13. 3 Matchbox Monte
class: tweener | impressiveness: 2/5 | factors: big setup, effective | requires: 4 matchbooks, rubber bands, glue
The 3-card monte’s a classic, but it also requires a bit of sleight-of-hand skill. If you’re lazy like me, here’s a quick-and-dirty way to screw over your friends without learning anything about card manipulation:
The Setup: Set out 3 matchbooks. Pick them up and shake them one at a time to show that two of them are empty, and the third one is clearly full of matches (you can hear them loudly rattling around inside). The challenge is simple: follow the box that’s full of matches. Guess correctly, and you win!
The Scam: They may get it right the first few times, but as soon as they start placing real money on the table, they won’t have a prayer. The gimmick is simple: inside your left-hand sleeve, use a rubber band or tape to attach a fourth, unseen full matchbox. This is the matchbox that will provide the sound of matches rattling around… because all three matchboxes on the table are empty.
When setting up the game, just make sure to pick up and shake the first two matchbooks with your right hand (the one without the secret matchbox). Pick up and shake the third with your left hand, and your secret matchbox will make the rattling sound that “proves” the matchbox is full. From then on, you can always decide who will win, and who will lose, simply by choosing which hand to pick up the matchboxes with.
Watch Demonstration (External link)
If you want to really sell the illusion, use white Elmer’s glue to fasten a box-full of matches into a solid block. That way you can even show them the matches inside, then demonstrate the sound of them rattling around. When they successfully pick the right box, shake it around with your ungimmicked hand to show there can’t be any matches inside.