History Main / SatchelSwitcheroo

* One of the revelations of TheRashomon in ''NeedForSpeed: Carbon'' is the switching of two bags, one of them with money.

Through a series of random accidents and deliberate thefts the bags get switched. Repeatedly. The remainder of the story is a form of a farce based on people trying to get the "right" bag. The bags will change hands many times through many different players, and always on camera so that the audience can actually try to play the ShellGame and keep track. Unfortunately, they never actually open the bags to check that the contents are correct until they find themselves in utterly humiliating circumstances. Except for the person with the jewels: chances are they're the unlucky one who lost their underwear. Chances are once they see the jewels they won't really care too much anymore.

* In ''TheGoonShow'' episode "Foiled by President Fred" the payoff involves a red sack and a blue sack. Which sack contains the real money and which contains forged notes? Eccles claims to know, but he's colour-blind. Or ''is'' he?

* Used in a more serious vein in ''{{Hustle}}''. The grifters often swap out the case full of money at the last second, save for a few episodes where the switch does not go as it should and they lose a lot of money, giving them an incentive to take on a riskier con to make up the cash.

* Happens with a matchbook in [[SherlockHolmes "Sherlock Holmes in Washington"]].

Compare SwitchedAtBirth, ShellGame. See also StolenMacGuffinReveal. When ''one'' character gets two or more objects mixed up, that's UnfortunateItemSwap.

* In ''WhatsUpDoc'', there were four cases, having government papers, jewels, rocks for a scientific presentation, and underwear.

* Done with sausages in Series/AlloAllo - at one time they had a sausage with a stolen painting, a sausage with a fake painting, a sausage with dynamite for LaResistance and an ordinary sausage for Herr Flick's dinner.
* Used in a more serious vein in {{Hustle}}. The grifters often swap out the case full of money at the last second, save for a few episodes where the switch does not go as it should and they lose a lot of money, giving them an incentive to take on a riskier con to make up the cash.

* ''FawltyTowers'': Basil has to pick up a roast duck from Andre's restaurant in order to salvage his gourmet night. Unfortunately right next to the duck somebody sets down a trifle with an identical cover.
* An episode of ''WillAndGrace'' used the brown paper bag variation of this: the contents being exchanged included Jack's soup, [[LadyDrunk Karen's]] booze, Rosario's floor polish and Will's sperm sample.

* In the movie ''El Mariachi'', the bad guys have the titular character mistaken for a hitman with a guitar case full of weapons who is trying to kill their drug lord leader, a situation that is only exacerbated when at one point, the two cases end up switched and the mariachi and the hitman end up with each other's stuff.
* The fantastic movie ''Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag'' [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin embodies this trope.]]
* The movie {{Push}} does this in a rather unusual way by adding in a bit of precognitive sleight of hand on top of multiple cases.
* [[HomeAlone Home Alone 3]] starts with two identical shopping bags in an airport. One contains a toy car with a microchip stolen from the Army hidden inside it. The other contains French bread.

* The JackieChan film ''Legend Of Drunken Master'' starts with one of these. One package holds a stolen cultural artifact, the other holds a ginseng root that Jackie's master purchased on a shopping trip. The packages get swapped by accident when Jackie tries to smuggle the ginseng past customs.
* Averted in ''FightClub'': while the two suitcases are identical, the reason why is something entirely different...

* An odd example in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic]]; Twilight and friends are waiting to greet the games inspector, who they're told has a floral print suitcase. The pony they wind up with is an unnamed claustrophobic tourist with mustang blood. HilarityEnsues.

* An odd example in MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic; Twilight and friends are waiting to greet the games inspector, who they're told has a floral print suitcase. The pony they wind up with is an unnamed claustrophobic tourist with mustang blood. HilarityEnsues.

* An odd example in MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic; Twilight and friends are waiting to greet the games inspector, who they're told has a floral print suitcase. The pony they wind up with is an unnamed claustrophobic tourist with mustang blood. HilarityEnsues.

* Sylvester Stallone's mobster farce ''Theatre/{{Oscar}}'' contains a textbook example: 3 black satchels containing cash, jewels, and the former maid's unmentionables. This is directly inspired from the earlier French movie and play.

* In ''{{Oscar}}'', there were three cases, having jewelry, cash, and lingerie. Angelo keeps thinking he's finally got the one with something valuable (money or jewels), only circumstances have given him the one with women's underthings... again. And because nearly all comedy protagonists choose the route most designed to embarrass them, he never bothers to check what's inside before dumping it out on the table in front of guests.
** It ultimately saves him when the police show up to arrest him. Toomey concludes that Snaps is using the bankers to launder money, and has his men look for the black bag as proof (not knowing there's more than one.) Fortunately for Snaps, Nora (the owner of the underthings) comes in and takes the more visible bag of jewels, leaving the bag of underwear for the police. Toomey then opens the bag, thinking it's the final nail in Snaps' coffin, and dumps its contents on the table, right in front of the reporters.

* Sylvester Stallone's mobster farce {{Oscar}} contains a textbook example: 3 black satchels containing cash, jewels, and the former maid's unmentionables.

* Used in the very first ''FatherBrown'' story with a package containing a valuable cross. [[spoiler:Twice]].