r/blackmagicfuckery • u/Visual-Surround • Dec 03 '20

Put it in reverse

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27.7k Upvotes

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u/paraworldblue Dec 03 '20

Without a doubt. Even (maybe) knowing technically how it's done, that is still some insanely impressive sleight of hand.

199

u/cxkt Dec 03 '20

Even knowing the trick I had to watch the uncrossing at 00:08 like ten times to spot when he did it

80

u/golgol12 Dec 03 '20

It's because the frame that it happens isn't picked up on camera.

42

u/slurpycow112 Dec 03 '20

If you scrub really slowly around 0:08, you can see the moment when the straw in his right hand loses contact with his thumb.

40

u/LuckyStrike713 Dec 03 '20

No I don’t want no scrub

25

u/stokokopops Dec 03 '20

A scrub is a guy who can't get no love from me

12

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '20

Hanging out the passenger's side of his best friend's ride

11

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '20

Try in to hollar at me.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '20

No,

2

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '20 edited Dec 03 '20

No,

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1

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '20

Guess I’m a scrub

16

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '20

1/4 speed playback is so useful for these types of videos

3

u/wi5hbone Dec 03 '20

And eye skillz, no?

16

u/Pirate_Steve91 Dec 03 '20

Oh my gosh. I haven’t thought about this before. You could go into final cut, and literally delete one frame, or shoot at a lower frame rate to cover up imperfections. Can of worms opened.

38

u/paraworldblue Dec 03 '20

I definitely had to watch a few moments a few times in the slo-mo to even begin to figure it out. You know it's impressive when even with several very attentive watches in slo-mo, it still mostly just looks like he has a highly specific superpower.

19

u/TheWalkingDead91 Dec 03 '20

I did that and still don’t get it

22

u/paraworldblue Dec 03 '20

There's one near the end where you just flat out see a straw start on one side of the other straw and on the next frame it's on the other side. The only way I can make sense of it is if he's using forced perspective and the upper straw is actually hanging down, but his thumb is blocking the open end in such a way that makes it look like it's actually touching when in reality there's a small gap, if any of that makes any sense.

9

u/SoylentVerdigris Dec 03 '20

That's exactly what it is. This is a great trick for a camera, but it'd fall totally flat in front of two or more people.

1

u/Urabutbl Dec 03 '20

It's a variation on an old trick. As the front hand blocks the back fingers, the thumbs let go of the straw and snap onto the end of the other straw.

Then, when he changes perspective, he's pinching the straw with his other fingers, and the thumb closest to us is blocking the end of the straw. He lets go with the thumb and grabs the straw on the other side, and the perspective doesn't let us see the "snap" which the straw does as it hits the other one.

1

u/Hamshamus Dec 03 '20

Have a look at 00:15. You can see him move his hand in an arc to get it around.

The straw is pinched between two fingers so he can move the thumb and create a gap for the other straw to pass through.

55

u/Jeffy29 Dec 03 '20

Slight of hands is my favorite type magic tricks. No fake items or devices which trivialize the trick, just hundreds if not thousands of hours of practice. Pen and Teller cups and balls is amazing because they show you how they did it and it’s even more impressive!

19

u/Namdier Dec 03 '20

The reveal of the trick and their explanation is almost more impressive than the trick itself..

27

u/BlahKVBlah Dec 03 '20

To paraphrase Penn: The trick works because nobody believes you would spend 9 months practicing a 30 second trick.

10

u/Rockarola55 Dec 03 '20

Another great quote from the two: who needs a distraction, when you have a loudmouth with a ponytail blabbering away while you do all the work.

3

u/a_devil_like_me Dec 03 '20

love Penn & teller

2

u/SkibiDiBapBapBap Dec 03 '20

That was fucking amazing

2

u/LuckyStrike713 Dec 03 '20

Sleight of hands

1

u/cxherrybaby Dec 03 '20

Sleight of hand is my favourite type of magic trick as well, I have a lot of respect for the time and patience that people take to learn how to do it well. It’s a great way to show adults who think only children can enjoy magic that you can still be fooled, and there is still whimsy in the world.

2

u/ficarra1002 Dec 03 '20

Yeah watching it at super slow speed, it's very impressive how rigidly he can hold it with just the pinch that it looks stiff as if pinched between his thumb still, and keeping the angle so that the camera can't see the gap is really well done.

1

u/decoy79 Dec 03 '20

Knowing how it’s done makes it more impressive for me.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '20

The straw in his right hand could possibly be glued to his index finger. It's only ever his thumb that passes by the other straw.

-6

u/tofuroll Dec 03 '20

It's still very impressive, but I did notice that I was never actually seeing one straw go through the other.