Mentalism is such an intricate craft. When you see the likes of Derren Brown or Max Maven, you find yourself imagining how much work they’ve put in to get to where they are.
But what if we told you that you too can whip out a couple of tricks and amaze an audience in seconds?
You see, not all mentalism tricks require a lot of skill and setup. The best part is that these easy tricks will still leave people in awe.
With that in mind, we’re going to show you 3 easy mind magic tricks you can do right now. You don’t need to be a professional mentalist to perform these tricks.
Mind Magic Trick 1: The Self-Working Book Test Trick
There are several ways to do the Book Test Trick — some use a coin as a hidden bookmark, others have the spectator go through a series of mental calculations. Our version uses an ordinary deck of cards and, of course, a book.
How to begin
What’s great about this trick is that it can play out casually during a meet-up or a conversation. Plus, it gives an impression that you just felt an urge to perform a mentalism trick.
First, neither of the two props has to be yours. You can use a borrowed book — or at least a book that a friend of yours has when you meet up. You can also use a borrowed deck. It requires no sleight of hand and almost no prep.
Let’s say your friend has a book with her. As long as it has at least a hundred pages, it’s something you can use.
Even before you draw attention to the book, start playing around with your deck of cards. As a mentalist, having a pack of cards with you shouldn’t be such a surprise.
How to do it
- Think of a 2-digit number with repeating numbers, so either 11, 22, 33, 44, 55, so on and so forth, all the way to 99. For the trick, however, choosing a higher number works out a bit better. Let’s say you want to go with 77.
- As you’re playing with your deck, make sure that you have two sevens on top.
- Close the deck back up and subtly refer to your friend’s book – your goal here is to be able to go through the pages.
- Ask to see the book and start rifling through the pages while asking questions about it — it’s the most natural thing in the world. As you’re doing this, secretly get to page 77 and find the first word on that page.
- Now, return the book and work your way to your trick (at least from their perspective — in truth, you’ve already started it).
- Hand the spectator the deck and have her cut the cards, turn them over, and place them on top of the deck. Then tell them to repeat the process, just cutting into the deck deeper this time.
- Now ask your spectator to spread the cards, find the first two face-down ones, and pull them out. Because she cut the cards twice, those will always be the cards originally on top of the deck — in this case, the two sevens.
- Say those two cards will determine which book page your spectator will turn to. Then give them the illusion of control — tell her she can use it in any order. So if, for example, she got a four and a five, it can either be a 45 or a 54.
- Have her to the page and read the first word on the page. If there’s a title, say that you’re referring to the first word in the first paragraph. Your spectator shouldn’t say it aloud but think about the word.
The Reveal
Unknown to your spectator, you already know the word since you peeked at page 77 earlier.
After this, it’s all a matter of delivery.
Build a little tension before you do your reveal — put in enough drama and wait for the amazement to appear on her face!
Mind Magic Trick 2: The Magical “Mistake”
To do this trick, all you need is a deck of cards; nothing else. What makes it different is that you, as the mentalist, never have to touch the cards at all. You can even do this over video chat or a phone call.
When to do it
Because of how this trick plays out, it’s best to do it as an opening trick. As the name implies, it involves you making a “mistake”.
Although it’s not 100% acceptable, it needs to happen — and having it during your first trick is more believable than any other time.
How to do it
- Tell your spectator to think of a card. Any card — the suit and the value does not matter. He shouldn’t tell you what it is, but he has to keep it in mind. Let’s say he chooses the Jack of Spades.
- Hand the deck facing down to your spectator and have him deal the cards one by one.
If it goes well, he’ll be dealing the cards face down, as to how he received the deck. So with the deck facing down, have him call out the cards one by one.
Now it’s time to make your “mistake.”
- After dealing five or six cards, call his attention and ask if he’s holding the cards face down. When he says yes, say you’re sorry and that you made a mistake. Have him pick up the cards he’s dealt out and return them to the deck.
Your objective here was to find out the first card on the deck. It’s going to serve as your marker later on. Let’s say it was the Six of Clubs.
- Have your spectator look for his card, put it on the table, and set the rest of the deck face down beside it. If you’re doing this in-person, you can turn away, so you don’t see anything.
- Have him hold his card and repeat the value over and over in his head — say this allows you to get a feel of what his card is.
- After several seconds, have your spectator put his card on top of the deck.
In essence, he’s placing it on top of the Six of Clubs.
- Ask him to cut the cards so that it ends up somewhere in the middle.
- With the deck facing up, have him call out the cards one by one. What you’re waiting for is your marker — the Six of Clubs.
The Reveal
Once you hear him call out the Six of Clubs, you know the next card was the one he chose.
It’s best to have him go through several more cards before stopping him.
You can say something like you suddenly got a feeling that you’ve passed his card already.
Build up a bit of drama and then tell him it was the Jack of Spades!
Mind Magic Trick 3: Post-It Predictions
This trick works best if your spectator is a friend — or at least someone who you know relatively well. If you’re working with an unfamiliar audience, a different variation of the one ahead is more appropriate.
When to begin
As this video demonstrates, a close relationship is helpful because the trick requires you to identify one thing your friend is likely to choose even before the first question.
Typically, a favorite something is an ideal path to take — like a favorite dish or something you know has significant meaning for her.
Let’s say you know your friend is deathly afraid of spiders.
Now, to perform the trick, the only things you’ll need are a bunch of post-its (or even small pieces of paper), a pen, and a container. When you begin, tell your spectator off the bat that you’re going to try to read her mind.
How to do it
- Ask the first question.
Make your first question impersonal — like think of one of the twelve months in the year. Tell your spectator to keep it to herself and to let you know once she has an answer.
- When she confirms she has one in mind already, take the pad of post-its and write down spiders. Make sure she sees your pen moving but not what you wrote.
- Peel off the post-it, ball it up and put it inside a container. Say the post-in contains your prediction.
- Next, nonchalantly ask your spectator what she answered — let’s say she chose March.
- For added effect, say that you’d like to make it a bit harder — choosing a month gives you one in twelve chances to make it right. You can ask your spectator to pick a number between 1 and 500. Or, to make it more interesting, have her think of any city or any country.
- Repeat the process — once she tells you she’s thought of her answer, write down March on the next post-it then casually ask her what place she thought of. She says Italy.
- Finally, ask the question you know will lead to spiders.
Try not to make it so obvious, like asking what animal she’s most afraid of. Say something like, “Think of an animal that gives you the creeps.” It doesn’t guarantee that she’ll think of spiders, but the chances are still pretty high.
One way to stack the odds to your favor is using the power of suggestion. You can say it might be something with many legs or makes you break into a cold sweat.
- Once she has an answer, it’s time to make your last prediction: Write down Italy on the last post-it, ball it up, and put it in the container.
The Reveal
Once everything’s balled up and in the container, do a quick recap of what you asked her.
What are the chances you’ll even get just one of those correctly?
Spill all three paper balls and unroll them one by one to reveal your predictions! Sure enough, they’re all right!
The Wrap Up
See? Not all mentalism tricks require great skill and heavy preparation. Even without a lot of setups, it’s still possible to give mind-blowing performances.
Easy or not, however, several things remain the same.
Practice is still non-negotiable, delivery makes a distinct difference, and drama and timing allow you to take your tricks to the next level.
So add these three tricks to your ever-growing list of tricks and be ready to pull it out of your pocket when the opportunity presents itself!