57. The Trick that Fooled Einstein

class: tweener | impressiveness: 4/5 | factors: precise language | requires: a bunch of pocket change | watch full episode

(00:01:33)

Correctly guess how much change is in your friend’s pocket!

The Effect: You and your friend pull out some change from your pockets, hold the coins in your hands, and shake ‘em. Without looking, and judging from the sound, you’re able to accurately describe the exact difference in value between your coins and your friend’s.

The Method: Not sure if this is true or not, but I learned this trick as “the trick that fooled Einstein.” And it’s brilliant, thanks to the special phrasing of your prediction.

To pull this one off, you’ll need $2.85 of change in your pocket, comprised of 10 quarters, two dimes, two nickels, and five pennies. Pull out your change, listen to their change shaking, and then confidently announce your three-part prediction: “I have as much change as you do, plus two quarters…and enough change left over to bring your total to $2.35.”

There’s three parts to the prediction:

“I have as much change as you do” … pull out enough of your change to exactly match your friend’s amount.
“plus two extra quarters” … drop down two quarters.
“and enough change left over to bring your total up to $2.5″…and sure enough, you’ll find that this is exactly true, no matter how much change your friend has.

Why does it work? Because if you look at it algebraically, you’re really saying “I have X + .50 + ($2.35 - X)”…If you’re a math whiz, you know that essentially, you’re really saying “I have $2.85,” (which is not so impressive). Luckily, the phrase is able to fool just about everyone into thinking you’ve made an impressive prediction.

This has been one of our all-time most popular Scam School episodes, and I’m kinda shocked at some of the questions I see posted on the YouTube page:

“I’m from the UK / Canada / India / The North Pole… how do I do it with [INSERT FOREIGN CURRENCY]???”

Think about it: you do it the exact same way. Nothing changes just because it’s in a different currency.

“Nice trick, but it won’t work if they have more than $2.35 in their pocket!”

First off: that’s just about never going to happen. Everybody hates change. But even if they do have more than $2.35, I have constructed the following foolproof plan:

step 1: plan on doing the trick exactly as performed in the episode.
step 2: as a backup plan, keep five (5) of those new presidential dollars in your left pants pocket.
step 3: when pretending to listen to the amount of change they have, ACTUALLY LISTEN TO THE AMOUNT OF CHANGE THEY HAVE.
step 4: in the event they sound like they have more money than you, calmly say “Wait a minute,” pull out the extra dollars, add them to your cache, cough, then awkwardly mutter “forgot that I had a little more change in there…”
step 5: Perform the remainder of the effect as depicted in the episode, but making sure to add $5.00 to your final projection.
step 6: Prepare yourself for an onslaught of free drinks and offers of sexual intercourse.

**note: If the person you’re performing for pulls out more than seven dollars and thirty-five cents in change, you are completely and irrevocably screwed. This is your only weakness… guard well against this rare and completely lethal counterattack.