There can be only one reason why you’re here!
You’ve taken an interest in mentalism, and you probably can’t wait to perform some tricks.
Well if you do, you’re going to have to do a lot of reading, learn the essential skills, and practice over and over.
But the good news is that there are several simple mentalism acts that you can do with little preparation. Just give them a few practice runs, and you should be good to go.
To get you started, here are 3 easy mentalist magic tricks you can do right now.
Ready to learn about them? Let’s start!
Easy Mentalism Magic Tricks
Below are some of the most popular and highly effective mentalism tricks that will help you leave a great impression on your first few spectators, family, friends, or random stranger.
Red Hammer Trick
The red hammer trick is popular among newbie mentalists because it requires little to no skill. It involves a bunch of mathematical computations but depends highly on probabilities.
How to do it?
To do the trick, tell your audience or participant that you can predict two words they will think of by asking them a series of arithmetic questions.
Write the words “red hammer” on a piece of paper and keep it to reveal later.
Then, ask your participant to answer the following calculations. Tell them to think fast. Time pressure is essential here.
- 2 + 2 = ?
- 123 + 54 = ?
- 34 + 54 = ?
- 56 + 76 = ?
- 86 + 89 = ?
- 65 + 70 = ?
After that, tell them right away to pick a color and a tool.
Finally, reveal the magic words on the piece of paper to wow that person.
How did it happen?
Studies suggest that 98% will answer “red hammer” because the two words are most likely to immediately come into a person’s mind when asked to think on their feet. Red is a popular color, while a hammer is perhaps the most common tool you will usually find at home.
It doesn’t matter if you give them non-mathematical questions first. The moment you ask the final question, they will still answer “red hammer.” Because many people find math confusing, the time pressure will get to them and cause them to think of the most ordinary answers.
This trick may not be as certain as the “Grey Elephant from Denmark”, but it still has a high success rate.
However, if you want to make sure you get it right, you can wear something red, or perhaps a shirt that has the number seven. The number seven is somewhat similar to the shape of a hammer, so it will likely influence your participant’s thoughts.
Easy, right?
Drawing Someone’s Thoughts
Now, this next trick can be fun and convincing if you’re able to pull it off nicely.
For this trick, you will pretend to read your participant’s mind by drawing their thoughts on a piece of paper.
How to do it?
You will need to write down or print a list of random objects and number them from one to 50. It could be a house, a ring, a ball, etc…
Then, ask your participant to draw a card that will bring them to a predetermined number from your list.
There are two ways to do this:
- Use sleight of hand. If you want them to pick the number eight, do a simple trick with your cards so that they select the designated number; or
- Use simple math calculations that will get them to arrive at the number eight.
Note: if you’re not comfortable with a deck of cards yet, you can use math calculations. But I would recommend the former as your audience may figure out the math trick sooner than you think.
Then, instruct your participant to choose the object that corresponds to the number on the card. That is the object that they should be thinking of.
Because you know the card the spectator drew is 8, say you can make a prediction of what object that person is thinking about.
Do a little bit of acting, pretend to read their thoughts, make eye contact.
Finally, proceed to draw the object for the chosen number on a piece of paper.
It’s a simple trick, yet it will no doubt blow your audience’s mind!
Triangle Inside a Circle
Triangle inside a circle is a classic mentalism trick many mind readers use, yet it never gets old. The best thing about it is that it is easy to perform, and it doesn’t take much time. It takes three minutes at most.
How to do it?
- Simply instruct your participant to think of a shape that is not a rectangle.
- Tell them to picture it inside another geometrical shape.
- Finally, ask them, “Were you thinking of a triangle inside a circle?”
Trust me, your audience will be surprised.
How did it happen?
In this clip from the famous TV show called The Mentalist, the actor demonstrates how he pulls off the trick successfully.
Watch how he subtly shows the woman the shape of a triangle through his hand gestures. He does the same thing when he asks her to think of another shape. Although unaware, the woman picks up these images, which is why she ends up imagining a triangle within a circle.
The key here is subtlety, you don’t want your participant to notice that you’re obviously trying to trick them. Also, maintain eye contact. Your participant’s focus and attention should be on you.
Conclusion
There are many mentalism magic tricks that you can learn on the Internet. However, not all of them are beginner-friendly, and some even require props that you will need to buy first.
So if you want the easiest of the easiest, then try these tricks that we’ve shared here.
With these simple mentalism acts, confidence is the single most important thing you need, because without it, your performance won’t be that convincing.
Yes, these tricks may just be stepping stones, but they are key to building your mentalism skills and confidence.