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What jon kent said. To make this "not a trick" would just take presentation, especially as you're keeping it hands off. If you maybe load the trick with some genuine psychology, and really push the agony of choice, then funny business should be further from the question. Not entirely convinced about the burning, as to me this tips part of the method.

Brown's stage effect with the £500/£5,000 choice is probably worth a look, here. Brown explains he has two boxes back stage, one containing £500, and the other containing £5,000. He picks a man from the audience, asks him some questions, then asks for a specific box to be brought out on stage (either green or purple, if memory serves). The participant has to decide whether the box has £500 or £5,000 inside, and if he gets it right, he wins the contents.

As I understand it, although the effect is a trick, the psychology underneath it is that people appreciate that the contents are more or less random, and see the choice not as how much they'd win, but how much they'd lose. Most people playing this game would rather risk losing £500 in the hopes of winning £5,000 than risk £5,000 in the hope of winning £500. Brown does various other bits of manipulation to further push the participant towards this choice, despite the fact that he can at any time have the game come out the way he wants it to. The psychology here not only helps hide the nature of the effect, it also adds a huge amount to its entertainment value.

magicollie wrote:

Alec Kobain wrote:Use cheques!!

You can write one out for £6b in the name of the spec and leave the other blank.

Sorted!

Wow! Great idea . Would you mind if I added this to the routine if I credited to Alec? Thank you.

Please do! I'll PM my details.

Alec

I agree with Grue.

When I took part in the paintgun thing on the Svengali tour, I was very torn. On the one side I did not want to mess up anything, on the other I really wanted to win the money. As I went through I realised that even with the knowledge I had (or maybe because of it?) I was definitely not going to win anyway and it was hugely fun.

My wife wearing the facemask particularly enjoyed it.

Never underestimate people's greed for easy money.

Mr_Grue wrote:What jon kent said. To make this "not a trick" would just take presentation, especially as you're keeping it hands off. If you maybe load the trick with some genuine psychology, and really push the agony of choice, then funny business should be further from the question. Not entirely convinced about the burning, as to me this tips part of the method.

Brown's stage effect with the £500/£5,000 choice is probably worth a look, here. Brown explains he has two boxes back stage, one containing £500, and the other containing £5,000. He picks a man from the audience, asks him some questions, then asks for a specific box to be brought out on stage (either green or purple, if memory serves). The participant has to decide whether the box has £500 or £5,000 inside, and if he gets it right, he wins the contents.

As I understand it, although the effect is a trick, the psychology underneath it is that people appreciate that the contents are more or less random, and see the choice not as how much they'd win, but how much they'd lose. Most people playing this game would rather risk losing £500 in the hopes of winning £5,000 than risk £5,000 in the hope of winning £500. Brown does various other bits of manipulation to further push the participant towards this choice, despite the fact that he can at any time have the game come out the way he wants it to. The psychology here not only helps hide the nature of the effect, it also adds a huge amount to its entertainment value.

I have come other with other ideas for the other envelope. Thank you for your advice and as you said I do feel that some good presentation can really make this a strong performance piece.

Ste Porterfield wrote:Whilst I completely agree about the predictability of the trick, I still think the spec enjoys the participation and the "challenge".

And don't all people in the company of a performing magician "know it's a trick"?

Yes, or at least most realize it is a trick, and maybe I mis spoke, but this always feels like a scam more than an effect. You are baiting the audience with a promise of giving them money, or the possibility of giving them money. I suppose the argument could be made that it is possible for the magician to mess up. And if that did happen then it would be entertaining.

But alas we are all different and see things differently, and seeing as there are literally tons of this type of 'sucker' effect on the market...well who am I to argue with success?