Category Archives: Reading Tricks

A murder was committed in the haunted mansion.  The spectator’s job is to determine which of the 12 rooms it happened in.  “I understand”, you explain to the spectator, “that you are an excellent detective.  Is that true?”   The spectator makes a series of random moves on the above board, and winds up in one final room.  It proves to be the room the

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I have a special paper here that when you look at it, you will see upside down.  Would you like to see it?  You show it to them and they see upside down!

Ask someone to jot their favorite book on a slip of paper, then cover it with their hand, so you can’t peek.  With a little concentration, believe it or not, you can tell them what’s on the paper!  How?

Tell a spectator the word they select in a book!

Some men interpret nine memos. Too bad, I hid a boot. Madam, I’m Adam. A man, a plan, a canal – Panama! Doc note, I dissent.  A fast never prevents a fatness.  I diet on cod.

Introduce your assistant, the great mind reader.  Send her out of the room.  Show a sheet with pictures of 9 animals, with their names beneath the pictures.  Ask a spectator to select any animal.  Invite the mind reader back in.  She correctly reveals the chosen animal!  Want to learn to do this? 

Here’s a fun bit to show a library patron, or an audience while they are waiting for a program to begin. Ask your audience if they can make a pear disappear.  Let them think about this.  After a minute or two, show them the secret: 

Read the following paragraph only once, counting the number of F’s in the paragraph.  How many F’s are there? FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE- SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF- IC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS. Answer: