Why does this trick work? Turn your palm face up. To turn your palm face down you must twist your wrist, right? But if you do six simple moves you can turn your palm face down without twisting your wrist. The trick appears at the beginning of this talk by Lennart Green but can also be done backwards.
posted by twoleftfeet on Oct 31, 2009 - 23 answers

I like to watch a lot of streaming video especially for sports games. I usually use the Google Chrome browser. But some sites' media players say they only work with Firefox or IE and won't even give me the chance of trying it out in Chrome. Is there a way to trick the sites into thinking Chrome is really one of the approved browsers? Or is there really some fundamental difference that makes the players break in Chrome? [more inside]
posted by bluefly on Jul 5, 2009 - 2 answers

How can I recharge my nearly-completely-drained car battery so that it will work long enough to drive it to get crushed? I'm hoping to avoid buying a brand new battery just to have it crushed. [more inside]
posted by brenton on Jun 8, 2009 - 30 answers

Almost ten years ago, I saw a "mentalist" perform a trick on the spot after a show. I've never been able to figure out how he did it. Magic aficionados - how might one make a small object move without touching it? [more inside]
posted by theantikitty on Dec 29, 2008 - 19 answers

What was the most memorable Halloween treat you ever received when going door to door as a kid? Looking for creative or unique things to give out during Halloween. [more inside]
posted by ShootTheMoon on Oct 22, 2008 - 59 answers

When I was a kid (in the early 70s), this baffling "riddle" was all the rage in the schoolyard: A: "Guess what?" B: "What?" A: "THAT'S what!" I thought this was a quirky but of Southern Indiana nonsense, but my wife -- who hails from Alabama -- also remembers it from her youth. What does it mean? What's its origin? [more inside]
posted by grumblebee on Sep 9, 2008 - 53 answers

I need a wittier command for the dog trick "lick your chops," and the only alternative I can think of is "wipe your nose." Obviously I need your help! [more inside]
posted by HotToddy on Aug 23, 2008 - 16 answers

Help me find a video I saw a couple of months ago: It's a clip of a foreign tv show where the host asks a bunch of random people to write their names, and afterwards he gives them each a private envelope that describes the that individual's personality. Everyone says that their envelope is amazingly accurate. In the end, he asks each person to switch envelopes with one another, and they all see that the same thing is written in every envelope. [more inside]
posted by carpyful on Jun 13, 2008 - 10 answers

You know the playground trick whereby four of you can "levitate" a fifth person using just your fingertips (you first hold your hands over his head and count to 20)? How does that work, then?
posted by bonaldi on Nov 21, 2007 - 20 answers

What's it called when a bass guitarist goes all the way up, then down, then up the fret on one string? [more inside]
posted by ostranenie on May 16, 2007 - 14 answers

how do I make myself take more pictures? I post daily to my blog using my digital camera, problem is I want to motivate myself to use my 35mm camera. [more inside]
posted by henryis on Jan 15, 2007 - 29 answers

Quick change artist identification... [more inside]
posted by flibbertigibbet on Aug 11, 2006 - 3 answers

How did actor/magician Harry Anderson's "Needle Through the Arm" magic trick work? [more inside]
posted by jca on Jul 11, 2006 - 7 answers

Teach me a card trick. Inspired by a recent post on card tricks, I'd like to learn a simple but reasonably impressive trick with which to pester children at family gatherings etc. [more inside]
posted by bystander on May 15, 2006 - 17 answers

I know this is lame, but how is this lame math trick possible? [more inside]
posted by JPowers on May 6, 2006 - 5 answers

How is this small object levitation magic trick done? [more inside]
posted by underwater on Apr 10, 2006 - 10 answers

How can my step-mom tell if a standard issue Bicylce playing card is a face card or not by looking at only the back of the card? [more inside]
posted by TheAnswer on Dec 11, 2005 - 37 answers

How is this magic trick done? [more inside]
posted by AmbroseChapel on Nov 4, 2005 - 22 answers

DailyShowFilter: Last night, Vitto Mortensen pulled reptiles from his coffee cup... [more inside]
posted by LordSludge on Sep 28, 2005 - 29 answers