The Number You're Thinking Of
Pick a two-digit number, do a little arithmetic with it, and I'll tell you the symbol you're looking at.
Take any two-digit number. Not a special one — the first one that comes to mind is fine. Add its two digits together, then subtract that total from the number you started with.
Hold on to the answer. Find it in the grid and look at the symbol beside it. Don't tell me anything. Look at it, and I'll say it out loud.
You chose the number, you did the arithmetic, and I never saw either. That is the whole appeal of a good force: nothing is taken away from you, and the answer still arrives where I need it.
Live, I do this sort of thing with a person rather than a page — a name, a word, an object they brought with them, in a room where everyone is watching. If you're putting an evening together in Milwaukee, I'd be glad to talk about it.
How it works
Subtract the sum of a two-digit number's digits from the number itself and the result is always a multiple of nine. Ten times the tens digit plus the units digit, minus both digits, leaves nine times the tens digit — every time. So the grid only has to agree with itself: every multiple of nine carries the same symbol, and the other entries are there to keep you from noticing. Try it with a friend.
- Props
- Nothing — it works in your head
- Difficulty
- Easy to learn
Dates go fast
Want this in a room, not a browser?
Close-up magic, mentalism and stage shows for corporate events, parties, churches and theatres.
Not ready to pick a date? Request info instead →
Based in Milwaukee · performing across Wisconsin · travelling nationwide