pick any number between one and 10

[giordano25]

7 right well no i would think magicians would go for 8 (or maybe four) because you will try to catch me out.

i have recently started doing this trick usually to people who know i am a magician. i say "pick any number between one and ten" then i have them run through the number's out loud and just look for any little things that tip me off usually just twitches or breaks in their normal patterns as they run through the numbers eg if they blink on every number except one you know where it is.

you'd think it's just a 10 to one chance but you actually say between one and ten so if they pick either of they two you have an excuse. i also over accentuate the 10 so as to nudge them towards a high number, and tell them to keep a poker face thus making them very self concious and aware of all the little movements they make thus magnifying them. i also tell them to see it in front of them big and bright (while i put my hand right in their face so they get the visual idea) again to make them self concious of it and after a while you will get a feel for it, it is a valuable skill for all magicians to have, i currently get it to work about 50-60% of the time

did i get you right, you should try it, if it's wrong the nobody will remember it but if you get it right it might just open their mind up a little bit for your out of this world (chance zero) effect.

please try this and tell me what you think of it, as well as reporting any trends you notice like people reacting differently to them picking a "difficult number" or what ever

[PETER]

I don´t think that trick is a good idea because if you can perform a miracle like here then there, two card monte, ambitious card etc, and you miss with this trick is like put inside garbage all the magic you perform before.

[James_Potter]

Have you heard about the 37 trick? That has a much larger range, so it seems much more like mind reading. And there's a great percentage, about 90%, of a person picking the correct number.
I chose 6, by the way, because it's my lucky number. : )

[John34607]

Hmmm, I still like the ole 1089, now and forever. I like Dan Harlan's method of it where he uses the ole ashes on the arm to reveal the spectators number. I also like another math trick that allows a spectator to choose a number (the more digits the better), rearrange the numbers in any way that they want. Do some math with them, circle one of the digits and then a step later the magician tells them the number they circled. That seems so much more impossible and like mind reading then watching someones reactions.

[danielk]

you guys want a NUMBER TRICK here you go think about this one then. you tell the spectator to think of any number between one and thousand when they have with out them looking what you' re writting you look into their eyes and write a number down you then hand them the pen as you hold your sheet of paper down. you ask them to name their number you then turn over the paper to reveal their number this works every time 100%, this is the one david blaine did also.

[giordano25]

yeah if you get it wrong just compliment them on being a good liar, but i think the risk of getting it wrong is more than worth the reward. also the 37 trick (along with 333, 68 etc) will only work once and this is good but if you do it for somebody and they tell their friends then you do it for their friend the whole thing is ruined this way you are genuinely mind reading. the trick david blaine does is good but they still saythe number then you write it down it is not the same as you knowing a number when it has only ever been in their head

[giordano25]

also if you are worried about it failing you could work it into a trick switch effect this means if you get it wrong you say okay i couldn't guess it but i bet you your card is the x'th card from the bottom. this would give you the chance to practice it till you are confident enough to try it on it's own, it will also help increase the tension and final impact of the trick switch effect.

actually come to think of it this would work really well because if you get it wrong, then that is double the mess up to miraculously recover.

[danielk]

err no with blaines trick he writes a number down then gives the spectator the pen then they tell him the number they were thinking off then he reveals what he write down before hand>

[Eric Lott]

Danielk, I don't think you've seen the episode of street magic revealed where this trick is exposed. Blaine is not reading anyone's mind when he does the trick where he writes down a three digit number, gives them the pen, has them think of a number, and then reveals that his number matched theirs.

[giordano25]

i don't know what i can say without exposing the trick but he creates the illusion he is writing a number and it somehow finds it's way onto the pad at a later date after the person says it. i do know the exact method of this and it has nothing to do with mind reading.

i didn't get this trick from street magic revealed though

[danielk]

yes i know he isnt reading the spectators mind im describing the trick it self. i know the trick and how it all works im just saying this is what i think is the best number prediction trick . thats what this whole topic is about ?

[giordano25]

i think it is quite good but when you bring thing's like writing it down in it's just not the same as somebody thinking of a number and you being able to take it straight out of their head. there will always be a little bit of doubt in your mind - if he really was mind reading the number why did he have to write it down etc.

when i made this thread i didn't make it because i wanted to know everybody's favourite think of a number trick, it was because i wanted to see what people thought of this genuine mind reading effect, and if anybody had anything to add to it to get my accuracy up to 70%, and also to share an effect with anybody else who wants to use it.