Real Mind Reading – Self-Working Magic Trick
(Sort of)
This trick is great for a large group of people, or even better for a get-together of 3-5 people.
To start, you will need paper and pencils for everyone in the group, as well for yourself. Before you announce you will be doing a trick, write the word “carrot” on one side of a piece of paper, and the word “celery” on the other side. Stick this piece of paper your pocket.
Now hand out the paper and pencils to everyone…announcing you are going to give a short math quiz to help get everyone’s brain ready to participate in a mind-reading exercise.
When everyone is ready, start giving easy math questions rapidly. For example “2+2”, “10-5”, “6×2”, etc.
Explain that people shouldn’t worry about missing one or getting them right…just write down the answers as fast as they can.
Shout out about 10 of these math problems then say “Write down the name of a vegetable!”
If you see anyone trying to “think”…hurry them to write the name down quickly.
After everyone has completed the task, tell them that you already read their minds before the trick even started and wrote down the answer on a piece of paper. Alternatively, you can tell them that you used your mind powers to “force” them to write the name of the vegetable you wanted them to.
You can now take the piece of paper that was in your pocket. Ask someone what they wrote down. The most common answer is “carrot”, generally 80-90% of people will write this name down. The second most common answer is “celery”.
Why does everyone write down “carrot”? I don’t know… but it does work; give it a try.
Notes: Carrot and Celery are the most popular terms in Canada and the USA. Other regions most likely have their own “magic vegetables”.