Musings from the CU Suite

Written by Anthony Demangone

I'll admit it - I'm usually three years behind on TV.

I haven't seen Turn, or the Game of Thrones. I've never seen VEEP.

So when a friend asked me if I had seen The Carbanaro Effect, the usual answer came out of my mouth.  Nope.  

He urged me to watch it, and I'll admit it - it is fantastic.

Michael Carbonaro is a magician. With his skills, he tricks people into doubting everything they've ever been taught. (And of course, he does it with hidden cameras.)

In a classic episode, he poses as salesman in a grocery store who is selling juicers. With a simple fruit juicer, he somehow takes one orange and produces more than a pitcher of orange juice.

Of course, no orange can produce that much juice. But through slight of hand, he seemingly makes it happen. When a woman asks how, he simply says that this juicer "pulps the pulp." The woman buys it hook, line and sinker.

In another episode, he convinces a hard-core bicyclist that he needs to change the oil on his bike. By the time Carbonaro is done, the biker believes him and wonders why no one ever told him about changing his bicycle's oil before. 

The premise is simple - once people see something happen, they believe it is possible. Or even logical.  Even if the idea is outlandish.  

Again, check out the show. It is pretty entertaining.

In the real world, unfortunately the opposite is often true.

When someone thinks that something is not possible, they'll come up with 1,000 reasons why it can't be done. Or why it won't happen.  

Sometimes I think our job is creating an air of possibility. Reminding folks that there is a solution to every problem.

But first you have to believe before it can happen.