Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
18 years ago we placed a memetic bug inside of YouTube... AND IT STILL WORKS! Here's the letter I originally wrote way back when:
Hey gang,
Brian Brushwood here, and for the last 3 months, I've been working on something big: a brand new illusion that will trick your friends into believing in MIND CONTROL. Simply by reciting some lines of poetry, you'll cause a playing card to come into their mind...and then you'll point them to a YouTube clip that proves that their selection was predetermined.
This scam is unbelievably versatile: you can perform it in person, over the phone, and it's the ONLY trick I know of that can be performed over instant messenger. You can even do it with a borrowed iPhone: as long as your mark can get to YouTube, you can do this trick.
We've been secretly testing this effect for 3 months, and the responses have been unbelievable. Check out the effect in this week's episode of "Scam School", then check out the method explanation and cheat sheets we've posted at mindcontrolscam.com.
...and start scamming your friends. If you hit a home run, I want you to post a transcript of your IM chat session at the Scam School boards. We're also discussing our different tricks and techniques when performing this scam, and would love to hear what works best for you.
Special thanks to Stephanie Mack, Ryan Daume, and Glenn McElhose for being the guinea pigs in this episode!
--Brian
18 years ago we placed a memetic bug inside of YouTube... AND IT STILL WORKS! Here's the letter I originally wrote way back when:
Hey gang,
Brian Brushwood here, and for the last 3 months, I've been working on something big: a brand new illusion that will trick your friends into believing in MIND CONTROL. Simply by reciting some lines of poetry, you'll cause a playing card to come into their mind...and then you'll point them to a YouTube clip that proves that their selection was predetermined.
This scam is unbelievably versatile: you can perform it in person, over the phone, and it's the ONLY trick I know of that can be performed over instant messenger. You can even do it with a borrowed iPhone: as long as your mark can get to YouTube, you can do this trick.
We've been secretly testing this effect for 3 months, and the responses have been unbelievable. Check out the effect in this week's episode of "Scam School", then check out the method explanation and cheat sheets we've posted at mindcontrolscam.com.
...and start scamming your friends. If you hit a home run, I want you to post a transcript of your IM chat session at the Scam School boards. We're also discussing our different tricks and techniques when performing this scam, and would love to hear what works best for you.
Special thanks to Stephanie Mack, Ryan Daume, and Glenn McElhose for being the guinea pigs in this episode!
--Brian
