Dancing puppets trick

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
This article does not adequately cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!)
This article has been tagged since March 2007.
A typical setup.
A typical setup.

The Dancing Puppets trick is a trick scheme carried out by vendors on the streets of popular holiday destinations, particularly in Europe. The vendors try to sell small puppets made of cardboard, paper or pipe cleaners, often depicting famous cartoon characters, by giving the impression that they are capable of dancing to the music coming from a radio or cassette player. Sometimes the figures will have magnets on their feet (or it will appear that they have). The product is targeted towards tourists, particularly families with children. The potential buyers are led to believe that it is the music that makes the figures dance, when in fact this is due to a hidden mechanism. Note that there may be multiple variations of the trick.

Contents

[edit] What is seen by people passing by

The people passing by the vendor (who will usually gather in a crowd in front of the arrangement) will see a cassette player playing music (usually dance or pop music) next to a couple of dancing cardboard figures. If done correctly, there will be no visible strings. If asked how it works, the vendor will usually explain that it is the vibration of the music that is making the puppets dance. However, in the case of figures with magnet feet he may claim that the magnet field from the speakers is involved. He may also stop and start the tape, which will make the dancing stop and start as well. This is presumably done in order to convince the crowd that it is indeed the music that is making the puppets dance. He may also take up a puppet and replace it after which it resumes dancing. The crowd is not allowed to touch the setup but is allowed to stand quite close to it. However, if a member of the crowd appears to be too sceptical, the vendor may cover the arrangement (for instance with a plate of thick cardboard). The arrangement can be set up and taken down in around 15 seconds.

[edit] What the buyer gets

A pack contains two figures along with some instructions on how to use them. The instruction manual asks the user to attach one end of a thread (which may not even be supplied in the pack) to the speaker of a radio and the other end to the wall. The figures are then placed on the string. The vibration coming from the speaker, the instructions claim, will make the figures dance. Note that even if this was true, the way the product is sold would be misleading, because the street vendor gives the impression that the figures dance with no strings attached. Furthermore, even if one actually follows the instructions, the vibrations from the speaker are not powerful enough to produce any movement that can be characterized as dancing. Clearly, it is not the mechanism described in the instructions that makes the figures dance when they are displayed on the street. One may wonder why the vendor would even bother to put these dubious instructions in the pack. One explanation could be that it may make the entire scheme seem less deceitful. It could be argued that the puppets as sold are capable of dancing if only the attached speaker delivers enough force to the thread. After all, the vendor didn’t go into detail regarding how the figures worked and didn’t claim that threads were not involved. What makes the scheme a trick is the fact that the figures displayed on the street dance due to a different mechanism than the one outlined in the instructions and that the overall effect of the setup is that the customer will think no threads are involved.

[edit] How the street vendor makes the figures dance

It is clear that the figures are not dancing due to the vibration from the music or the magnetic field from the speaker. For example, the movements of the figures do not appear to be synchronized to the rhythm of the music. This may be difficult to see because the vendor will usually have chosen a tape containing music with a fairly constant rhythm (such as dance music). Additionally, there are no breaks in the music. What makes the figures dance is the fact that they are hanging on a very thin and transparent thread, which can be virtually impossible to see with the naked eye. The string goes to the cassette player and to the wall behind the arrangement, usually attached with scotch tape. In some cases the vendor will position himself in front of the spot where the tape is attached. Even if he doesn’t, the tape can be very difficult to see. Depending on light conditions and how the vendor positions the figures the string may cast a visible shadow on one of the figures, exposing the trick. The cassette player is rigged in a way that allows the string to be connected to its tape drive mechanism which is what actually makes the string vibrate. This explains why the dancing starts and stops as the vendor hits the “Play” and “Stop” buttons on the player. The vendor will usually set the arrangement on a dark background making the string even harder to see. Additionally, he will have practiced how to quickly remove and replace the figures in a way that doesn’t expose the string. Under optimal conditions, this can make the trick look quite convincing. The scheme seems to be quite organized. In a city where the trick is practiced, one will usually see several vendors using it. The figures sold are all of the same brand, however, the cassette players used may be different. The vendors probably get instructions how to rig the player when he orders the figures to be sold.

[edit] Legality

As described earlier, the vendor could argue that the product as sold is capable of working to some extent. Still, it seems clear that this way of selling products is misleading and may be illegal.

[edit] Locations

The trick has been spotted in many European countries going back to at least 1986. Here's a list of reported sightings:

[edit] Variations

Variations of the above have been observed. In the arrangement described earlier, the street vendor may position a daypack next to a radio to make it difficult to take a closer look at the arrangement. In some variations, the string is not connected to the tape drive mechanism but to a special vibrating device, which may be hidden behind a daypack. Another variation is to have an accomplice about 10 feet away, with the other end of the thread, as seen in Covent Garden, London in the mid-eighties.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../d/a/n/Dancing_puppets_trick.html"