The Modern Con Man: How to Get Something for Nothing [Hardcover]

Todd Robbins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

Cons, bar bets, card games, and general chicanery for the natural-born prankster.

Whether it’s winning $50 on a bar bet, scoring seats closer to the fifty-yard line, or finagling a free meal, The Modern Con Man ensures that aspiring low-risk grifters will always come out on top. Filled with humorous facts and tables, a glossary of con terms, illustrations, the history of the con, and easy-to-follow swindles, this is the perfect gift for the hidden flim-flam artist in your life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This book may not make you smarter or more handsome, but it sure as hell will make you a lot more interesting -- and dangerous -- to hang out with.” —Eric Garcia, author of Matchstick Men

“Get your con on. Working is for saps. Todd Robbins, author of "The Modern Con Man: How to Get Something for Nothing," teaches would-be swindlers how to get on the grift.”   —The Guide / Los Angeles Times

“A handy, illustrated manual for would-be artists of deception!  Todd Robbins is a con man and a good one at that… He parts fools from money with the precision of a surgeon. Even more enjoyable, though, than the nostalgic whisky-and-shadow-soaked hinterland the book evokes is the sinister pleasure Mr. Robbins takes in swindling. At heart, all con men are Manichaean, and Mr. Robbins is no exception.”   —New York Observer

“Most of these short cons are delightful for both the prankster and the mark, unless they involve large wagers. Perform at your own risk.”   —BoingBoing.com

"The Modern Con Man: How To Get Something for Nothing ... aims to effect a renaissance in these peculiarly American dark arts. These gentlemen are experts in the pool-hall hustle, the train-station grift, the boozy bar bet and every other sort of elegantly fixed wager from days of yore—with a modern twist. "  —Metromix Los Angeles

Praise for Todd Robbins:

“Todd is a god.” —Penn & Teller

“A Legend!” —New York Post

“The Flim-Flam Maestro!” —New York magazine

“The master of old-world deception.” —New York Newsday

About the Author

Todd Robbins is a New York–based entertainer who has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Good Morning America, and stars in the DVD series The Modern Con Man Collection.

 

The Modern Con Man Collective consists of Gadi Harel and Marcel Sarmiento, proprietors of the Los Angeles–based production company Hollywoodmade and creators of the Modern Con Man Collection DVD series, and Jack Silbert, a writer for the New York Times.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; First Edition edition (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159691453X
• ISBN-13: 978-1596914537
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #816,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but Pretty Weak - Does Anyone Fall For This Stuff?, June 8, 2008

By 

Robert Hruska (Folsom, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Modern Con Man: How to Get Something for Nothing (Hardcover)

This was an interesting book, and I read through it pretty quickly. But honestly, this has nothing to do with conning people. It's all about bar bets and tricks.
The book details a lot of different tricks that you can do in various situations, like making a bet that you can wrap a normal-sized piece of paper around your head, or betting that you can roll a cue ball underneath a pool stick laid across a pool table.
But some of them are exceedingly lame, and if anyone ever wins a bet with them, I'll buy him a beer himself. Like in the aforementioned pool table trick: You lay a pool stick across a pool table, then make a bet that you can roll a cue ball underneath it. Of course, a cue ball will never fit in the two inch space between the stick and the pool table surface. So the trick? You roll it on the floor. Har har. Technically it's "under" the pool stick. The author would have you believe that you'll be winning money all over town with this trick. My guess is that you have a better chance of either looking like a total idiot or getting beat up.
This is insulting, in other words. Nobody is going to pay on such an idiotic bet.
And in the end, none of these are "cons" any more than telling someone a riddle they can't figure out his a con. They're not cons, they're just common parlor tricks, and some of them are very lame, even for parlor tricks.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun for young and old, April 9, 2008

By 

Robert C. Ross (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Modern Con Man: How to Get Something for Nothing (Hardcover)

So long as you don't make these swindles a part of your income stream, this little book can be great fun. They are educational in a couple of ways, first to show you how the trickery works and second to teach you something about human nature: gullibility, greed, empathy, friendship, and suspicion.

A few of the tricks include:

Winning at Nim (a nice example of the binary system in action).

Tie a necktie without letting go of the ends.

Hold a lit match upside down for 20 seconds without getting burned.

Robbins is something of a New York institution. He runs a sideshow school on Coney Island which will teach you glass eating and fire eating, and a nail-in-the-noggin bit, a routine known in the trade as the human blockhead. He's also put on quite an entertaining off-Broadway show called ''Carnival Knowledge''.

You may not want to become a performer, but these tricks can be very entertaining for "Children of All Ages!!!"

Robert C. Ross, 2008

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, March 16, 2009

By 

Michael Moore (Mørke, Denmark) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Modern Con Man: How to Get Something for Nothing (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book there was some really interesting history as well as some fun tricks to play on your friends or an unsuspecting stranger. As for making money off this as long as your not betting with the wrong person or for stakes that are too high you probably will leave the bar etc...with your fingers intact. And remember, always buy the loser a drink or beer afterward, it spreads goodwill and you just might be able to hustle them again!