HOMЯ

Imagine

You call a good friend and ask her if she’s free to come over later that evening. “There’s something I want to talk about,” you say. “Don’t worry. It’s nothing too serious, but it might take a little while to explain.”

Later that night she stops by.

You have something cued up on your TV to watch. It’s an episode of the Simpsons. “I know this is strange,” you say, “but I think watching it will help explain what I want to say.”

You watch episode 9 from Season 12, entitled HOMЯ.

In the episode, it’s revealed that Homer has had a crayon stuck in his brain since childhood. When the crayon is removed he becomes much more intelligent which strengthens his relationship with Lisa, but his intelligence becomes a detriment to the other relationships in his life. In the end he has the crayon re-inserted into his brain.

At the end of the episode you say to your friend, “We’ve known each other for a long time and you’ve been a great friend. But I think it’s time for me to make some changes. Changes that are probably going to come between us and potentially prevent us from connecting in the way we have in the past.”

She will be confused about what you’re getting at, and what it has to do with this Simpsons episode.

You sigh. “It’s been fun. Honestly. I’ve really appreciated your friendship.”

With that you close your eyes, tilt your head back, reach into one of your nostrils, and with a bit of wincing and cringing, you slowly pull out a crayon and drop it on the couch next to her.

You blink your eyes rapidly a few times.

“Good heavens,” you say.

You seem to notice your friend as if you forgot she was there, you quickly assess her—not pleased with what you see. “Ah, yes. I think it’s best if you go now. I’ll be in touch if I have the need for your fellowship in the future. Good day.”

You guide her toward the door. The implication is, of course, that now that you don’t have a crayon stuck in your brain, you’re not going to want to be spending much time with this person.

Method

This is a bad idea that you shouldn’t do. This discussion is for entertainment purposes only. Go sue someone else.

Okay so it’s just the human blockhead trick but with a crayon instead of a nail.

Now, here’s the thing… I’m not even sure if this can be done. That is, I don’t know if you can do the blockhead trick with something as thick as a crayon. I’ve heard of people doing it with pens/pencils but I don’t know how safe or dangerous that may be. If a crayon is too big, then just use one of those nails they use. The premise will still be understood: You’ve had something in your brain for a long time which has allowed you to be dumb enough to connect with this other person.

The basic idea for this presentation comes from reader, I.M. I was impressed that anyone could come up with any sort of immersive presentation for the human blockhead trick.

That is one of the most “look at me,” magician-centric tricks of all time. I don’t even know if you can call it a trick. it’s a stunt. But I’m not sure if people are supposed to fooled by it in any way. People surely understand the nail isn’t going into anything in your head, right? I mean, if you hammered it into your forehead, that would be one thing, but sticking it up your nose? I’m not 100% sure what the effect is supposed to be (if there is supposed to be one).

In this thread on the Magic Cafe, noted magic genius, Djvirtualreality, says:

I’m sure that’s true. But what percentage of that “flipping” is due to amazement? Are people ever in awe of this or just grossed out? I honestly don’t know because I don’t do the trick. But I feel like I could get at least 75% of the reaction of the human blockhead by just telling someone to look in my nose and then rooting around in there with my pinky finger.

Regardless, I think I.M., has hit on something here with his presentation. If you want to do the typical geek stunt, then it makes sense to perform it the traditional way (in and out). However, if you want to do something a little more absurdist and potentially intriguing, then I would focus on a presentation where you just put it in, or just pull it out.

If you want to push the presentation further, when your friend is on her way out, pull out a basket of mixed-up Rubik’s Cubes (that have been set up in one of those arrangements that allows for a quick solve) and just start solving them one by one