Kansas City Shuffle
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A "Kansas City Shuffle" is an advanced form of a bait-and-switch confidence game employing misdirection, deception, and playing on the "mark's" arrogance or self-loathing. It is also the title of a 1926 jazz song named after the scheme.
The scheme
[edit]For a confidence game to be a "Kansas City Shuffle", the mark must be aware, or at least suspect, that he is involved in a con but also be wrong about how the con artist plans to deceive him. The con artist will attempt to misdirect the mark in a way that leaves him with the impression that he has figured out the game and has the knowledge necessary to outsmart the con artist. Still, by attempting to retaliate, the mark unwittingly performs an action that helps the con artist to further the scheme.[1]
The title refers to a situation where the con man bets the mark money but cannot identify what state "Kansas City" is in. The mark, guessing that the conman was hoping to trick him into saying Kansas, identifies Kansas City, Missouri as his answer. The con man then reveals that there is a much less well-known Kansas City, Kansas, meaning Kansas was the correct answer.[citation needed]
In song
[edit]A song with the title was recorded by the "Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra" jazz band on December 13, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois and originally released by Victor Records on Victor 20406, the flip side being "Harmony Blues" by the same band.[2]
It is one of the first songs called a "shuffle" using the distinctive triplet-driven beat.[3]
The recording is an instrumental. The tune structure is similar to the standard I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate. After a short piano introduction, the band plays two ensemble choruses with breaks by trumpeter Lammar Wright, Sr.. This is followed by solos by banjo and saxophone, a stop-time chorus featuring unison work by the reeds, a trombone solo, and finally, our chorus ensemble.[4]
In media
[edit]A Kansas City Shuffle was introduced by Mr. Goodkat/Smith (Bruce Willis) in the 2006 film Lucky Number Slevin in the bus terminal scene, where he explained that a Kansas City Shuffle is where "They look right... ...and you... go left." In the movie, the targets are manipulated into hiring their own killers, one of whom they believe to be a patsy.
Better Call Saul
[edit]In season 6, Saul Goodman and Kim Wexler execute a Kansas City Shuffle as part of their plan to discredit Howard Hamlin. Howard believes he knows how he is being tricked and hires a private investigator to follow Goodman. However, unbeknownst to him, Goodman has switched his regular contact with one of his own, who is in on the scheme.
References
[edit]- ^ Kirkman, Paul (2012). Forgotten Tales of Kansas City. The History Press. ISBN 9781614237389.
- ^ Gibbs, Craig Martin (2012). Black Recording Artists, 1877-1926: An Annotated Discography. McFarland. p. 373. ISBN 9781476600857.
- ^ Goodall, Howard (2013). The Story of Music. Random House. p. 264. ISBN 9781448130863.
- ^ Schuller, Gunther (1986). Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development. Oxford University Press. p. 286. ISBN 9780195040432.