64. Bondage (for fun and profit)
class: closer | impressiveness: 4/5 | factors: topology, big and visual, they’ll look dumb | requires: rope or neckties | watch full episode
Like tying people up and watching them squirm? This scam is for you.
The Scam: Get two marks. Tie the first one’s wrists together manacle-style with a rope (or their own necktie). Tie their wrists loosely “for their comfort,” but tell them they can’t take the rope off their wrists. Tie the second mark’s wrists together, linking his rope with the first sucker’s.
Challenge them to unlink themselves without untying the ropes.
With any luck, your marks will try all sorts of Twister-style moves to get themselves unhitched. With a little more luck, a large crowd will gather and laugh at their tomfoolery.
Eventually, most people at some point actually end up climbing through each other’s arms… it’s awesome, and does nothing to help them out.
The Solution: Their problem is that they’re thinking linearly. They’re essentially two links in a chain, and no amount of big twisting will get them out.
The real solution is simple, yet devious. Remember how you tied their wrists loosely? All they have to do is thread the rope through the wrist hole, wrap it over one hand, pull it back through and… poof! Freedom!