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Derren Brown Cheating Too! :(

Stefan

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I'd say the world's top blindcubers today could in rare cases actually do it or at least come close, but Derren isn't one of them. The much better explanation is of course that he cheated.
 

qqwref

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To do this you'd have to either (a) memorize both cubes and combine the cycles somehow, or (b) memorize the cycles of the difference between the cubes, by looking at one cube while constantly checking the other one to determine where every piece goes. Then you'd execute like in normal blindsolving. It's certainly possible for real (and it'd be fun to see someone try it) but nobody is going to be doing it with 5 seconds of memo. You still have to find and process two cubes' worth of information.

Derren's a magician, of course, and not a world-class BLD solver, so it's certainly some kind of trick. I would think it would be something like this:
1) One of the cubes is set to a preset position, probably by planting someone in the audience or by replacing the scrambled cube with a hidden one as it is being brought to him.
2) Either the other cube is also set to a preset position (with Derren knowing the moves to get from one to the other), or, while he is fiddling around behind his back he replaces the other cube with a hidden cube that was already in the first cube's position.
 
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It's Derren Brown. The guy is particularly known for his mind games. This is of course just a magician's trick and I'm sure he wouldn't deny it either as he tends to be fairly loose with revealing his own tricks.
 

chris410

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Derren's a magician, of course, and not a world-class BLD solver, so it's certainly some kind of trick. I would think it would be something like this:
1) Replacing the scrambled cube with a hidden one as it is being brought to him.

I have a few friends who are magicians and agree with this analysis.
 

Stefan

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he tends to be fairly loose with revealing his own tricks.

Do you have an example for that?

I have a few friends who are magicians and agree with this analysis.

This is ambiguous. Do you agree or do your friends?

In the first case, I don't see the relevance of your magician friends, and in the second case, I'm surprised that they read qq's analysis and gave you feedback so quickly (or were they with you?).
 
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Do you have an example for that?

Sure. Check out his vids on youtube. Somewhere in-between half and 3/4 of all of his vids he reveals the trick at the end. Of course these are all usually psychological games, rather than the traditional magic trick as this Rubik's cube trick seems to be.
 

Carrot

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Maybe there would occour some cube swaps during the trick :) (they do that a lot in card tricks, except then they do it with cards and not cubes, duh)
 

Dene

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I don't think anyone is accusing him of cheating; merely saying that what he does is not genuinely doing what he is acting as if he is doing, i.e. it is "fake".
 

Dene

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Did you read the title of the thread?

I was referring specifically to the most recent developments, which I thought was clear enough. Although I know people often don't read the dates when they read threads so perhaps it would have been a good idea for me to make that clear.
 

pipkiksass

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Okso Derren Brown is very open about the fact that what he does is NOT magic, but showmanship. What he is also clear on is that he does not use 'plants', patsies, or stooges, i.e. people placed in the audience or pre-defined scrambles.

Knowing how good his memory is (he can memorise the order of four decks of cards as quickly as you our I could count them), I'd like to believe that he's learnt how to commute cubies, and had the image of the two cubes in his mind.

The man travels the world learning obscure skills, and has an infinite amount of spare time. Whatever the explanation is, I'm pretty sure it's not a panted cube, that would be his most underwhelming trick ever!
 

Kirjava

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I was referring specifically to the most recent developments, which I thought was clear enough. Although I know people often don't read the dates when they read threads so perhaps it would have been a good idea for me to make that clear.

Did you read the OP? 'Recent developments' are the same thing as it.
 

~Adam~

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What he is also clear on is that he does not use 'plants', patsies, or stooges, i.e. people placed in the audience or pre-defined scrambles.

This not true. In some of his shows he puts the no patsies disclaimer and others he doesn't.

The show when he gambled a large amount of money on a single number on a roulette wheel was all fake.
Fake casino, fake 'live' tape and the 'mark' was a patsie.

The man travels the world learning obscure skills, and has an FINITE amount of spare time.

Fixed
 
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AvGalen

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Okso Derren Brown is very open about the fact that what he does is NOT magic, but showmanship. What he is also clear on is that he does not use 'plants', patsies, or stooges, i.e. people placed in the audience or pre-defined scrambles.

Knowing how good his memory is (he can memorise the order of four decks of cards as quickly as you our I could count them), I'd like to believe that he's learnt how to commute cubies, and had the image of the two cubes in his mind.

The man travels the world learning obscure skills, and has an infinite amount of spare time. Whatever the explanation is, I'm pretty sure it's not a panted cube, that would be his most underwhelming trick ever!
I think he has you under his spell. on the count of three you will wake up: One, Two, Th....coffeetime
 
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