Today we become illusionists. – Let’s talk about that. (upbeat music) Good mythical morning. – I feel like there’s something that we’ve forgotten to do over the past two years, but I can’t put my finger on it. – Go to the doctor? – No. – Go to the eye doctor? – No. – Go to the ear, nose and throat doctor? – No. – Play doctor? – No. – Watch “The Good Doctor?” – No. – Eat corn in Thailand. – No, we forgot to pick our favorite optical illusions of 2019 and 2020. – Whoa, two years? – Well, we didn’t forget about 2020. We were just so disillusioned with it that we haven’t wanted to look back on it yet, but there was this one image that was going around online about a month ago that got our optical juices flowing again. Now, what do you see here? – [Rhett] Well, at first I see a man running away, and then I see a dog running towards me. – [Link] I see a man running towards me with a dog on his sweatshirt. – Oh, tricky. Okay, so today we’re gonna experience some of the craziest optical illusions of the past few years, as selected by our favorite illusion website, IllusionOfTheYear.com. – Love them. – Hold on to your– – Good work done over there. – Hold on to your rods and cones because this time for illusions are just a play on perception, if you stare long enough, you’ll see your groundhog’s erection. – All right, our first optical illusion was created by Kenri Kodaka in Japan, and it was a finalist in Illusion of the Year’s 2019 contest. It’s called “Bodiject Fingers.” – Bodiject? – So I’m gonna show you this first video, which is from the point of view of someone who is experiencing the illusion firsthand. – Okay. – Okay? No, no pun intended, I guess. Let’s take a look. – [Rhett] Dude, that can’t happen. – [Link] Obviously there’s some mirroring happening, but. – [Rhett] Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? – So you gotta, okay, so here’s how this works. The illusion is made by you let your fingers pass beneath a slightly raised mirror. – [Rhett] You let them because they want to. – And then you’re only looking on one side of the mirror. So then the trick allows you to cognitively detach ownership of your own body. – Oh, I love doing that. – Because it’s seeing your own fingers as detached and symmetrical sausages with fingernails on them, that makes you think that– – Hungry. – Well, it makes you think they’re a foreign object. – Okay. – Makes it feel weird. Let’s try it. – Okay. – All right, we brought in a mirror. Now I’ve not tried this either, but I’m gonna let you go first. Take your left hand and put it up against the, hold on, before you put it underneath there, you wanna put your head down here, yeah, and you want to focus on like the mirror and then you want to put your hand around and put your fingers right up against the mirror underneath and then just touch those finger sausages. (Rhett giggles) Move them around. – Whoa, whoa, I wanna eat them. Whoa, whoa, they’re separated. They’re back together. – [Link] What does it feel like? – If you look at your own hand, the real hand, it brings you back into reality. – You mean your right hand? – But if you look at the mirror, it feels like I’m just touching some fingers. – And does it feel like your left hand is also touching the fingers? – [Rhett] It feels like I don’t have a left hand. – Oh really? – I don’t, I can’t explain it. – It’s supposed to feel like the reflection of your right hand, your brain thinks it’s your left hand. – Oh yeah. Okay. If I focus on that left hand and I get down here where it’s coming from the place, okay. Yeah. All right. – Yeah, there we go, sausage finger boy. – Let me get it on the sausage. – And get that hand around so that it’s where your hand would be. – It’s not working for me. I kind of know that’s my hand ’cause I feel it. – Well, don’t look at the fingers, look at the mirror. Look in the mirror image. You don’t want to get your mouth on one of those sausages? Put your mouth on one of them, see what happens. See if that makes it better. Suck on one of them. How’s that? Does that help? – No milk comes out. – Well, it’s a sausage, it’s not a teat. – I don’t know. – It looks crazy. It looks crazy. – I think I’ve been looking at the footage and explaining it in my mind so much in preparation. – Maybe it’s because you’re ambidextrous. – And that and just, just talented. (relaxed music) – Okay, now I want to show you an illusion that won second place in 2020. – First loser, you mean? – Yes, Matt Pritchard from the UK. Let’s have a little look see at an illusion called “The Real Thing?” – [Link] So more mirror action. (cans clatter) – Oh, magic mirror, what? Oh, whoa, it fell apart! What happened? Okay, do you know what happened? Is it too, it’s kind of confusing the first time. – That was just a frame. – It was just a frame. – And a hole. – A frame and a hole. Watch it again though, ’cause it’s very convincing. So yeah, so you interpreted it as a mirror because that’s what your mind wants to do. – [Link] Yeah. – [Rhett] And then. (cans clatter) And now, okay, let’s watch. – And at that point, am I supposed to like? (yells) – Yeah, you’re supposed to freak out. – Oh my gosh, it went through the mirror! – Well, it’s like the time you kissed yourself in the mirror on TikTok, remember that? – The one time? – Yeah. It’s kind of like that. Okay, basically what happens is your mind, even though this is not a perfect reflection, your mind tries to reconcile it as a reflection. It’s not actually how it would look. It’s not perfectly flat, it’s not perfectly symmetrical. – Because minds don’t really care. – Minds don’t care about details. Here’s a simplified version. (relaxed music) – [Link] Meaning the mirror doesn’t move. – Is there a cash prize? – I think the prize is people like us talking about it. – But you can, I think you could have fun with your children in this way. Your children, you still got one that’s young enough to fool. – I could, I can put my kids outside of a window and then sit and bring my other kids in and say “look out, look at that mirror.” – Your kids kind of look alike. – You look just like. – Your brother. It won’t work. It won’t work, if you put Lando outside and you put Lincoln inside, it’ll be like that’s Lincoln inside. – And I know where the windows in our house are, Dad. – Yeah, yeah, right. – Yeah, I’m glad we talked this out so I wouldn’t. – Right. – Feel like a fool. – Yeah. (relaxed music) I’d like to give your eyes a break and direct them over here where I’m gonna tell you a little bit about Mythical Kitchen. You’ve heard the phrase “you eat with your eyes first.” Well, I hope you are guys enjoy the taste of sugar and spice and everything nice because that is just what the Mythical Kitcheneers dish up every week on their channel, tune in over there for good laughs and food hacks, and every episode airing weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. – Doing good work over there. Just like the optical illusion website.com place. – Ah, that’s not what it is. – And this just in, we’ve learned that– – Came in kind of slow. – The third place winner gets a thousand dollars. Second place winner gets two grand, and the grand prize winner, which I’m about to show you from 2019, got a whopping $3,000. Are you ready to see the dual axis illusion? – Always. – Yeah, it was created by Frank Force. – Frank Force? – He is a, he’s an American. And with a name like Frank Force, you better be giving him first prize. – You don’t want to deal with Frank Force if he loses. – All right, so this is the opening image which just looks like a Celtic arm band tattoo you want to wanted to college. We’re gonna send this thing in motion and I want you to answer the questions and communicate with the illusion, Rhett. – Which axis is the shape rotating around? – Action, Twinkle Fingies. – Frank Force, it’s doing this. I’m gonna be speaking directly to Frank Force. It’s going around like a vertical axis. – It’s going around a vertical axis and it’s going clockwise. – Whoa, now it’s going like this. It switched directions. – Okay, so it’s still a vertical axis. Now it’s going counterclockwise. – Yes, Frank Force. – Or is it? – Oh, Frank Force did it again. – Yeah, he put a red band in and now you see it’s moving horizontally. – Frank Force is playing with my mind. – It hasn’t changed at all. See if you watch the overlaps. – That’s clearly a vertical. Whoa, oh no, it’s clearly a horizontal axis. Is it rotating clockwise? Frank Force, oh, it can, whoa, it’s rotating counterclockwise or clockwise. – Now, if you just continue to stare at this thing, you’ll start to ascend into the heavens and be united with– – Frank Force. – Probing aliens and Frank Force himself. – Yeah, I want to be forced by Frank. – Uh. (crew laughs uncomfortably) – You can take that how you, I just mean I want to be forced to see more illusions. – Yeah, that’s what it is. – I’m sure he’s got more where that came from. – Frank peels your eyeballs. I made three grand last year. You see what I spent it on? – He Clockwork Oranges you. (relaxed music) Okay, this next optical illusion was from a finalist in 2020. It comes from Japan and it was made by Kento Imai and Kenri Kodaka, he’s back again. – Is he? Bodijects? – Yeah, he came with Bodijects and now he’s coming with this, let’s check it out. (relaxed music) – [Link] Oh what, what? Is there a, is it a hand covered in pens? – Now Link, this may seem like the origin story of the worst X-Men character ever. – Pen Fingers. – Pen Fingers, he’s got a pen skeleton, but let’s actually watch the video that kind of explains what’s happening here. So we have a half mirror, like a one-way mirror. You put pens on one side of it to kind of get them aligned with the fingers, right. Then you light them so that they’ve got this sort of luminescence, and then when you look at the reflection, you see the bone pens in your hand. – I see the world he lives in. – Yeah, hand mirrors. You wanna try it? – Yes. – Okay, so now we’ve got the official x-ray scope. That’s what you call it, set up. – I got my hand in the right place and we’re using some paint brushes. All right, so let’s dim the light. – It’s your skeleton, man. – And turn this light on and then I’m gonna, I’m gonna turn on my phone light. – Watch this. – [Link] Oh, look, I just got a normal hand, but then x-rays. – [Rhett] No! He’s got paint brushes in his head. – Whoa, look at that. – He’s called The Artiste. – Normal hand. – [Rhett] Does it make you feel powerful? – [Link] My hand has paintbrushes in it! No, it’s terrifying! Okay, turn the lights back on! (yells) – Okay, now move the paintbrushes out of the way and just do your hand and line it up and then move the hand on the other side of the mirror. And it’s like a ghost hand. Yeah, that one, you move that one. – My hand has died. – That’s what’s gonna happen when your hand dies. – Yeah, that’s my soul, the soul in my hand. – Here’s what happens when you accidentally fall asleep on your arm and you think I finally done it, I finally killed my hand. – Oh no. – This is what happens. Your hand leaves, and then you roll, and you wake up and you roll over and you’re like, “Oh, the tingling. I can barely take it. Did I finally do it? Did I go too far?” And then it returns to your body. (relaxed music) Okay, now Stevie, you’ve got an optical illusion for us, right? – [Stevie] Oh, heck yeah, I do. It’s not mine. It’s called the “Subtitles Illusion” by Masashi Atarashi. – I know that’s your pseudonym. – [Stevie] A high school student from Japan, this was a finalist from 2020. So I’m gonna play this video for you right now. – [Link] Okay, playing with slime. – [Stevie] And as you can see, when the subtitles are shown at various speeds, the faster one appears to be closer while the slower ones appear to be farther away. – [Link] Okay, I see that. – [Rhett] Okay. – [Link] Now that you told me to see it, but yeah, I do. – [Rhett] But I was reading the slow one. What does that say about me? – [Link] It was the first one on the screen. I think that’s why I was reading it too. – [Stevie] So what’s happening is our perception of velocity influences the distance we perceive. – Don’t tell me how I see velocity. – Yeah, Stevie. Are you Frank Forcing us? – [Stevie] Yes. – Only Frank Force can force me to do things. – Stevie is in the league with Frank Force. – Stevie can’t force me to do anything! – [Stevie] I’m Masashi-ing you. – Okay. – You’re Masashi-nistic. – [Stevie] The text moving at a faster velocity claims more of our attention, thus putting it in the foreground. So mentally we register the slower moving text as more distant. – You’re reading that as if I’m bored with it. – [Stevie] Yeah, well it’s because I felt like that video was fine. – Yeah. – [Stevie] But, but the Mythical crew felt like we could have done, I’m just gonna say it, Masashi, a better video. – Say it. – [Stevie] So, so they put this one together. – Well, Masashi’s a high schooler. – Right. Yeah. – [Link] Oh, Chase is in our office. – [Rhett] Oh, come on. – [Link] What? Come on, Chase, seriously? – [Rhett] As long as he stays on your side of the, long as he stays on your side of the office. – [Link] Dang it! No! – [Rhett] Yeah, there he is, he’s writing. – [Link] Don’t open your legs. – [Rhett] Oh, well, hold on, I use that couch. – [Link] I think your face goes where his butt is usually. – [Rhett] Oh, come on, Chase. Oh, that’s my guitar. – [Link] Yeah, look at that. Look at how he’s playing the guitar. – [Rhett] I just touched it. – [Link] Naked. (both laughing) – [Rhett] Oh gosh. Oh, come on, Chase. – [Link] What? – [Rhett] Oh, what? You’re gonna hurt yourself. Now I’m just worried about you. – [Link] You’re climbing the shelf. – [Rhett] I’m just worried about you. Oh, oh no. – [Link] That’s what that crevice is for. – [Rhett] Oh gosh. He’s always stretching. – [Link] End it! Why is it not over? – [Rhett] Oh man. Okay. – [Stevie] I was told that I could end it at any point, but why would I do that? – Are we sending this one in for three grand to disinfect our office? – [Stevie] Yeah. – Because it’s gonna take at least $3,000 to get Chase out of that office. – Chase, I hope, there’s some, I, you, it’s what he’s contracted. So much fungus is in our office, man. – Really? What are you talking about fungus? – He should be afraid. – You’re saying no one should get naked in our office? – Well, yeah. – Okay. Except Frank Force. Any time Frank Force wants to show up and I don’t know. (laughs) I’m sorry, Frank Force. – Let me try to wrap this up. It’s just like I tell my kids, question everything, except for that statement. – Okay. Thanks for subscribing to click on that bell. – You know what time it is. – Hi, I’m Mackenzie from College Station, Texas, and I just got my COVID vaccine while repping my Mythical merch, and it’s time to spin the Wheel of Mythicality. – Way to go, Mackenzie, keep up the good work. Click the top link to watch us do optical illusion makeup and “Good Mythical More.” – And to find where the Wheel of Mythicality’s gonna land. – [Nicole] Ketchup is a smoothie. – [Josh] Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? – [Nicole] That makes no sense. – [Josh] A hot dog is a sandwich. – [Nicole] A hot dog is a sandwich. (both laugh) – [Josh] What?