WEBVTT

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Do you think it's possible
to control someone's attention?

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Even more than that,
what about predicting human behavior?

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I think those are interesting ideas.

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For me, that would be
the perfect superpower,

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actually kind of an evil way
of approaching it.

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But for myself, in the past,
I've spent the last 20 years

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studying human behavior
from a rather unorthodox way:

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picking pockets.

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When we think of misdirection,

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we think of something
as looking off to the side,

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when actually the things
right in front of us

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are often the hardest to see,

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the things that you look at every day
that you're blinded to.

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For example, how many of you still have
your cell phones on you right now?

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Great. Double-check.

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Make sure you still have them.

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I was doing some shopping before.

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(Laughter)

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You've looked at them a few times today,

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but I'll ask you a question.

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Without looking at it directly yet,

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can you remember the icon
in the bottom right corner?

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Bring them out, check and see
how accurate you were.

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How'd you do?

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Show of hands. Did we get it?

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Now that you're done, close them down.

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Every phone has something in common.

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No matter how you organize the icons,

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you still have a clock on the front.

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So, without looking at your phone,
what time was it?

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You just looked at your clock, right?

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Interesting idea.

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Let's take that a step further
with a game of trust.

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Close your eyes.

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I realize I'm asking you to do
that while you just heard

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there's a pickpocket in the room,
but close your eyes.

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Now, you've been watching me
for about 30 seconds.

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With your eyes closed, what am I wearing?

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Make your best guess.

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What color is my shirt?
What color is my tie?

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Now open your eyes.

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Show of hands, were you right?

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Interesting, isn't it?

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Some of us are a little bit
more perceptive than others, it seems.

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But I have a different theory
about that model of attention.

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They have fancy models of attention,
Posner's trinity model of attention.

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For me, I like to think of it very
simple, like a surveillance system.

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It's kind of like you have
all these fancy sensors,

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and inside your brain
is a little security guard.

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For me, I like to call him Frank.

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So Frank is sitting at a desk.

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He's got lots of cool
information in front of him,

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high-tech equipment, he's got cameras,

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he's got a little phone
that he can pick up, listen to the ears,

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all these senses, all these perceptions.

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But attention is what steers
your perceptions,

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it's what controls your reality.

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It's the gateway to the mind.

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If you don't attend to something,
you can't be aware of it.

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But ironically, you can attend
to something without being aware of it.

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For example, the cocktail effect:

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You're in a party, having
conversations with someone,

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and yet you can recognize your name

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without realizing
you were listening to that.

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Now, for my job, I have to play
with techniques to exploit this,

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to play with your attention
as a limited resource.

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So if I could control
how you spend your attention,

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if I could maybe steal your attention
through a distraction.

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Now, instead of doing it like misdirection

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and throwing it off to the side,

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instead, what I choose
to focus on is Frank,

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to be able to play with the Frank
inside your head,

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your security guard,

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and get you, instead of focusing
on your external senses,

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just to go internal for a second.

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So if I ask you to access
a memory, like, what is that?

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What just happened? Do you have a wallet?

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Do you have an American Express
in your wallet?

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And when I do that,
your Frank turns around.

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He accesses the file.
He has to rewind the tape.

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What's interesting is,
he can't rewind the tape

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at the same time that he's trying
to process new data.

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This sounds like a good theory,

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but I could talk for a long time,
tell you lots of things,

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and a portion of them may be true,

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but I think it's better if I tried
to show that to you here live.

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If I come down, I'm going
to do a bit of shopping.

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Just hold still where you are.

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Hello, how are you?
It's lovely to see you.

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Wonderful job onstage.

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Lovely watch, it doesn't
come off very well.

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Do you have a ring as well?

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Good. Just taking inventory.
You're like a buffet.

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Hard to tell where to start,
so many great things.

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Hi, how are you? Good to see you.

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Hi, sir, could you stand up, please?
Just right where you are.

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You're married,
you follow directions well.

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Nice to meet you, sir.

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You don't have a lot in your pockets.
Anything down here?

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Hopefully so. Have a seat. There you go.
You're doing well.

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Hi, sir, how are you?

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Good to see you, sir.
You have a ring, a watch.

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Do you have a wallet on you? Joe: I don't.

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AR: Well, we'll find one for you.
Come on up this way, Joe.

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Give Joe a round of applause.
Come on up, Joe. Let's play a game.

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(Applause)

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AR: Pardon me.

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I don't think I need this clicker anymore.

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Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

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Come on up to the stage, Joe.
Let's play a little game now.

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Anything in your front pockets?

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J: Money.

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AR: Money! All right, let's try that.

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Can you stand right over this way for me?

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Turn around and, let's see,

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if I give you something
that belongs to me,

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this is just something I have,

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a poker chip.

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Hold out your hand for me.

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Watch it closely.

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This is a task for you to focus on.

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You have your money in your front pocket?

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J: Yup.
AR: Good.

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I won't put my hand in your pocket.
I'm not ready for that kind of commitment.

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Once a guy had a hole in his pocket,

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and that was rather traumatizing for me.

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I wanted his wallet,
he gave me his number.

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Big miscommunication.

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(Laughter)

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Let's do this simply.
Squeeze your hand tight.

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Do you feel the poker chip in your hand?

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J: I do.

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AR: Would you be surprised
if I took it? Say yes.

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J: Very.
AR: Good.

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Open your hand. Thank you very much.

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I'll cheat if you give me a chance.

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Make it harder for me. Just use your hand.

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Grab my wrist, but squeeze, squeeze firm.

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Did you see it go? Joe: No.

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AR: No, it's not here. Open your hand.

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While we're focused on the hand,
it's sitting on your shoulder.

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Go ahead and take it off.

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Now, let's try that again.

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Hold your hand out flat. Open it up.

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Put your hand up a little bit higher,
but watch it close.

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If I did it slowly,
it'd be on your shoulder.

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(Laughter)

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Joe, we're going to keep doing
this till you catch it.

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You'll get it eventually.
I have faith in you.

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Squeeze firm.
You're human, you're not slow.

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It's back on your shoulder.

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You were focused on your hand, distracted.

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While you were watching,
I couldn't get your watch off.

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Yet you had something inside your pocket.

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Do you remember what it was?

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J: Money.

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AR: Check your pocket. Is it still there?

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(Laughter)

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Oh, there it was. Put it away.

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We're just shopping.

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This trick's more about the timing.

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I'm going to try to push it
inside your hand.

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Put your other hand on top, would you?

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It's amazingly obvious now, isn't it?

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Looks a lot like the watch
I was wearing, doesn't it?

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(Laughter) (Applause)

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J: That's pretty good.
AR: Oh, thanks.

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(Applause)

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But it's only a start.
Let's try it a little bit differently.

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Hold your hands together.
Your other hand on top.

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If you're watching this little token,

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this obviously has become
a little target, like a red herring.

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If we watch this kind of close,
it looks like it goes away.

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It's not back on your shoulder.

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It falls out of the air,
lands right back in the hand.

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Did you see it go?

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Yeah, funny. We've got a little guy.
He's union, works up there all day.

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If I do it slowly it goes straight away,
it lands by your pocket.

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Is it in this pocket, sir?

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Don't reach in your pocket.
That's a different show.

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(Squeaking)

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That's rather strange.
They have shots for that.

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Can I show them? Rather bizarre.
Is this yours, sir?

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I have no idea how that works.
We'll send that over there.

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I need help with this one.

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Step over this way for me.

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Don't run away. You had something
down by your pants pocket.

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I was checking mine.
I couldn't find everything,

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but I noticed you had something here.

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Can I feel the outside for a moment?

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Down here I noticed this.
Is this something of yours, sir?

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I have no idea. That's a shrimp.

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J: Yeah. I'm saving it for later.

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AR: You've entertained
all of these people in a wonderful way,

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better than you know.

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So we'd love to give you this
lovely watch as a gift.

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(Laughter)

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Hopefully it matches his taste.

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We have a couple of other things,

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a little bit of cash.

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And we have a few other things,

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these all belong to you,

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along with a big round of applause
from all your friends.

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(Applause)

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Joe, thank you very much.

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(Applause)

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(Applause ends)

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So, same question I asked you before,

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but this time you don't have
to close your eyes.

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What am I wearing?

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Audience: Oh!

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(Laughter)

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(Hesitant applause)

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(Applause ends)

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Attention is a powerful thing.

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Like I said, it shapes your reality.

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So, I guess I'd like to pose
that question to you.

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If you could control somebody's attention,

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what would you do with it?

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Thank you.

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(Applause)