yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Magic Tricks with Larry Wilmore | StarTalk


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

Anytime I interview somebody, no matter who they are, I want to know if they have some hidden geek credentials. Almost everybody does; they just don't admit to it in any other interview because they don't get any street cred for doing so. But on Star Talk, that's where the street cred is found. So I had to check with Larry Wilmore to see what he had. Let's check it out.

"Do you count yourself a member of the geek community?"

"I am, but in different ways that might surprise you."

"Really? Mhm. So give me an example."

"Like, I'm a magician. I do sleight of hand magic. Magicians do know how to demythologize and demystify in the same way that someone of your scientists would."

"That's what I'm saying, because you have information that most people don't have."

"Right, on purpose."

"Correct, withheld from exactly."

"And, in fact, that's one of the famous edicts from Arthur C. Clarke."

"There you go!"

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

"That's exactly right. A lot of early magic was technology, and a lot of techniques that magicians used in the early days came from things like mirrors or techniques. Good, I mean, that's an important— that's really important geek cred."

"Exactly! Thank you very much."

"Totally there. I always, to prove it, carry a deck of cards. I always, always have a deck of cards."

"This proves the geek?"

"Is a legit deck."

"Yeah, it's an old deck. It's all beaten up."

"That's what any magician would say."

"Yeah, it's a regular deck."

"It is. But, yeah, I always have these with me because, you know, I'm always maybe practicing that kind of stuff."

"Well, that's nice. That's good. That's good."

"Let me show you the one I did. I got one here. Okay, so I learned how to cut with one hand."

"Nice."

"No, do that."

"Y—very good."

"Oh, very. That's called a Charlie cut, by the way."

"Charlie, uh-huh. That's what it's called."

"I'll show you a different version of that too. I don't know if the camera can simulate—"

"Yeah, they got you covered from here."

"See, if you cover like that, you know, that's the six of hearts, and you lift like that, so it becomes the Joker."

"I don't know how it's done."

"You know—oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, what happened? Something happened there. But that Joker, when you take it back and you just spin around, that becomes a six."

"So, I don't know! Cards just change like this."

"Yeah, just on you. You have no idea—it’s not like I understand."

"I don't know how it works. So, there you go—another way to cut all that kind of stuff. Here's a fun way to cut too. That's a good one-handed cut."

"Oh, there! Yeah, that's what they do at the poker table, you know. 'Cause those guys that flip the chips—"

"You don't want to do this stuff at the poker table, by the way. It's how you're going to get sh—sh."

More Articles

View All
Safari Live - Day 65 | Nat Geo WILD
Welcome back everyone! Sorry about the gremlins that have beset us here in the Morrow for the last little while, but it seems like we’re back and we’re still with this incredible scene playing out in this lagoon. We’ve got some more hyenas that arrived. …
How to Find What Success Looks Like For You
It’s not just like, “Oh, follow your passion.” It’s a little bit more of a complex formula. Like, what are you interested in? What are you passionate about? Also, like your nature. Also, uh, how can you make money? That type of thing. Yes, looked at subli…
Vidit Aatrey on Building Meesho, India's Top Reselling Platform, with Adora Cheung
This is a door from YC. I’m excited to have a detox light CEO and co-founder of Meesho, which was founded in 2015, and you went through YC in 2016. So today, Meesho is probably one of the hottest startups in India, if not the hottest startup, and I’m supe…
YC SUS: Gustaf Alströmer and Eric Migicovsky discuss growth tactics
Exciting! Welcome to another week of Startup School. I’m joined this week by Gustav. You want to tell us a little bit about yourself? Maybe your background? Sure! So I work here at YC as a partner. I’ve been here for two and a half years. Before that, I …
Mean of sum and difference of random variables | Random variables | AP Statistics | Khan Academy
Let’s say that I have a random variable X, which is equal to the number of dogs that I see in a day. Random variable Y is equal to the number of cats that I see in a day. Let’s say I also know what the mean of each of these random variables are, the expec…
Winter’s White Gold | Port Protection
Growing up out in this part of the world, virtually all the old-timers put up their fish in jars or cans. My uncle had a tin can, or my dad’s mom had a tin can for quite a while. There was a way of life back then; we gave it a little bit of olive oil to t…