TED2014
Helder Guimarães: A magical search for a coincidence
Filmed:
Readability: 2.4
2,180,720 views
Small coincidences. They happen all the time and yet, they pass us by because we are not looking for them. In a delightfully subtle trick, magician Helder Guimarães demonstrates with a deck of cards, a dollar bill and a stuffed giraffe.
Helder Guimarães - Magician
Using a deck of cards and other simple props, Helder Guimarães gets up close to play with your perceptions and preconceptions. Full bio
Using a deck of cards and other simple props, Helder Guimarães gets up close to play with your perceptions and preconceptions. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
I'd like to start my performance by saying
90 percent of everything is crap.
90 percent of everything is crap.
0
747
6176
00:18
(Laughter)
1
6923
1226
00:20
It's called Sturgeon's law,
and what that means
and what that means
2
8149
2277
00:22
is that the majority of anything
is always bad.
is always bad.
3
10426
4838
00:29
I have a giraffe here.
4
17447
1779
00:31
I'm going to throw the giraffe
behind my back
behind my back
5
19226
2284
00:33
and whoever catches it is going
to help me on this next thing.
to help me on this next thing.
6
21510
3204
00:38
Sir, you caught the giraffe.
7
26474
3181
00:41
I have a playing card in my hand.
8
29655
2306
00:44
Freely name any card in the deck.
9
32806
3970
00:49
Audience member: 10 of hearts.
10
37577
1652
00:51
Helder Guimarães: 10 of hearts.
11
39229
1687
00:52
You could have named any card in the deck,
12
40916
2103
00:55
but you said the 10 of hearts.
13
43019
2276
00:57
Ninety percent of everything is crap,
14
45901
1929
00:59
so there's this to prove that
Sturgeon was correct.
Sturgeon was correct.
15
47830
3873
01:03
(Laughter)
16
51703
1515
01:05
(Applause)
17
53218
3793
01:09
(Laughter)
18
57011
3793
01:13
Sir, this is not your show.
19
61404
3193
01:16
(Laughter)
20
64597
4336
01:20
Keep the giraffe for a moment, okay?
21
68933
3519
01:24
Jesus.
22
72962
1831
01:26
(Laughter)
23
74793
2091
01:28
Crazy people.
24
76884
1752
01:30
Well, the truth is,
25
78636
3379
01:34
why is the majority of everything bad?
26
82015
4813
01:38
And my answer is: I think we stop
thinking too soon.
thinking too soon.
27
86828
4183
01:43
I'll give you a clear little example,
28
91011
2020
01:45
something that people used to do
around the turn of the century --
around the turn of the century --
29
93031
4133
01:49
not this century, the other one.
30
97164
2406
01:51
The idea was to take a piece of paper
31
99570
3004
01:54
and fold it inside out
using only your weaker hand,
using only your weaker hand,
32
102574
5228
01:59
in my case, the left hand.
33
107802
1855
02:01
Something that would look like this.
34
109657
4456
02:13
By the way you reacted, I can see
your lack of interest.
your lack of interest.
35
121858
3609
02:17
(Laughter)
36
125467
1638
02:19
But that's okay, I understand why.
37
127105
2011
02:21
We stop thinking too soon.
38
129116
1676
02:22
But if we give it
a little bit more thought,
a little bit more thought,
39
130792
2136
02:24
like a paper clip.
40
132928
1368
02:26
A paper clip makes this a little bit
more interesting.
more interesting.
41
134296
5580
02:31
Not only that, if instead of using
my hand with the fingers,
my hand with the fingers,
42
139876
2991
02:34
I use my hand closed into a fist,
43
142867
2078
02:36
that makes this even a little
bit more interesting.
bit more interesting.
44
144945
3374
02:40
Not only that, but I will impose myself
a time limit of one second,
a time limit of one second,
45
148319
4891
02:45
something that would look like this.
46
153210
5030
02:52
Now -- no, no, no.
47
160170
2061
02:54
Sturgeon may be correct.
48
162231
3467
02:57
But he doesn't have to be correct forever.
49
165698
2298
02:59
Things can always change.
50
167996
1218
03:01
Sir, what was the card?
51
169214
2077
03:03
The 10 of hearts?
52
171291
2119
03:05
There's this to prove that things
can always change --
can always change --
53
173410
5163
03:10
the 10 of hearts.
54
178573
2266
03:12
(Applause)
55
180839
3159
03:15
Secrets are important.
56
183998
3266
03:19
And secrets are valuable.
57
187846
2560
03:22
And this is the best secret
I've ever experienced.
I've ever experienced.
58
190406
4484
03:26
It starts with a deck of cards
onto the table,
onto the table,
59
194890
3091
03:29
an old man and a claim,
60
197981
3158
03:33
"I will not touch the deck till the end."
61
201139
4201
03:37
It doesn't matter who the man was,
62
205340
1688
03:39
all that matters was that sentence
ringing in my head:
ringing in my head:
63
207028
5535
03:44
"I will not touch the deck till the end."
64
212642
3834
03:48
Now, during all this time,
65
216476
1635
03:50
he was holding a small notebook
66
218111
2340
03:52
that sometimes he would open
and flip through the pages
and flip through the pages
67
220451
2811
03:55
and look at something.
68
223262
1603
03:56
But I was not really
paying attention to the book
paying attention to the book
69
224865
3624
04:00
because I was paying attention the deck
and the claim he had made before,
and the claim he had made before,
70
228489
4587
04:05
"I will not touch the deck till the end."
71
233076
3444
04:08
Now sir, you have the giraffe.
72
236520
1695
04:10
Go ahead, throw it in any direction
73
238215
1690
04:11
so that you can find
someone else at random.
someone else at random.
74
239905
2217
04:15
Perfect. Sir, you're going to play
my role in this story.
my role in this story.
75
243025
4132
04:19
The old man turned to me and he said,
76
247157
2124
04:21
"You could pick a red card
or a black card."
or a black card."
77
249281
2397
04:23
My answer was ...
78
251678
1391
04:25
Audience member 2: The black card.
79
253069
1650
04:26
HG: Indeed!
80
254719
1311
04:28
It was a black card.
81
256030
1608
04:30
He said, "It could be a club or a spade,"
82
258194
2513
04:32
and my answer was ...
83
260707
1753
04:34
Audience member 2: Spade.
84
262460
1607
04:36
HG: Indeed! It was a spade.
85
264384
3435
04:39
He said, "It could be a high spade
or a low spade."
or a low spade."
86
267819
3135
04:42
And my answer was ...
87
270954
1865
04:44
Audience member 2: A high spade.
88
272819
1698
04:46
HG: Indeed! It was a high spade.
89
274517
2680
04:49
Since it's a high spade,
it could be a nine, a 10,
it could be a nine, a 10,
90
277197
2453
04:51
a jack, king, queen or the ace of spades.
91
279650
2923
04:54
And my answer was ...
92
282573
1845
04:56
Audience member 2: The king.
93
284418
1741
04:58
HG: The king of spades, indeed.
94
286159
3052
05:02
Now sir, let's be fair.
95
290275
1142
05:03
You selected black, you selected spade,
96
291417
3004
05:06
you selected the high spade,
and you selected -- sorry?
and you selected -- sorry?
97
294421
2590
05:09
Audience member 2: King.
HG: King of spades.
HG: King of spades.
98
297011
2119
05:11
Did you feel I influenced you
in any decision?
in any decision?
99
299130
2204
05:13
Audience member 2: No, I just felt
your energy.
your energy.
100
301801
2249
05:16
HG: But it was a free choice, correct?
101
304089
1842
05:17
Because if not, we could start
all over again.
all over again.
102
305931
2163
05:20
But it was really fair?
Audience member 2: Absolutely.
Audience member 2: Absolutely.
103
308094
2545
05:22
HG: Now, the old man turned to me
and he asked me one more question,
and he asked me one more question,
104
310639
3319
05:25
a number between one and 52.
105
313958
3066
05:29
And the first number I thought of was ...
106
317024
2455
05:31
Audience member 2: 17.
107
319479
1362
05:32
HG: Indeed! It was the 17.
108
320841
4077
05:36
The old man only said one more thing:
109
324918
3059
05:39
"This is the end."
110
327977
2819
05:42
And I knew exactly what that meant.
111
330796
4188
05:46
I knew that he was going
to touch the deck.
to touch the deck.
112
334984
2637
05:50
Everything that you're about to see
is exactly as it looked.
is exactly as it looked.
113
338749
6428
05:57
He took the deck out of the box.
114
345177
3571
06:00
Nothing in the box.
115
348748
1849
06:03
He counted, "One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10."
five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10."
116
351726
9324
06:13
The tension was building.
117
361827
1889
06:16
(Laughter)
118
364092
2894
06:19
"11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17."
119
367758
8382
06:29
And on the 17, instead of
the king of spades,
the king of spades,
120
377077
4479
06:33
something appeared
in the middle of the deck,
in the middle of the deck,
121
381556
4051
06:37
that later, I would realize
was actually a secret.
was actually a secret.
122
385607
4755
06:43
The old man stood up, he left.
123
391903
2840
06:46
I never saw him again.
124
394743
1360
06:49
But he left his notebook
125
397530
2932
06:52
that was there from the beginning.
126
400462
1911
06:55
And when I picked it up,
127
403031
2535
06:57
that was the best secret
I've ever experienced.
I've ever experienced.
128
405566
5584
07:04
We are defined by the secrets we keep
129
412230
4171
07:08
and by the secrets we share.
130
416401
2151
07:10
And this was his way
of sharing a secret with me.
of sharing a secret with me.
131
418552
4865
07:15
(Applause)
132
423417
4653
07:24
Crazy shit! Now --
133
432430
1968
07:26
(Laughter)
134
434398
2348
07:30
I believe that amazing things
happen all the time.
happen all the time.
135
438166
6409
07:36
I really do.
136
444575
1667
07:38
And the reason why we don't see
them as often,
them as often,
137
446242
3178
07:41
it's because we don't
place ourselves in a position
place ourselves in a position
138
449420
2946
07:44
to search for those amazing things.
139
452366
2498
07:47
But what if we decided to search
for those amazing things,
for those amazing things,
140
455748
4754
07:52
for those small coincidences
in life that are truly amazing?
in life that are truly amazing?
141
460502
5658
07:58
So you have the giraffe,
142
466742
1613
08:00
go ahead, throw it in any direction
so you find one last person at random.
so you find one last person at random.
143
468355
4481
08:06
Sir, I'm going to ask you,
144
474838
3023
08:09
do you have, with you,
a United States $1 bill?
a United States $1 bill?
145
477861
5336
08:15
Audience member 3: I think so.
146
483197
1638
08:16
HG: Yes? You see, a coincidence!
147
484835
2638
08:19
(Laughter)
148
487473
2704
08:22
Let's make sure you have it.
149
490177
1824
08:24
Do you have it?
150
492001
1290
08:25
Audience member 3: Yes.
HG: Yes! Perfect.
HG: Yes! Perfect.
151
493291
2274
08:27
Now, I want you to do exactly the same
thing I am about to do.
thing I am about to do.
152
495565
2974
08:30
I have a dollar bill here to explain.
153
498539
1791
08:32
I want you to take the dollar bill,
154
500330
1739
08:34
and fold the Washington part
inside, like this.
inside, like this.
155
502069
3530
08:37
So you get this kind of big square, okay?
156
505599
2980
08:40
Now, I want you to take the bill
and fold it like this, lengthwise,
and fold it like this, lengthwise,
157
508579
3956
08:44
so it becomes like a rectangle,
158
512535
1519
08:46
and then again --
really fold it, really crease it --
really fold it, really crease it --
159
514054
2519
08:48
and when you have it,
160
516573
1484
08:50
please fold the bill again
into a little square like this
into a little square like this
161
518057
3476
08:53
and let me know when you have it.
162
521533
2328
08:56
Do you have it? Perfect.
163
524708
1228
08:57
Now, I'm going to approach,
164
525936
2365
09:00
and before we start,
165
528301
1499
09:01
I want to make sure that we do this
in very, very serious conditions.
in very, very serious conditions.
166
529800
3297
09:05
First of all, I want to ensure that we
have a marker and we have a paper clip.
have a marker and we have a paper clip.
167
533097
5595
09:10
First of all, take the marker
and go ahead and sign the bill.
and go ahead and sign the bill.
168
538692
3457
09:14
And this is the reason why:
169
542149
1726
09:15
later, I'm going to be doing
a bunch of stuff on stage
a bunch of stuff on stage
170
543875
2631
09:18
and I don't want you to think,
171
546506
1518
09:20
oh, while I was distracted by Helder,
172
548024
2455
09:22
someone came onstage and swapped the bill.
173
550479
2079
09:24
So I want to make sure
it's exactly the same bill.
it's exactly the same bill.
174
552558
2475
09:27
Now not only that, I want you
to take the paper clip
to take the paper clip
175
555033
2499
09:29
and put it around the bill.
176
557532
2200
09:31
So even if nobody comes onstage
and switches the bill,
and switches the bill,
177
559732
2606
09:34
I don't have enough time
to go open the bill and close it
to go open the bill and close it
178
562338
3279
09:37
and see what I don't want to see.
179
565617
1639
09:39
Is that fair?
180
567280
1161
09:40
Now you can give me the marker back.
181
568441
1787
09:42
And just like that, very clearly,
182
570228
2260
09:44
I want to make sure that
we place this in full view
we place this in full view
183
572488
3019
09:47
from the beginning of this experience
184
575507
5186
09:52
and to make sure that everyone
is going to see it,
is going to see it,
185
580693
2481
09:55
we're going to actually have
a camera man onstage.
a camera man onstage.
186
583174
3765
09:58
Yes, perfect, so that you can see.
187
586939
2310
10:01
That's your signature? Yes? Perfect.
188
589249
2290
10:03
Now, we're going to use
also the deck and a glass for this.
also the deck and a glass for this.
189
591579
6992
10:11
And we're going to put
ourselves in a position
ourselves in a position
190
599151
2818
10:13
to search for an amazing coincidence.
191
601969
2884
10:16
Do you mind, can you help me with this?
192
604853
1940
10:18
Go ahead and take some cards and shuffle.
193
606793
2654
10:21
And do you mind, can you
take some cards and shuffle?
take some cards and shuffle?
194
609447
2546
10:23
You can take some cards and shuffle.
195
611993
2031
10:26
You can shuffle cards
in a variety of ways.
in a variety of ways.
196
614024
2078
10:28
You can shuffle cards like this.
197
616102
1532
10:29
You can shuffle cards
in a more messed up way,
in a more messed up way,
198
617634
2181
10:31
something like this.
199
619815
1055
10:32
You can shuffle cards in the American way.
200
620870
2043
10:34
As a Portuguese, I don't feel entitled
to teach you guys how to do it.
to teach you guys how to do it.
201
622913
3333
10:38
But the important part is
after shuffling the cards,
after shuffling the cards,
202
626246
2452
10:40
always remember
to cut and complete the cards.
to cut and complete the cards.
203
628698
2253
10:42
Do you mind doing that for me, sir?
204
630951
1712
10:44
Please cut and complete.
205
632663
1196
10:45
And when you have it,
place the cards up in the air.
place the cards up in the air.
206
633859
2662
10:48
And you too, cut and complete
and up in the air.
and up in the air.
207
636521
2239
10:50
Up in the air.
208
638784
1241
10:52
A deck of cards cut and shuffled
by one, two, three, four and five people.
by one, two, three, four and five people.
209
640025
4378
10:56
Now, very clearly, I'm going
to gather the deck together.
to gather the deck together.
210
644403
4561
11:02
And just like that.
211
650494
2739
11:06
I'm going to search for a coincidence
in front of everyone.
in front of everyone.
212
654163
6182
11:15
I'm going to try.
213
663955
1523
11:25
I have some cards that maybe,
214
673490
4199
11:29
maybe they don't mean anything.
215
677689
2283
11:32
But maybe that's because
we are not paying close attention.
we are not paying close attention.
216
680904
2771
11:36
Because maybe, maybe they mean a lot.
217
684734
3583
11:40
Before we start,
sir, you gave me a dollar bill.
sir, you gave me a dollar bill.
218
688317
3449
11:43
Is that your signature?
219
691766
1883
11:45
Audience member 3: Yes it is.
220
693649
1420
11:47
HG: I want you to see very clearly
221
695069
4105
11:51
that I'm going to open your bill
222
699174
3257
11:54
and reveal a small secret that we created.
223
702431
4797
11:59
And the secret of this dollar bill
is the serial number.
is the serial number.
224
707228
6129
12:05
Madam, can you take the dollar bill?
225
713357
2923
12:09
In the serial number, there is a letter.
226
717296
1946
12:11
What is the first number after the letter?
227
719242
3243
12:14
Audience member 4: Seven.
228
722485
1500
12:15
HG: Seven.
229
723985
1899
12:17
Seven.
230
725884
1402
12:20
But, that's maybe just one coincidence.
231
728529
2980
12:23
What is the second number?
Audience member 4: Nine.
Audience member 4: Nine.
232
731509
2622
12:26
So after the seven, we have a nine.
233
734131
3790
12:31
And after the nine?
234
739155
1351
12:32
Audience member 4: Two.
235
740506
1107
12:33
HG: The two. And after the two?
236
741613
2020
12:35
Audience member 4: Three.
237
743633
1242
12:36
HG: Three, and after?
238
744875
1643
12:38
Audience member 4: Three.
HG: Three.
HG: Three.
239
746518
1966
12:40
Audience member 4: Seven.
HG: Seven.
HG: Seven.
240
748484
2056
12:42
Audience member 4: Four.
HG: Four.
HG: Four.
241
750540
1734
12:44
Audience member 4: Two.
HG: Two, and?
HG: Two, and?
242
752274
2514
12:46
Audience member 4: Q.
243
754788
1930
12:48
HG: Q like in queen?
244
756718
3872
12:52
(Applause)
245
760590
1690
12:54
The queen of clubs!
246
762280
1310
12:55
All the cards in order, just for you.
247
763590
3830
12:59
And that's my show.
248
767420
1296
13:00
Thank you very much and have a nice night.
249
768716
2907
13:03
(Applause)
250
771623
6596
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Helder Guimarães - MagicianUsing a deck of cards and other simple props, Helder Guimarães gets up close to play with your perceptions and preconceptions.
Why you should listen
Helder Guimarães slips and slides cards on a table, wowing you with invisible technique, unorthodox psychology and fresh humor. As a close-up magician, he's won international awards for his elegantly thought-through performances, which merge a nuanced stagecraft with good old how-does-he-do-it sleight of hand. He is the world's youngest-ever World Champion of Card Magic. He reflects on his craft in the enigmatic out-of-print book, Reflections.
His appearances at LA's Magic Castle led him to be awarded the title of Parlour Magician of The Year, in 2011 and 2012, recognition that drew hours-long queues as audiences (and fellow magicians) flocked to the simple and astonishing act. Also, in 2012, he co-created a show called Nothing to Hide, with Derek DelGaudio, which opened at the Geffen Playhouse, directed by magic superfan Neil Patrick Harris. In 2013, the show was taken to Off-Broadway where it stayed for a very successful held-over run of 110 performances.
Helder Guimarães | Speaker | TED.com