For some time I have been interested in the placebo effect , which might seem like an odd thing for a magician to be interested in , unless you think of it in the terms that I do , which is " something fake is believed in enough by somebody that it becomes something real . "
In other words , sugar pills have a measurable effect in certain kinds of studies , the placebo effect , just because the person thinks that what 's happening to them is a pharmaceutical or some sort of a ...
For pain management , for example , if they believe it enough there is a measurable effect in the body called the placebo effect .
Something fake becomes something real because of someone 's perception of it .
In order for us to understand each other I want to start by showing you a rudimentary , very simple magic trick .
And I 'm going to show you how it works .
This is a trick that 's been in every children 's magic book since at least the 1950s .
I learned it myself from Cub Scout Magic in the 1970s .
I 'll do it for you , and then I 'll explain it .
And then I 'll explain why I explained it .
So , here is what happens .
The knife , which you can examine ; my hand , which you could examine .
I 'm just going to hold the knife in my fist like this .
I 'll get my sleeve back .
And to make sure nothing goes up or down my sleeve I 'm just going to squeeze my wrist right here .
That way you can see that at no time can anything travel .
As long as I 'm squeezing there nothing can go up or down my sleeve .
And the object of this is quite simple .
I 'm going to open my hand , and hopefully , if all is well , my pure animal magnetism will hold the knife .
In fact it 's held so tightly in place that I can shake it , and the knife does not come off .
Nothing goes up or down my sleeve , no trickery .
And you can examine everything .
Ta-da !
So , this is a trick that I often teach to young children that are interested in magic , because you can learn a great deal about deception by studying this very -- even though it 's a very simple trick methodologically .
Probably many of you in the room know this trick .
What happens is this . I hold the knife in my hand .
I say I 'm going to grab hold of my wrist to make sure nothing goes up or down my sleeve , that is a lie .
The reason I 'm holding onto my wrist is because that 's actually the secret of the illusion .
In a moment when my hand moves from facing you to being away from you , this finger right here , my index finger is just going to shift from where it is , to a position pointing out like this .
Nice one .
Someone who didn 't have a childhood is out there .
So , it goes like this , from here , right .
And as I move around my finger shifts .
And we could talk about why this is deceptive , why you don 't notice there are only three fingers down here , because the mind , and the way it processes information , it doesn 't count , one , two , three . It groups them .
But that 's not really what this is about . Right ?
And then I open my hand up .
Obviously it 's clinging there , not by animal magnetism , but by chicanery , my index finger being there .
And then when I close my finger , same thing , as I move back , this motion kind of covers the moving back of my finger .
I take this hand away .
You give the knife out .
There is a trick you can do for your friends and neighbors .
Thanks .
Now , what does that have to do with the placebo effect ?
I read a study , a year or so ago that really blew my mind wide open .
I 'm not a doctor or a researcher , so this , to me , was an astonishing thing .
It turns out that if you administer a placebo in the form of a white pill , that 's like aspirin shaped , it 's just a round white pill , it has some certain measurable effect .
But if you change the form that you give the placebo in , like you make a smaller pill , and color it blue , and stamp a letter into it , it is actually measurably more effective .
Even though neither one of these things has any pharmaceutical -- they 're sugar pills .
But a white pill is not as good as a blue pill .
What ?
That really flipped me out .
Turns out though , that that 's not even where it stops .
If you have capsules , they are more effective than tablets in any form .
A colored capsule , that 's yellow on one end and red on the other is better than a white capsule .
Dosage has something to do with this .
One pill twice a day is not as good at three pills -- I don 't remember the statistic now .
Sorry .
But the point is ... ... these dosages have something to do with it .
And the form has something to do with it .
And if you want the ultimate in placebo you 've go to the needle .
Right ?
A syringe with some inert -- a couple CCs of some inert something , and you inject this into a patient ...
Well this is such a powerful image in their mind , It 's so much stronger than the white pill .
It 's a really , this graph , well I 'll show it to you some other time when we have slides .
The point is the white pill is not as good as the blue pill is not as good as the capsule , is not as good as the needle .
And none of it has any real pharmaceutical quality .
It 's only your belief that makes it real in your body and makes a stronger effect .
I wanted to see if I could take that idea and apply it to a magic trick .
And take something that is obviously a fake trick and make it seem real .
And we know from that study that when you want reality you go to the needle .
This is a seven inch hat pin. it 's very very sharp .
And I 'm going to just sterilize it a tiny bit .
This is really my flesh .
This is not Damian 's special grown flesh .
That 's my skin right there .
This is not a Hollywood special effect .
I 'm going to pierce my skin and run this needle through to the other side .
If you 're queasy -- if you faint easily -- I was doing this for some friends in the hotel room last night , and some people that I didn 't know , and one woman almost passed out .
So , I suggest if you get queasy easy that you look away for about the next 30 -- in fact , you know what , I 'll do the first bad part behind it .
You 'll get to see , you can look away too if you 'd like to .
So , here is what happens , right here , the beginning of my flesh at the lower part of my arm I just make a little pierce .
I 'm sorry man .
Am I freaking you out ?
And then just through my skin a tiny bit , and then out the other side like this .
Now , essentially we 're in the same position we were in with the knife trick .
Sort of .
But you can 't count my fingers right now can you ?
So , let me show them to you .
That 's one , two three , four , five .
Yes , well ... I know what people think when they see this .
They go , " Well , he 's certainly not dumb enough to stab himself through the skin to entertain us for a few minutes .
So , let me give you a little peek .
How 's that look out there ?
Pretty good .
Yeah , I know .
And the people in the back go , " Okay .
I didn 't really see that . "
People in the satellite room are starting to move in now .
Let me give you good close look at this .
That really is my skin .
That is not a Hollywood special effect .
That 's my flesh , and I can twist that around .
I 'm sorry .
If you 're getting queasy , look away , don 't look at the thing .
People in the back or people on video years from now watching this will go , " Well yeah , that looks kind of neat in some sort of effect there , but if it were real he would be -- see there 's a hole there and a hole there , if it were real he would be bleeding .
Well let me work up some blood for you .
Yes , there it is .
Normally now , I would take the needle out .
I would clean off my arm , and I would show you that there are no wounds , But I think in this context and with the idea of taking something fake and making it into something real , I 'm just going to leave it there , and walk off the stage .
I will be seeing you several times over the next few days .
I hope you 're looking forward to that .
Thank you very much .