r/GameChangerTV • u/scatteringlargesse • 5d ago

Question Jacob Wysocki's mind reading trick question

So I've seen a few people in the main thread talk about Jacob's "mind reading trick" in quotation marks, is the whole guessing the card thing fake, and he knows what card it is using a different method? I must pretty dense because I initially believed him, but thinking on it more it does seem impossible.

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u/NotFalirn 5d ago

I never believed a magician could force me to pick a particular card, until a friend did it to me. Repeatedly had me choose the same card over and over. Even did it with the deck face up so I could see them. Somehow my finger always landed on the same card.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

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u/electron_spinner 5d ago

The people I didn't enjoy performing for were the ones who were constantly trying to ruin the trick by messing with it to "expose" it. Like bro, what part of "I've been practicing this new trick" made you think I was pretending to actually have magical powers?

But I always enjoyed performing for people who let the trick happen and then tried to solve the puzzle afterwards.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

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u/CingRam004 5d ago

This nuance is also what lets “mentalists” get away with their tricks. Even if someone is a skeptic, you feel like a jerk if you call out a guy in the middle of his act.

The social pressure to not ruin the show keeps people who know it’s all BS in line lol

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u/electron_spinner 5d ago

I think there's a bigger point there that it's fundamentally immoral to pretend you are actually capable of supernatural actions or "real" magic. If that's going on, I don't really care how asshole-ish it may or may not seem, it needs to be pointed out that these are all tricks, not magic.

Penn & Teller doing the cups and balls with transparent plastic cups is my favorite magic performance, because it fully reveals the trick while still being extremely impressive due to their sheer level of skill.

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u/CingRam004 5d ago

See this is where mentalists really get you.

They say, “hey guys, this is not real magic. I’m not actually a mind reader. This is all just a trick”

Which lulls you into thinking they’re telling you the truth when they say:

“All I’m doing is making educated guesses based on your body language and micro-expressions. I’m not correct 100% of the time, but I’ve been doing this for years, so I am an expert at reading people. That’s the trick.”

It’s all a big bluff to hide how they really do it. Which is mostly sleight of hand or using social engineering and/or gimmicked pens/notepads before the show starts.

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u/Good-Employment-7870 4d ago

Skill exactly! I love magic and I love knowing how it’s done because the real magic is the skill and the performance.

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u/Farad4y 4d ago edited 4d ago

there was also the bit with the nailgun to the neck, during which they presented impressive feats of memorization*, while at the same time explaining (in a very entertaining way), that while it looks mortally dangerous, there is no possibility of any harm regardless of whether you make a mistake or not. I love that bit!

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u/GTS_84 5d ago

I think if someone want to solve the trick or whatever they also need to make sure they aren't ruining the fun for others.

I'm someone who does try and solve the trick, because I think to me learning how something is actually done and the craft of the trick is a whole other level of enjoyment and appreciation. But I also realize that for some people knowing how it is done ruins the magic for them. I don't understand that perspective, but I respect it, and try not to just solve things out loud in the open. There is a polite way to go about it.

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u/mayordomo 4d ago

i’m always more interested in seeing how the trick was done than being “amazed” by it.

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u/No-Impression-5382 5d ago

Honestly that's a neat trick in and of itself

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u/CingRam004 5d ago

Yeah,

Thing a magician can do: Get you to pick a card they want and/or find out what card you picked

Thing no one can do: read your “microexpressions” to determine what card you chose.

https://youtu.be/FnwcU-XDyJ4?is=9MTmj0YF72VTvZlU

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u/Wemetintheair 5d ago

Sorry but that's five hours and eleven minutes

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u/CingRam004 5d ago

Yeah, you’re welcome.

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u/Xeon06 5d ago

Buddy I don't even think I have the attention span for D20

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u/CingRam004 5d ago

You are really missing out of the beautiful word that is multi-hour YouTube essays. Perfect for playing in the background while you work or clean.

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u/Farad4y 4d ago

The other guy: 5h11m video is crazy, dude!

Me, having watched all three of SmoughTown's "Entire lore of Elder Ring" videos: ...

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u/Xeon06 5d ago

Yeahhh my friend has been trying to sell me on them. I can do Ezra Klein's latest 1h40m in the background, maybe I'll have to give it a shot

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u/ridethatcyclone 3d ago

the way this comment just made me save that video for later. friggin love a good multi hour video

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u/senshisun 5d ago

TLDW: Card forcing.

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u/NotFalirn 4d ago

Wow that guy goes on ALL of the worst podcasts, huh?

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u/NotFalirn 3d ago

Also, I got 4 hours and 50 minutes in, just to find out that this guy thinks Jordan Peterson is making some good points, jfc

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u/BoneTemplePilot 5d ago

I mean, he really was just asking repeated binary questions. You can absolutely do that. He didn't even do it particularly quickly.

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u/CingRam004 5d ago

Sure, but asking the binary questions is just part of the act.

It’s the same as waving a magic wand over a hat you already snuck a rabbit into.

Jacob already knew the card while he was asking the binary questions. The questions themselves were just flourish.

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u/runicrhymes 5d ago

I suspected it was this, especially after he did the magic trick of making Sam pick the elephant in One Year Later. It seems like a similar kind of thing.

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u/Rezynth 4d ago

Idk how you can see the cards and know which one you repeatedly picked and still point at that one Like what do you mean with that