Magic with everyday objects has a charm of its own. The following effect uses music CDs as its main theme. It’s essentially a mind reading effect and here is a bit of terminology you should know. Mind reading magic is often called Mentalism and that term alone gives these effects a mysterious quality. So go ahead and be a mentalist! This is one of my favourite magic tricks.

Effect
The mentalist bets $50 that he has read the spectator’s mind even before the spectator has made a choice. The spectator moves a portable mp3 player in front of 5 covered CDs and stops at any one. The mentalist asks her if she’d like to  change her mind and the spectator decides on another CD. The prediction is read and it’s mind-numbing- the mentalist spooks the audience, his prediction matches the spectator’s final selection! Weirdly… he would get it right every time no matter what the selection was!

Requirement
5 different audio CDs. 5 white envelopes slightly wider than the CDs, the typical Greeting Card sized envelope should work just fine. A small portable mp3 player. A small white sticky label pasted on the underside of the mp3 player. A coin envelope for the mp3 player, a prediction note and a $50 dollar bill.

Preparation
1.Place CDs inside the envelopes and number them 1 to 5 in your mind. You can mark each envelope with a little pencil dot to remember their order. Envelope for CD 1 will have a little dot on the top left corner. Envelope for CD 2 will have a dot on the top right corner. CD 3 envelope will be marked on the bottom left, CD 4 on the bottom right and envelope for CD 5 will be marked in the center with a little dot.

2.On the facedown side of the CD 2 envelope write the following prediction- “You will pick this envelope with <title of CD 2> album”

3.On the back of the portable mp3 player you’ve pasted a little label. On this label write down the album title of CD 4.

4.On the face of the $50 bill write down the following prediction- “Your soul music is <title of CD 1> and you’ll pick it blindly.” Fold it into half and half again with the prediction on the inside so it is hidden.

5.On the back of the coin envelope write the following- ‘Your music selection- <title of CD 1>, <title of CD 2>, <title of CD 3>, <title of CD 4> and <title of CD 5>.”.Scratch out all the CD titles except for CD 3.

6.On a small piece of paper write down the following- ‘You will automatically groove to <title of CD 5>” Fold it in half.

7.Place the mp3 player, piece of paper and $50 bill inside the coin envelope.  

Performance

1.You begin the effect by placing the 5 CDs in front of the spectator who is requested to mix them up and place them in a row in any order. Make sure that the spectator does not see the underside of the 5 CD envelopes. 

2.While the spectator is mixing up the CDs, take out the coin envelope, ensuring you do not expose the prediction on the underside. Remove the $50 and the mp3 player but take care to not flash the piece of paper inside.

3.The spectator is asked to move the mp3 player around in front of the CDs and stop at any one. She does that and you ask her if she’d like to change her mind. No matter what she decides, you always make the right prediction. Here is how-

Spectator stops at CD 1

Removing the remaining 4 CDs from the envelopes you say, ‘You could have stopped at any of these 4 CDs…’ You name the 4 CDs aloud, ‘But you stopped here. Why?’ No matter what answer you get, you unfold the $50 bill and show it to the spectator. It reveals the prediction as title of CD 1. Request the spectator to remove CD 1 from the envelope. You remove all the other CDs from their envelopes to show their titles. Pocket the mp3 player and the coin envelope while the spectator squeals in amazement.

Spectator stops at CD 2

You place the $50 bill back into the coin envelope and put that into your pocket. Display the titles of the 4 remaining CDs and keep them on the side. All that’s left on the table is the mp3 player in front of CD 2. Turn over the envelope to show the prediction and request the spectator to remove the CD from the envelope. Pocket the mp3 player while spectator swoons in shock.

Spectator stops at CD 3

Remove the remaining 4 CDs from their envelopes to display their titles. You turn over the coin envelope to show the prediction as title of CD 3. Request the spectator to remove CD 3 from the envelope and read its title out aloud while you clear away all other evidence and lap up the applause.

Spectator stops at CD 4

Remove all the remaining 4 CDs from their envelopes and show off their titles. Push them back so only CD 4 and the mp3 player lie in the foreground. Remove CD 4 from the envelope and read out its title aloud. Now ask the spectator to turn over the mp3 player and read the prediction. Take a bow as the audience goes crazy.

Spectator stops at CD 5  

Remove all the remaining 4 CDs from their envelopes and display their titles. Push them aside. Tell the spectator that as promised you had made a prediction in advance which you’d like to share now. You remove the folded piece of paper from inside the small envelope and hand it to the spectator. Ask her to read it out aloud as you remove CD 5 from its envelope. Watch the jaws drop as the prediction is read.

Magic Trick Performance Tips
Instead of the mp3 player you can also use a white chit of paper with a CD drawn on it and the prediction written on the underside.

Base your patter around the fact that people vibe to certain kinds of music. It’s all about life’s rhythm and nature’s songs and if one tries really hard, one can actually get closer to that special kind of song. Then begin your effect.

Be sure to remove evidence of other predictions before the spectator finishes reading her prediction.

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