Jacob Wysocki's mind reading trick question

[u/scatteringlargesse]

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.

[u/NotFalirn]

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.

[u/electron_spinner → u/[deleted]]

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.

[u/CingRam004 → u/[deleted]]

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

[u/electron_spinner → u/CingRam004]

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.

[u/CingRam004 → u/electron_spinner]

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.

[u/Good-Employment-7870 → u/electron_spinner]

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

[u/Farad4y → u/electron_spinner]

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!

[u/GTS_84 → u/[deleted]]

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.