# Was Simon Cowell in on this trick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-simon-cowell-in-on-this-trick/718360 "2015-04-23T14:44:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-simon-cowell-in-on-this-trick/718360/41 "2015-04-25T19:59:37Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Sleight of hand is a skill, not a trick. It’s like watching a great athlete at work. You may know that he’s just manipulating the cards, but he’s doing it so skillfully that you can’t see how or where. My point is, _of course_ it’s obvious it’s sleight of hand. That doesn’t explain anything. The question is, how did this particular sleight of hand work? What did he actually do? ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-simon-cowell-in-on-this-trick/718360/42 "2015-04-25T20:08:11Z")
Just to clear up some other points… No, Simon Cowell wasn’t in on it. He chose whatever card he wanted, no restriction or collusion. He was genuinely surprised, puzzled and, it seems, delighted. Obviously, you can’t tell much about someone’s entire career from a brief appearance on a TV talent show. For the record, Jamie Raven is one of the UK’s very best close-up and cabaret magicians. He’s very good, skilled and talented, and earns very good money doing what he loves. Thoroughly nice guy, too. Yes, the card trick he performed is based on a commercially available effect that anyone can buy (and many people have, since this went out on TV!). However, the method Jamie used is not the method conventionally used for this trick, because that would have been too slow and clunky for his purpose. So he came up with something a little quicker and slicker! ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-simon-cowell-in-on-this-trick/718360/43 "2015-04-30T07:58:46Z")
Did anyone actually spot when the sleight of hand took place. I’ve watched the video 3 times staring at his hands (except for the moments when they went out of the shot) and I can’t find the move. Is it possible it was somehow, whether intentionally or not, edited out? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-simon-cowell-in-on-this-trick/718360/44 "2015-04-30T11:34:31Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Sleight of hand is a skill, not a trick. It’s like watching a great athlete at work. You may know that he’s just manipulating the cards, but he’s doing it so skillfully that you can’t see how or where. > > This guy is definitely good, but I think the best sleight-of-hand artist working today is [Yu Ho Jin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fehzpbFc5wg) He is excellent but his style annoys me. I still prefer [Ricky Jay](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jljt5Ml28FU). Never play poker with Ricky Jay. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-simon-cowell-in-on-this-trick/718360/45 "2015-07-14T06:43:48Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Isn’t saying “it’s obviously slight of hand” just equivalent to saying “it’s obviously a trick of some kind”? Yes, unless you specify what was slid where, all you’ve said is “he wiggled his hands around and hid something behind something”. > [@](#): > > You have just articulated something I’ve been trying to figure out how to say for years. > > Yes, this is exactly why I don’t like magic shows, UNLESS it’s one of those kooky deals where the magician explains how it’s done afterwards. If he doesn’t tell me how he did it afterwards, I just end up feeling like he’s kind of an asshole! For the very reasons you just gave. 😃 I think that’s probably the best description of how I used to feel about magic. I wanted desperately to know how, and the fact that I didn’t made me resent the magician, not be awed at his skill. Now I know enough that I can appreciate a skilled performance, and not get upset when I don’t know how, just relax and appreciate he’s able to trick me with the same kinds of skills I sort of understand. > [@Moe](#): > > Did anyone actually spot when the sleight of hand took place. I’ve watched the video 3 times staring at his hands (except for the moments when they went out of the shot) and I can’t find the move. Is it possible it was somehow, whether intentionally or not, edited out? The camera cuts hide it. If you look at the cards as he reveals the 7 of Hearts, the card above it is the Ace of Spades, and you can see as he’s flipping it appears the cards are in order - which matches the description in the video explanation. Check at 3:56 when we get a cut to see him from the back side and under the deck, notice how he shifts his grip on the deck. That move might or might not be part of the move. The deck is too small to see the card at that quick look. But he handles the deck after Simon picked the card while setting up the flip and showing the cards, that is when he moves the card to the bottom. Camera cuts and flips to the judges obscure the moves so even if you knew what to look for, you don’t have a chance to see it. The judges had a chance to see it, but they are also in the prime spot to be controlled by the magician, and also they likely don’t have that sophisticated an understanding of what to look for. I barely have any clue. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-simon-cowell-in-on-this-trick/718360/46 "2015-07-14T15:12:15Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > I respect the fact that you have strong feelings about this, but just for the record Derren Brown (note spelling) has never claimed that NLP is the method behind any of his effects. Other people may have come to that conclusion, in their unbridled moments of murky and uninformed speculative ignorance, but that’s not his fault. He has never made this claim. He has. He may not use the word “NLP,” but he very pushes the same stuff NLP promises. He talks about subliminal messages being snuck into things forcing you to do things. That is NLP. He does TV specials where his explanation for the trick–the part where patter is no longer an excuse–is him claiming NLP stuff actually works. In fact, I’ll post an example–the one that stuck with me: He [goes to a mal](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1f_o7xgvl8)l and puts NLP “patterns” over a loud speaker, and makes everyone raise their arms on cue. And, note, this is part of one of his specials where he explains his tricks. Rule number one of ethical magic is that you let everyone in on the fact that you are doing a trick. Derren Brown, on the other hand, goes out of his way to try and make people think he actually has these psychological powers. He [lies when he explains tricks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DODGRfzdfNU). He claims abilities that normal humans can’t have. He is Uri Geller, just with the supernatural replaced with pseudoscience. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-simon-cowell-in-on-this-trick/718360.md?page=2)