Here is a quick fun game that leaves your friends scratching their head, until they figure out that you have . . . altered the conditions of the test!
Take three empty cups and arrange them in a row like this:
Then tell them that you get three turns. You must turn over two cups at a time. At the end of the third turn the cups must all be sitting mouth up. You then demonstrate this clever experiment with a little flair. Roll up your sleeves as if contemplating the most complex answers to the universe. Then clap your hands three times. Grab the left glass and the middle glass and turn them over. It now looks like this:
Without missing a beat you clap your hands and cross your arms and turn over the two end glasses. It now looks like this:
Roll your hands over each other twice and then grab the left and middle glass and turn them over. All three glasses now are mouth up.
You then tell them it’s their turn. Now for the sneaky, underhanded move. You simply turn over the middle glass and step back. It now looks like this:
When they try to do the same thing, it won’t work. This is because you have given them the opposite set up of what you started with. Look back at first picture. It might take them a couple of times to figure this out. But, for those couple of minutes its fun to watch your friends minds melt as they try and figure out why it’s not working for them.
The key to making this work is to go through the initial set-up and demonstration quickly and with flair. That is why I have you clap your hands and roll them over each other. It has nothing to do with the mechanics of this brain buster but it does distract them from what is really important. Another key is to introduce this “experiment” subtly such as while sitting in the break room and you suddenly notice three cups sitting there. “Hey, I saw this interesting thing the other day. Watch this.” This introduction will catch them off guard.
If you walk up to them with three cups, they will become suspicious and this won’t be as fun. Have a good mind warping time!