The Berglas Effect aka The Holy Grail of Card Magic or Any Card at Any Number (ACAAN) and named after its inventor David Berglas is a very simple magic card trick that Berglas claims only two people know.
[more inside]
posted by Mitheral
on Aug 20, 2011 -
107 comments
Cricketer
Adrian Shankar recently hit the headlines in Britain after blagging his way into an
embarrassed Worcestershire side but he's hardly the first to overcome a complete lack of talent to launch a brief, inglorious sporting career.
Rosie Ruiz famously took a bit of a shortcut to 'win' the 1980 Boston marathon and Senegalese footballer
Ali Dia made a brief and solitary appearance for Southampton, as substitute for the sublime Matt Le Tissier no less, after fooling the notoriously hard bitten Graeme Souness. Excellent as their efforts may have been, none possessed the all round sporting skills of the immortal
Karl Power.
posted by joannemullen
on Jul 2, 2011 -
16 comments
Hacker Typer - Now you can look like you're doing something important on your computer, like you've always wanted to! (hit hack and just start bashing at your keyboard)
posted by azarbayejani
on Apr 27, 2011 -
71 comments
Just before intermission, Cowie took the stage and began juggling a ball with her feet until suddenly she popped it in the air, swished her right foot around the ball twice, kicked it up again, then rotated her left foot around once without letting the ball touch the floor. She bent her right foot back behind her body and caught the ball on the sole of her shoe. “I could feel the excitement building in the auditorium,” she recalled. “I could hear the oohs and the aahs. I could sense the shock.” ¶ For her finale, Cowie lay on her back and juggled the ball over her head with her feet. As they applauded, Green Hope students turned to their friends with the same question: Who is she?
The
New York Times Magazine profiles soccer
freestyling star Indi Cowie.
Photos of a few tricks.
Video includes demonstrations.
posted by grouse
on Mar 27, 2011 -
20 comments
Readability is a wonderful bookmarklet that strips away all the surrounding cruft on a page so you can focus on the content.
posted by jragon
on Mar 3, 2009 -
35 comments
Looking to boost your mad Photoshop skillz? Here's a trio of sites that offer the latest in PS tips and tricks.
Best Photoshop Tutorials has vectors, icons, and free brushes.
PShero works with effects and shapes, and
Photoshop Girl features photograph enhancement. That should get you started.
posted by netbros
on Feb 19, 2009 -
15 comments
Under the
Big Top: Shhhhhh! The Show's about to
start*... quick, take your
seat, sit down, and
don't make a move. It's been going on for
centuries, and now--lucky
you will be able to be a part of
it, if you haven't
already as a child
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Honestly, who hasn't thought of
running away from home and
joining the Circus (but I'd suggest you wait a couple of years, until you're a little
older, and a little
wiser, to make these
decisions). It is tempting though, when they
roll into town with their fancy wagons, and their loud music. Although, the circus may not be as
prevalent as it once was, there are
new acts being created to
entice crowds around the world.
[previously]
posted by hadjiboy
on Mar 31, 2008 -
14 comments
So you're at your favorite night spot , and your looking to impress the ladies
(or the men for that matter) why not have a few
Zippo tricks up your sleeve? What better way to enjoy a coffin nail than with a
flourish? More inside? Yes.
[more inside]
posted by nola
on Oct 18, 2007 -
18 comments
Friday Flash Fun: Dolphin Edition. It takes a little practice, and you probably should read the directions first.
WARNING: May lead to a drop in productivity, sensation of lost time, or feelings of isolation.
posted by kyleg
on Aug 18, 2006 -
16 comments
The glass trick. (Note: includes embedded video. Soundtrack is mostly in Japanese but can be ignored.)
I've been a magician for almost 40 years now and am up on the latest tech but I have very little idea of how the performer accomplishes what you see in this video.
posted by lupus_yonderboy
on Nov 19, 2005 -
68 comments
Tricks of the Trade . In an article in
The Morning News,
Defective Yeti asked readers to reveal the secrets of their profession:
Attorney:
Do whatever it takes to fit your contracts onto a single page. Even sophisticated negotiators can be charmed by the lack of a staple.
Auto Mechanic:
Always put copper grease on the battery terminals after servicing a car. The performance benefit is negligible, but when customers look under the hood they will immediately see that something’s changed and thus feel happy to pay you.
Handyman:
If you have to change a light bulb where the glass is broken, you can press a potato into the metal base to unscrew the remains of the bulb from the fixture.
Got any secrets to success or even just survival in your racket?
posted by planetkyoto
on Aug 24, 2004 -
130 comments
Pen spinning is very cool. Have a look at
Pentrix, with
guides to help you learn,
videos of some very nice looking variations,
basic tricks and
combinations. A word of warning though, trying these things in an open environment may well annoy your fellow humans; but this may be the
only distraction for the bored and restricted office worker.
posted by ed\26h
on Jul 2, 2004 -
16 comments
Penguin Magic is a magicians' supply vendor with a nice bonus: almost all the tricks/props/gimmicks have videos of professional (well, competent, at the very least) magicians performing the tricks/props/gimmicks in question. (
This is quite well done.) Everything is categorized--street tricks, close-up tricks, levitation, et cetera--and apprently this magic thing is serious business. The feats are slick, the instructions are largely on DVD, and the community does not expose any secrets . . . but that's what keeps you looking, right?
posted by littlegreenlights
on Feb 8, 2004 -
7 comments
ATTENTION ALL GROWNUPS. "Your "inner child" has long been waiting for a chance to usurp control of your body and force it to perform certain actions. The time is now at hand. Read and follow the instructions
below."
posted by Fat Elvis
on Feb 18, 2003 -
15 comments
Bored at work? Need a new hobby? Want to impress others with your skillful, delicate hands? Try some
pen spinning. Here's a site dedicated to nothing but the art of the spin. There are even
videos. Idle hands are the devil's playground.
posted by ColdChef
on May 13, 2002 -
26 comments
Need a great prank? Whether it is for your
office, your
sig O or if you just want to be
evil in general, this website is for you. The
site has everything from bad pickup lines to strange laws to personality quizzes... My personal favorite to date, in the article section is the
Free Baby ad. Just a little something to give you a giggle on a Monday. Enjoy!
posted by gloege
on Feb 25, 2002 -
22 comments
