# Secrets of the Magic 8-Ball **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-of-the-magic-8-ball/239792 "2004-04-13T15:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-of-the-magic-8-ball/239792/21 "2004-04-14T05:02:40Z")
Geez, it would help if someone **who had actually seen the episode he’s talking about** would post! But since none of those people are around, I’m posting instead. 😃 If I’m not mistaken, _Spin City_, like most sitcoms, is know for its sarcastic and supposedly witty characters. (Wasn’t Charlie Sheen on there after Michael J. Fox retired? No one does sarcastic and supposedly witty better than him.) I suspect that part of the humor in the Magic 8-Ball scene was that the character was obviously making up answers himself, since even people who don’t own a Magic 8-Ball (how do they get through life?) know what the standard answers are. (See, e.g., **Cervaise** ’s post.) BTW, I was in a toy store recently, and I saw a NEW Magic 8-Ball tied to Lemony Snicket’s _Series of Unfortunate Events_ books (which I gotta start reading now that a movie’s coming out soon!). All the answers were depressing and unfortunate! I want one (but again, I gotta read the books first)!! ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-of-the-magic-8-ball/239792/22 "2004-04-14T05:24:29Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Obviously you aren’t that familiar with American TV shows like The Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider. I’m not familiar with _The Dukes of Hazzard_, so I cannot comment. Regarding _Knight Rider_, no car starts without the use of a key _without explanation_, which is what I said. > [@Alan Smithee](#): > > I suspect that part of the humor in the Magic 8-Ball scene was that the character was obviously making up answers himself, since even people who don’t own a Magic 8-Ball (how do they get through life?) know what the standard answers are. Actually, the humour was that the character trusted the Magic 8-Ball explicitly, not that he was making it up, unless I’ve suddenly become too stupid to watch sitcoms, in which case God help us… God help us all! > [@Bytegeist](#): > > You’re supposed to “ask” the Magic 8-Ball a yes-or-no question, especially one about your hopes or fears, and then turn it over. All of the 20 possible messages are responses that fit these kinds of questions. So although the 8-Ball will never say “Helga likes you; go ask her out,” it will perhaps say “Definitely not” when you pose the question “Does Helga like me?” I knew all this already. I was talking about the purely physical methods used. The character simply held the 8-Ball in his hand. No shaking, turning or rolling. This is the method used in every cinematic or televised 8-Ball portrayal I’ve seen, although I’m afraid I can’t name any others offhand. I remember a _Simpsons_ episode where Bart had one and you literally saw the messages “fade” into existence. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-of-the-magic-8-ball/239792/23 "2004-04-14T05:38:05Z")
I seem to remember that _Simpsons_ episode, and I, too, thought it was odd how the mesages just appeared. Then again, how exactly would you animate the actual mechanism in the crude _Simpsons_ style. I’ll bet they tried doing more accurately, and it just didn’t look right. As for shaking, I just tested my own 8-Ball, and it randomized just fine by merely turning it upside down and back. Maybe you got a dud. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-of-the-magic-8-ball/239792/24 "2004-04-14T05:47:06Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > I knew all this already. I was talking about the purely physical methods used. The character simply held the 8-Ball in his hand. No shaking, turning or rolling. This is the method used in every cinematic or televised 8-Ball portrayal I’ve seen, although I’m afraid I can’t name any others offhand. I remember a _Simpsons_ episode where Bart had one and you literally saw the messages “fade” into existence. What you saw on _The Simpsons_ was a crudely drawn attempt at showing the icosahedron float up through the liquid to the little window. Since the liquid is colored, the message gradually appears as it floats up. The reason they don’t shake the 8-ball hard enough on television is the same reason why they hold the telephone mic in front of their chin instead of their mouth. They think it looks better. ---
**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-of-the-magic-8-ball/239792/25 "2004-04-14T05:53:57Z")
My friend growing up had a magic 8-ball in which the fluid had all mysteriously turned clear yellow. Maybe her older brother played a joke on her, but it made the nature of the ball plain to see. They used to be mysterious to me before then, as I was about 7 or so and never owned one myself. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-of-the-magic-8-ball/239792/26 "2004-04-14T06:02:58Z")
> [@Thaumaturge](#): > > My friend growing up had a magic 8-ball in which the fluid had all mysteriously turned clear yellow. Maybe her older brother played a joke on her, but it made the nature of the ball plain to see. They used to be mysterious to me before then, as I was about 7 or so and never owned one myself. Was one of the answers “urine for a surprise?” ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-of-the-magic-8-ball/239792/27 "2004-04-14T08:02:10Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Minor nit: it’s a **polyhedron** , not a polygon. Specifically an [icosahedron](http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Icosahedron.html), one of the classics. Actually, the ones I’ve seen have all been octahedra, thus repeating the “8” motif. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-of-the-magic-8-ball/239792.md?page=1)