Mentalism Tricks: 9 Routines From Easiest to Strongest

Ask them to think of any number from 1 to 10 and multiply it by 9. If the answer has two digits, they add them together. Whatever number they started with, the result is now 9.

Ask them to subtract 5 (everyone now has 4) and turn the number into a letter: 1 is A, 2 is B, 3 is C, 4 is D.

Ask for a country that starts with that letter. Almost everyone says Denmark, because the other D countries (Djibouti, Dominica, the Dominican Republic) rarely come to mind under time pressure.

Ask them to take the second letter of the country, E, and think of an animal that starts with it, then the color of that animal. Elephant, and gray, are by far the most common answers.

Pause, look at them, and say slowly: "That's strange. There are no gray elephants in Denmark." The laugh that follows is the applause.

Before you start, draw a circle inside a triangle on the pad and write 37 under it. Keep the pad facing you.

Say: "Picture a simple geometric shape. Now picture a second, different simple shape around it, like a frame." Draw a vague shape in the air with one hand as you speak, a gesture that happens to have three corners. Ask them to keep the picture clear but not to say it.

Say: "Now a number between 1 and 50. Both digits odd, and different from each other. So 11 wouldn't work, for example." The examples you give remove choices: the most common answer is 37, followed by 35.

Ask them to name the shapes first. If they say a circle inside a triangle, show the drawing. If they say a triangle inside a circle, say you were picking up both shapes and show the drawing anyway: it still looks like a hit.

Ask for the number. If it is 37, turn the pad around. If it is 35, say "I was one away, three and five, I had the three" and laugh it off. Any other answer: hide the number with your thumb and reveal only the shapes.

Ask the spectator to think of any hour from 1 to 12 and keep it to themselves.

Explain: "Each time I tap a number, count one silently in your head. Start counting from the number after your hour. So if you thought of 5, my first tap is 6, the next is 7, and so on. When you reach 20, say stop."

Tap any seven numbers at random. Count your taps silently. These taps do not matter, so make them look casual.

Your eighth tap must land on 12. From there, move counterclockwise one number per tap: 11, 10, 9, 8 and so on.

When they say stop, leave your pen where it is and ask them to name their hour. Your pen is already on it.

The rule is simple: the chosen object is the first one you point to immediately after pointing to something black.

With your partner out of the room, let the group choose any object. Make a show of ensuring nobody can signal through the door.

Call your partner back. Point at several objects that are not black, asking "Is it this?" each time. Your partner says no.

Point at something black (a phone, a shoe, a TV screen). Your partner says no. Next, point at the chosen object. Your partner says yes.

Do it two or three times, varying the number of objects before the signal so no pattern of counting appears.

Fold a sheet of paper into thirds both ways and tear it into nine pieces along the folds. Hold the pieces so you know where the center piece is.

Give the spectator the center piece first and ask them to write the name of a real, famous person they like: a singer, an athlete, a scientist. Then hand them edge pieces for the names of fictional characters from films, books or cartoons (in practice, four or five are plenty).

Have them fold each slip in half twice and drop all of them into the hat. Turn away while they mix.

Reach in (or tip the slips onto the table) and feel or look at the edges. The center piece is the only one with four torn edges; every other piece has at least one smooth, straight edge from the side of the original sheet.

Discard the fictional names one by one, reading each aloud and saying it feels "made up". Hold the last slip, pause, and hand it over for them to open and read the real name.

Place the envelope in view and the three objects in a row. The key (your target) goes in the middle.

Say: "Point to any two objects." If they point to two that include the key, remove the third. If they point to the coin and the ring, say "Fine, we'll get rid of those" and remove them. The key is left.

If two objects are left, say "Hand me one." If they hand you the key, say "This one, then" and set it apart from the others. If they hand you the other object, say "So we're left with this one" and point to the key.

Recap only what happened, in plain words: "You pointed to two, then you handed me one." Do not tell them they could have ended anywhere or ask them to confirm a free choice: the path was shaped, and an honest script never claims otherwise. Then have them open the envelope and read the prediction aloud.

Open your paperback at page 108 and memorize the ninth word on the page. Choose a book where that word is a noun or something easy to picture.

Ask the spectator to write any three-digit number whose first and last digits differ by at least two, for example 742. Then reverse it (247) and subtract the smaller from the larger (495).

Ask them to reverse that answer (594) and add the two together. The result is always 1089. If they ever get 99, they forgot to treat it as 099; the reversal is 990 and the sum is still 1089.

Say: "Use the first three digits as a page number and the last digit to count words along the first line." Hand them the book: page 108, word 9.

Don't simply say the word. Describe it first, its shape, a feeling, a letter, and arrive at it slowly, as if the picture is getting sharper.

Hand the spectator the slip and ask them to write a word or a name inside the circle, then fold the slip in half and in half again, writing inwards.

Take the folded slip. The center of the original sheet is now the corner where both folds meet. Turn the packet so that corner is at the top right (for a right-handed tear).

Tear the packet in half, put the pieces together, and tear again. Your fingers pinch the corner that holds the folded center. As you drop the pieces into the bowl, your hand keeps that small square curled out of sight.

Find a natural moment to open the center: reach for a pen, put your hand in your pocket for a lighter, or turn to write your impressions on a pad with the piece hidden behind it. A one-second look is all you need.

Discard the center piece in your pocket. Then reveal the word slowly, starting with impressions and ending with the exact word.

Pick the person who hid the object. Ask them to concentrate on the location and to think only of directions: left, right, forward, stop.

Hold their wrist lightly with your fingers, their arm slightly in front of you. Ask them to stay relaxed and to walk with you.

Start walking slowly in one direction. When you head the wrong way, you will feel a slight resistance or drag. When you head the right way, the arm moves with you more freely. Change direction until the resistance disappears.

As you approach the place, the guide tends to slow down or tense up. Stop, move your free hand slowly over the area, and feel for the same tension as you get closer.

When the arm stiffens, reach in and pick up the object.