The Spoon Trick
A notebook entry published on August 12, 2003
I am about to share with you the greatest gift you may ever receive. It was passed down to me by my wife’s friend’s husband — Patrick. It is called “The Spoon Trick”, and it may save your life.
The trick is best revealed at a dinner gathering or reception. Any time you’re seated at a round table with people you only half know. There are usually awkward pauses in conversation at such events — but The Spoon Trick will break ice as thick as Alaska.
The key here is delivery. Casually pick up a spoon that’s in front of you at the table. If there aren’t any spoons, then you’ll have to request one. I find ordering soup or pudding for dessert makes the request less out-of-the-ordinary. The bigger the spoon, the better and if you’re lucky enough to find a soup spoon with a large, rounded head — you are golden.
With one hand, hold the spoon with the handle standing upright and the back of the spoon facing you. Carefully align your middle finger and ring finger knuckles against the back of the spoon. Next, wiggle your pinky and first finger in an up and down motion. Do this a few times — only to yourself as a warmup, making sure your alignment is correct. Click on the thumbnail to view a QuickTime (4.5MB) movie which demonstates the correct actions.
Quietly lean over to your neighbor and say “hey.. check it out.” Then proceed to show them the “wiggle”, turning the back of the spoon toward them, while keeping your knuckles aligned so that they can see the reflection.
The next line is “what does it look like”. They will look extremely puzzled and shocked at this point. Do not stop. The important thing to remember here is that they’ll be laughing in a few seconds.
Your reply is “it’s a guy in the shower as viewed from behind and he is washing his feet.”
Laughter ensues… the rest of the table gets curious. The trick spreads. Everyone has something to talk about for the rest of the dinner. The night belongs to you.
Pass it on. You’re welcome.
17 Comments
Andrew → www.mooncalf.me.uk
I do wonder sometimes how people find these interesting little “tricks”! Whoever thought of looking for a guy showering in the back of a spoon?
Clint Laskowski → www.robotic.com
Your last line says, “… the nite belogs to you.”
Note the spelling error, “belogs.”
Was that a Freudian slip? Belogs? Be-logs… blogs?
:-)
Mike → www.phark.net/
Well you know what they say…
A spoon in the hand is worth a view at the tush :)
Bob → www.stationinthemetro.com
Also sp. error, “Your welcome.” Unless, of course, you meant to refer to the welcome that belongs to me. ;-)
Great trick! I hope my website grows up to be like yours someday.
Dan → www.simplebits.com
Thanks for the spelling corrections. Already, having comments has proved to be worthwhile.
Mike - your limerick is destined to become a classic!
Karen
Another spelling error. “insues” should be “ensues”.
Jarod Lam → www.netdistortion.com
Heh, good one. :)
Derek → www.freewebs.com/jater
quite amusing. i will definitly use it some time. also, i quite like your site, and will visit it often.
Paul Watson → stormfront.typepad.com/
So at the end of the month I am going to get an email from the boss asking me what I spent 1h 20m downloading from simplebits dot com. He will see it is a movie file and was 4.5Mb, he will do his cost calculations. He will think it is pron (which it is, right?).
Then he will walk over to my desk and say “It had better be good.” And I will show him and he will start to laugh, he will have to sit down at one point and after 5 minutes he will finish, slap me on the back and say “Just don’t do it again damnit.”
But it will be worth it. Such is the decisions I have to make in a land where half my monthly salary only buys you a 64k leased line (top of the range!) that struggles to hit 5kbs.
namho → www.strangesystems.net
I’m got tears in my eyes. That’s a really good one.
Another good trick is the “Happy/Sad George” trick [my title].
Al → alabut.com/
Doesn’t work for me - hairy knuckles. Not gorilla hairy, mind you, but enough to ruin the illusion. That’s too bad…
Dan → www.simplebits.com
Paul - heh heh. I certainly hope it was worth it. I’d like to think it is. And I believe your boss will be thanking you, giving you a promotion for sharing such valuable information.
namho - excellent. I haven’t tried it yet, but it sounds like a Spoon Trick encore candidate.
Al - that could also be seen as an advantage, if you’re going for a more realistic approach ;)
Arthur → www.natashasworld.com/~arthur
very, very cool i had to read it twice to get it. haha
Erik → www.kartooner.com
I saw this trick for the first time on an episode of ‘Full House’. Remember that show? I believe Joey performed the trick in front of his friends and family.
Classic episode. Classic trick.
Thanks for ressurecting it.
John
Hahaha. Thats Awesome!
Tom → www.thedeplorableword.net/
I didn’t quite get it at first, thanks for the video!
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Adam Polselli → www.adampolselli.com
Wow, that really is TOO FUNNY!! It took me a second to see it, but after I did, I couldn’t NOT see it! Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to show it off! :)