks in one normal bag, have the specs pick socks, and the effect should still work out fine.
Now you might want to openly use two bags, so that perhaps in the audience's mind it seems like even more of a random selection procedure. But I don't think that's necessary. BTW, I work in a school with a large Dominican population, and in the Dominican Republic, dominoes is practically a national sport. The students play dominoes almost every day during lunch period. I often surreptitiously steal a domino and then predict the ending of the game--it's a very powerful thing to do! Jack Shalom
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0pus Inner circle New Jersey 1739 Posts |
Jack,
I want to ensure that no one gets a matched pair, which is a possibility if all of the socks are in a single container. Accordingly, two compartments to make this happen. Upon further thought, I am considering a three-compartment bag, with the center compartment containing the last two unmatched socks (say, red and green) for me. Not only will the final pair match the two ends of the line, but I will also be wearing a "matching" red/green pair. 0pus |
DanHarlan V.I.P. 998 Posts |
Opus--
This idea has merit, but I have a couple of reservations about it. 1. People putting socks on their hands. Not typically a comfortable public action (even if they are clean), so why can't they just hold them? 2. I think the structure of the routine tips the method. The domino principle is somewhat transparent anyway (until you get to higher numbers of dominoes -- such as a double six set). It's important for people to see the randomness. 3. The use of a trick bag makes everything trickier. That's a step backwards for a self-working trick, in my opinion. 4. I think you may need a little clarification on the principle. Using five colors (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue) there are exactly 10 ways to pair them mis-matched: R/O R/Y R/G R/B O/Y O/G O/B Y/G Y/B G/B If you make a set of "dominoes" like this and match them up, the ends will always match. But, remove any one and its two colors will predict the ends. It's actually pretty easy to see why if you lay the dominoes in a circle instead of a line. You'll notice that it's easy to create this set by starting with the first color (R) and pairing it in succession with each color that follows it. Then move onto the second color (O) and pair it only with the colors that follow it (since it has already been paired with Red). Continue with each color. Here's the information that I think will help your case: These are not the only pairings that will work! The set above has the most variety and is guaranteed to work, but most other random pairings will also work. Just as long as four people do not have the same mismatch (say Red/Orange, for example) because this creates its own circle (R/O, O/R, R/O, OR) and there is no way to link it to any other color. See? You really don't need a bag with compartments at all. In fact, given your storyline, I would suggest a mesh laundry bag. Here's what you need to do: Buy two pairs of socks in five different colors. Let's say you want to force Red/Green. Take a Red sock and put it on one foot and a Green sock and put it on the other foot. Stack the remaining socks in this order -- O,O,O,O,B,B,B,B,Y,Y,Y,Y,R,R,R,G,G,G,. Notice that the order is 4,4,4,3,3. There is no way the audience can tell that there are two socks missing! Now, as you give your opening monologue, begin taking the socks off the pile two at a time (displaying clearly that they match) and dropping them into the laundry bag, where they can still be seen. After taking 3 pairs that match, start talking about the mismatch idea and take one sock from the top of the pile and one from the bottom. Continue in this fashion until all the socks are in the bag. No move, no gimmick! Everyone will assume that there are paired colors mixed in the bag. Have the bag shaken. Ask each person to reach in and take any two colors they want, as long as they don't match. Double check to make sure that 4 people do not have the same mismatch (very unlikely, but if it happens get them to switch some more) Get them to line up (matching) and continue to your revelation. That's it! As a bonus, you can change the combination on your feet every show (10 possibilities) and never have to remember a thing! --Dan Harlan |
0pus Inner circle New Jersey 1739 Posts |
Thanks, Dan. I like it a lot.
0pus |
owen.daniel Inner circle England 1048 Posts |
Thanks for your input Dan, I would never have noticed those discrepencies, yet still I like the idea Opus.
owen |
Magicmike1949 Special user 643 Posts |
Did you ever do this, Opus? How did it play?
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novasteeple Regular user 170 Posts |
This would be great to do after performing the entrance from a laundry basket that Dan teaches in his Tarbell 45 video: http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/6672
You could also do something with the laundry detergent along the lines of a disappearing milk in newspaper trick. |
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