Perform an Interesting Mental Trick

This trick is an interesting trick to do and it can be a good icebreaker at parties. It also makes you seem rather skilled when it's actually a very simple trick to do, especially if the subject you're doing the trick on has a good imagination. You ready to learn it? Read on.

Steps

  1. Firstly, find your subject. It helps if they know you in some way. Siblings or friends are easy to perform on. Say 'Do you want to see a great trick?' or something like that. They should be interested because you have just said that, so they should say that they do want to see the trick. If they say they don't want to see it, just find another subject who does.
  2. Get them to put their arms out straight yet relaxed (kind of like a stereotypical zombie.) Their hands must be limp. Tell them to close their eyes.
  3. Tell them to imagine, that in their left hand, they are holding a bucket. Tell them that not only is the bucket very heavy on its own but they are also holding it under a running tap. Tell them that the bucket is filling up with water and it's getting heavier ('and heavier and heavier.' It's because to say it like that because it emphasizes how heavy the bucket is actually getting for the subject.)
  4. While that's going on, tell them that in their other hand, around their wrist to be precise is a string. Then tell them that attached to that string is a helium balloon (you can tell them what colour it is if you want to help them imagine it) and it's trying to float away and pulling their hand up with it. Tell them that the heavier the bucket gets from all the water going into it, the more the balloon will try to float away and pull their hand up with it.
  5. Watch their left arm. If this person has a good imagination, and you have done this trick correctly, you should see their left arm droop downwards from the weight of the bucket and their right arm drift upwards from the 'balloon' trying to float away.
  6. Have them look at their arms. If they haven't noticed the effect of this (most people notice the effect while their eyes are closed,) tell them to open their eyes and look at their arms. They should be amazed, or even freaked out by this trick.

Tips

  • Practise on your friends first before taking this trick out to parties and using it to break the ice. You don't want to look too silly unless that's what you want.
  • If this trick didn't work for the person you tried it on, don't be discouraged. This trick does not work for everybody in the world.
  • A variation of this trick (once you have gotten good at the main trick of course) is hide a pencil or something like that somewhere where you can easily get it (such as a pocket or in your sleeve,) get your subject to close their eyes, and to hold their arm out with their hand palm downwards and open. Say 'Hold this bucket for me' and put the pencil horizontally into their open hand, simulating a bucket handle. Then say stuff like the bucket was really heavy and you couldn't hold it for very long. Then ask them to put 'under that tap over there' and fill the bucket with water. Tell them how it looks so heavy and even you couldn't it anymore. When their arm drifts down, you end the trick by saying 'Maybe I should take the bucket now' and take the 'handle' away. They should be amazed now. You should try this trick on subjects that main trick worked on because the main trick proves they are imaginative and suggestible enough.
  • Find a pace of speech that is right for you. You can either talk at a reasonable pace. You can talk quickly to confuse the subject and make them more likely to subconsciously feel the effects but this might not work. You can also talk slowly but that may bore the subject despite it being soothing.
  • This trick works by the power of suggestion and if the subject has a good imagination which is good for tricks of the mind.

Warnings

  • This trick will not work with everybody. Not everyone is suggestible or imaginative enough. It doesn't mean you're not good at the trick.

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