Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon...the fine points
By Blake Cooper

For those who have never heard of it, SDoKB is a great way to waste time and kill boredom. It is a game based on the world known theory that any actor or actress that has ever been in even one major film can be linked to kevin bacon through six (or less) actors. For example, Samuel L. Jackson (one badass muthafucka!). Sam Jackson was in that awful SWAT movie with Colin Farrell. Colin Farrell was in that other awful phone booth movie with Keifer Sutherland. Keifer was in flatliners with... KEVIN BACON!!!

Here's some more noteable ones:

Antonio Benderas was in Desperado with
Quentin Tarantino, who was in pulp fiction with
Samuel L. Jackson. See above.

Ben Stiller was in Meet the Parents with
Robert DeNiro, who was in sleepers with
KEVIN BACON

...so you see, it's all about the obvious. You have to watch movies. Lots and lots of movies. That's the only training. Once you get good, there are some harder examples:

John Stamos was in Born to Ride with
John Stockwell, who played 'Cougar' in Top Gun with
Tom Cruise, who was in A Few Good Men with...
KEVIN BACON!!!

Rowan Atkinson (the guy who played 'Bean) was the voice of zazu in The Lion King, with
Matthew Broderick, who was a character in The Cable Guy with
Ben Stiller. See above.

Carrot Top was in The Return of Dennis the Meanace with
Don Rickles who was the voice of 'Mr. Potato head' in Toy Story with
Tom Hanks, who was in Apollo 13 with
KEVIN BACON!!!

The key is knowing your actors. Often if you have a link that takes five or six people, then it can usually be simplified. So here, to help with that problem, is just a short list of actors who have worked directly with Kevin Bacon:

John Belushi
John Lithgow
Steve Martin
John Candy
Alec Baldwin
Dennis Dugan
Keifer Sutherland
Julia Roberts
Bill Baldwin
Kevin Costner
Tommy Lee Jones
Laurie Metcalf (that's right, the sister on 'Roseanne'
Gary Oldman
Tom Cruise
Jack Nicholson
Kevin Pollack
Christopher Guest
Merryl Streep
John C. Reily
Tom Hanks
Bill Paxton
Gary Sinese
Ed Harris
Bill Crudup
Robert DeNiro
Minnie Driver
Dustin Hoffman
Brad Pitt
Brad Renfro
Matt Dillon
Neve Campbell
Denise Richards
Bill Murray.......