Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Place a straw in a bottle and tell your friends that you can move the liquid into the glass

  • without moving the bottle, or sucking on the straw. To win the bet, simply place your lips

  • around the top of the bottle, and blow. The liquid will shoot out of the straw.

  • Place a matchbox on an upturned glass and tell your friends that they have to make it

  • stand upright with a single flick. You can do it every time. However, when your friends

  • have a go, turn the matchbox over so the bottom of the drawer is on top. Now it's impossible.

  • Arrange eight matchsticks like this to make a fish swimming in this direction. And challenge

  • your friends to move just three of the matchsticks and make the fish move in the opposite direction.

  • To win the bet, just move this matchstick. And this one. And this one.

  • Place two plastic glasses together and challenge your friends to separate the glasses without

  • touching them. To win the bet, just blow between them.

  • Tell your friends that you can say fifty words in just thirty seconds, but without using

  • the letters A B or C. To win the bet, just count One Two Three Four and so on, right

  • up to the number fifty. We're half way through, and here's the Quirkology

  • goat. This bet involves a mug, a teaspoon and a

  • fork. Place the spoon here, and the fork under the spoon, and challenge your friends to move

  • the spoon into the mug but by only touching the end of the fork. To win the bet, gently

  • hit the fork. Challenge your friends to balance a credit

  • card on a glass, and then balance some coins on one side of the glass. They will fail every

  • time. All you need to do is place as much water in the glass as possible. Place the

  • card onto it, and the water tension will allow you to balance the coins.

  • Challenge your friends to balance the edge of a large piece of paper onto their finger. To win the

  • bet, just fold the paper diagonally in half, then fold back one side like this, the other

  • side like this, and you will be able to balance the paper on your fingertip.

  • For this bet, place some matches on the table and explain to your friends that they have

  • to balance this plastic glass between the other two using what's just on the table.

  • Tell them that if they are successful then they can win some money. In fact the matches

  • were a red herring. To win the bet, fold the note up like this, place it between the two

  • other glasses, and balance the other glass on top.

  • Secretly run pencil lead around the edge of a coin. Then hand the coin to your friend

  • and tell them they can keep it if they can roll the coin down their nose. You'll lose

  • the bet but they will end up looking silly. When they see themselves in the mirror they

  • will be angry then sad.

Place a straw in a bottle and tell your friends that you can move the liquid into the glass

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it