Mentalism
The Colour Trap
Think of a colour and a simple shape. Answer fast. This one works on most people, not all.
There's no arithmetic here and nothing is hidden from you. I'm going to ask for a colour and a simple shape, and I want the first answer that arrives, not the clever one you'd give if you had a minute.
Speed is the whole point. Rushed, most people reach for the same small handful of answers. Take your time and you'll beat me, which is fair. But answer quickly and let's see.
If I got it, I didn't read your mind. I read the room, which is a large enough sample that you were likely to be in it. Red and triangle come up more than they have any right to. Blue and circle are close behind.
If I missed, nothing is lost. A fair number of people go somewhere else entirely, and they tend to make the best audience I could ask for. Either way, you now know something true about how quickly a mind reaches for a default.
How it works
There's no method beyond people. Asked for a colour under time pressure, a lot of us reach for red; asked for a simple shape, triangle and circle crowd out everything else. A performer plays the tendency, names the likeliest answer, and accepts that some of the time it lands wide. That's why you'd never build a stage show on a force like this alone. But as an opener, with a graceful line ready for the miss, it earns its place.
- Type
- Mentalism
- Props
- Nothing, just a fast answer
- Difficulty
- Easy to learn, easy to get wrong
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 · traveling nationwide