History Main / KansasCityShuffle

* In {{Discworld/Jingo Jingo}}, the Klatchian ambassador is almost killed, and it looks like someone did a very bad job of framing the Klatchians. [[spoiler:Specifically, the Klatchians did a very bad job of framing the Klatchians, to get the Watch to announce it was an Ankh-Morpork job, and get a war.]]

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The TropeNamer is the song "The Kansas City Shuffle" (see quote above) explained in detail in the movie ''LuckyNumberSlevin''. For those of you not from the US, KansasCity is actually in Missouri and is even the third largest city in the state. There ''is'' a Kansas City, Kansas, (It's right across the river) but it's much smaller and usually not what people are talking about when they mention a Kansas City. It throws off many Americans, too, especially those who write off the Midwest as FlyoverCountry. This is actually a near-perfect physical metaphor, as "when they look on one side of the river, you're on the other". May be employed by means of a RevealingCoverup.

The Kansas City Shuffle is an old established name for a con game that depends on the mark believing that the conman is trying to misdirect him. Another way to say it is that it relies on the mark being "too smart for their own good."\\

For instance, the conman really wants the mark to ignore what he's doing with his left hand. He therefore does something that makes the mark think that it's his right hand he wants ignored. The mark concentrates on the conman's right hand, thinking that he's doing the opposite of what the conman wants, [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow when in fact he's doing exactly what the conman wants]]. ''If the mark doesn't fall for the misdirection, the con doesn't work.'' \\

In fiction, it's a plan or gambit that relies on the victim believing the misdirection. What the victim is being misled about can vary; it can be the true motivation and desires of the chessmaster, it could be the presence of other players, or could be the identity of the plotter or even their existence.\\

* ''{{Leverage}}'', also all the time, starting with the very first episode. The best example would probably be [[spoiler:"The Second David Job."]]

** That time Angel pretended to go evil in season 3 of ''{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}}'', to get information out of the current BigBad.

* In the 2009 movie ''{{Push}}'', Nick Grant has a grand one. Now, given how seeing the future works in this, knowing what you're doing lets people see your plan. So with a little memory manipulation he plays out his plan like he intends to get and use the deadly phelbotinum... ''twice'', to cover the fact that his friends already had it.

* Niko and [[NeverMessWithGranny Ariel]] pull a great one of these in the ''GalaxyRangers'' episode "Ariel". A SealedEvilInACan called Megamind ({{Megamind}} no relation) got loose and took out every one of the Circle of Thought aside from them. For added measure, it captured Zachary Foxx, who appears to be SupernaturallyDeliciousAndNutritious for some reason. After the women battle to the thing's lair and succeeding in pissing it off, Ariel casts a spell to disguise them as each other. Megamind proceeds to blow a lot of power fighting what he thinks is Ariel, but is actually Niko. Then, when he's used up so much power on the student, the ''mentor'' drops the disguises, and starts laying into the thing. Of course, while it's distracted, Niko pulls out a remote control that activates the captured Zachary's bionics and blasts Megamind. For added measure, [[CoolOldLady Ariel quotes the damn thing Sun Tzu while blasting it]]!

* Niko and [[NeverMessWithGranny Ariel]] pull a great one of these in GalaxyRangers. SealedEvilInACan got loose and took out every one of the Circle of Thought aside from them. For added measure, it captured Zachary, who appears to be SupernaturallyDeliciousAndNutritious for some reason. After the women battle to the thing's lair and succeeding in pissing it off, Ariel casts a spell to disguise them as each other. The SealedEvilInACan proceeds to blow a lot of power fighting what he thinks is Ariel, but is actually Niko. Then, when he's used up so much power on the student, the ''mentor'' drops the disguises, and starts laying into the thing. Of course, while it's distracted, Niko pulls out a remote control that activates the captured Zachary's bionics and blasts the thing. For added measure, [[CoolOldLady Ariel quotes the damn thing Sun Tzu while blasting it]]!

[[quoteright:245:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kcshuffle_finished_5832.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:245:That ninja waiter might as well be wearing a [[LampshadedTrope lampshade.]]]]

The Kansas City Shuffle is an old established name for a con game that depends on the mark believing that the conman is trying to misdirect him. Another way to say it is that it relies on the mark being "too smart for their own good."


For instance, the conman really wants the mark to ignore what he's doing with his left hand. He therefore does something that makes the mark think that it's his right hand he wants ignored. The mark concentrates on the conman's right hand, thinking that he's doing the opposite of what the conman wants, [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow when in fact he's doing exactly what the conman wants]]. ''If the mark doesn't fall for the misdirection, the con doesn't work.''


In fiction, it's a plan or gambit that relies on the victim believing the misdirection. What the victim is being misled about can vary; it can be the true motivation and desires of the chessmaster, it could be the presence of other players, or could be the identity of the plotter or even their existence.


The audience may or may not be in on the secret themselves. If they are then it can lead to a build up of DramaticIrony but often the truth can be saved to TheReveal after the audience has been immersed in the intricacies of the apparent plot so that the shock to the character and the audience match.

The Kansas City Shuffle is an old established name for a con game that depends on the mark believing that the conman is trying to misdirect him. Another way to say it is that it relies on the mark being "too smart for their own good."\\
[[supersecretspoiler:My name is CandleJack, I don't write in black, it's part of my Kansas City Shuffle]]\\
For instance, the conman really wants the mark to ignore what he's doing with his left hand. He therefore does something that makes the mark think that it's his right hand he wants ignored. The mark concentrates on the conman's right hand, thinking that he's doing the opposite of what the conman wants, [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow when in fact he's doing exactly what the conman wants]]. ''If the mark doesn't fall for the misdirection, the con doesn't work.'' \\
[[supersecretspoiler:They call my name, but with rope and a duffel sack, they're calling for trouble.]]\\
In fiction, it's a plan or gambit that relies on the victim believing the misdirection. What the victim is being misled about can vary; it can be the true motivation and desires of the chessmaster, it could be the presence of other players, or could be the identity of the plotter or even their existence.\\
[[supersecretspoiler:See, you fear shadows but I'm too bright, I hit submit after you type]]\\
The audience may or may not be in on the secret themselves. If they are then it can lead to a build up of DramaticIrony but often the truth can be saved to TheReveal after the audience has been immersed in the intricacies of the apparent plot so that the shock to the character and the audience match.\\
[[supersecretspoiler:So one quickstep is all it takes to fall into a Kansas City Shuffle]]\\

[[caption-width-right:245:That ninja waiter might as well be wearing a [[LampshadedTrope lampshade.]]

[[supersecretspoiler: My name is CandleJack, I don't write in black, it's part of my Kansas City Shuffle]]\\

[[supersecretspoiler: They call my name, but with rope and a duffel sack, they're calling for trouble.]]\\

[[supersecretspoiler: See, you fear shadows but I'm too bright, I hit submit after you type]]\\

[[supersecretspoiler: So one quickstep is all it takes to fall into a Kansas City Shuffle]]\\

[[caption-width-right:245:Just hang a lampshade on that ninja waiter.]]

''Called the Kansas City Shuffle''\\

* In ''Runaway Jury'': The hero, Nicholas Easter, pulls his own KansasCityShuffle on a smug gun industry employee. [[spoiler:He tries his hardest to look like he wants absolutely nothing to do with jury duty for a trial against the gun industry, thereby ensuring him a spot as Juror #9. In reality, he wants revenge on the gun industry for a shooting at his school and the death of his girlfriend's sister.]] His girlfriend pulls a similar trick by convincing the gun employee to pay her off in hopes of winning the jury.

* ''Duplicity'' - The whole movie is about a pair of ex-spies hired by industrialist Dick Garsik to infiltrate his archrival Howard Tully's company and steal his mysterious new product. The spies, meanwhile, are plotting to betray Garsik (and perhaps each other) and take the product for themselves. The shuffle: [[spoiler:Tully has no product. He knew all about the spies, and set up an elaborate hoax to waste their time and make Garsik look foolish. At the end, Garsik is announcing the miraculous new cure for baldness he just "developed" to the world, while the spies' buyer tells them that their "cure" is a worthless formula for skin lotion...]]

The TropeNamer is the song "The Kansas City Shuffle" (see quote above) explained in detail in the movie ''LuckyNumberSlevin''. For those of you not from the US, KansasCity is actually in Missouri and is even the largest city in the state. There ''is'' a Kansas City, Kansas, (It's right across the river) but it's much smaller and usually not what people are talking about when they mention a Kansas City. It throws off many Americans, too, especially those who write off the Midwest as FlyoverCountry. This is actually a near-perfect physical metaphor, as "when they look on one side of the river, you're on the other". May be employed by means of a RevealingCoverup.