Have you ever licked your compact discs?
I watched this new and very weird show last night and saw the strangest thing….
The show is called “Wanna Bet” where four “Celebrities” (by whose definition?) make bets on everyday regular contestants who claim they can perform unique stunts or have strange abilities.
The premise of the show is that these “Celebrities” are given 25,000 to bet on the many different contestants by trying to guess if they will be able to complete their task or fail and place a wager. If they guess correctly they win the amount they bet, if they are wrong they lose that amount. The money is then donated to the “Celebrities” favorite charity.
The one stunt that blew me away was when a guy named Harold said that he could tell you the name of the artists and the compact disc title just by licking the disc.
That’s right, he is going to lick the CD while blind folded and correctly guess at least four out of five CDs selected at random to complete his task.
They had Harold sit at a dinner table approximately ten feet in front of a buffet style dinner table that had 16 sterling silver domed dinner trays placed upon the tables. Under the tray domes are CDs inside its plastic case with artwork containing only the name of the artists and CD title.
He is then blind folded and the room is silent. The two hosts take turns pulling mini discs from a bowl that have the numbers one to sixteen on them. They pull a number at random then go get the dinner tray with the corresponding number.
Wearing gloves they open the tray dome, pull out the CD and place it into Harold’s awaiting hands. Harold then sticks out his tongue and begins to lick all over the CDs printed side. He then would guess the artist and CD title.
The first of five CDs he guessed correctly. He missed on the second but came back to correctly name four of the five compact discs just by licking them accomplishing his task!
I recorded Harold’s adventure to see if there was a way to figure out how he did it. I also do this when watching magicians or illusionists.
****SPOLIER ALERT****SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT*****
If you do not want to learn how Harold was able to correctly name the artist and disc title do not read on…..
…………………………..if you want to learn here it is………………………………..
While examining in slow motion over and over as Harold licked the CDs, I did notice that he always licked the printed/picture side of the disc. He also licked in certain areas over and over and then move to another area of the disc before announcing his guess.
Certain discs he guessed very quickly, others took a few extra licks.
Here are the discs that he licked and a description of the design on the disc face:
Iron Maiden: “Wildest Dreams” had a star burst design from the center hole out to the edges of the disc.
Timbaland: Timbaland Presents Shock Value. This disc has a very special design on its face.
The Game: “Doctors Advocate” only had the printing of the title at the very top of the disc and no where else.
Pink: “I’m Not Dead” had a unique design on it.
Foo Fighters: “In Your Honor” has a picture of a pig on one side of the disc.
If you were to take most any compact disc and use your finger to gently rub over the artwork, lettering and pictures you would find that there is a very microscopic raise to the edges of these items.
I would be willing to guess that the 16 compact discs in the serving trays were provided by Harold. He selected disc that are very different from one another and memorized the location of the printing, artwork and/or pictures. Then using his tongue he located the raised items and recalled the disc that had text/picture/design in the correct area as the disc.
I would be willing to guess that Harold guessed incorrectly on the second disc on purpose to add a little suspense and the look of difficulty to his task. It wouldn’t have been as exciting if Harold would have guessed all five correctly. By missing the second disc it gives the idea of a fifty/fifty chance of correctly naming the disc and not finishing his task.
Just like magic and illusions, there’s always a trick to it!
Jeff Richards: Party Time Productions