Simple Magic: Mind Reader

I want you to mentally select anyone of these six cards at random. Have you've got it? Good! then memorize it, don't just look at the card. I want you to stare at it, whisper it's name (but not too loud, we don't want people to think you're nuts or something). Now remember the name of your card and don't forget it.

This is my pet fish, Violet. She may look like a angel fish but she's actually a shark... a shark card that is! Violet used to work at the blackjack table in Vegas, don't mess with her because she's always packing heat. When you're positive that you know your card click on Violet and she'll shuffle the card for you.

Optical Illusions 4

MARLENE
Can you find the portrait of Marlene's Dietrich? Mexican artist Octovio Ocampo created this charming scene of the famous 1940's film star.

ESCHER'S WATERFALL
Can water flow like this? No! If you follow the flow of the water, you will see that it flows downwards and into the dirt until it again reaches the furthest and lowest point, which is identical with its nearest and highest point.

UNLIKELY WINDOW
This still life of a man sitting on a window ledge by Belgian artist Jos De Mey incorporates impossible triangles. The man holding the cube is in homage to the man holding the impossible cube in M.C. Escher's "Belvedere".

ONE HEAD OR TWO?
Do you perceive one head or two profiles? This is a very nice example of an ambiguous illustration that "flip-flops" in meaning, giving either a single face partially obscured by the candlestick, or two faces in profile on either side of the candlestick. This is a variation on the vase illusion.

AN OLD OR A YOUNG WOMAN?
Can you find the profile of an old woman and a young woman? This well-known illusion dates back to the nineteenth century, when it first began to appear on puzzle trading cards.

THE FLOWERING OF LOVE
Can you find the lovers in the flowers? Look carefully at the petals of the rose; they form the outline of a kissing couple, or that of a single rose. Swiss artist Sandro Del Prete created this beautiful ambiguous illusion.

See also
Optical Illusions Set 1
Optical Illusions Set 2
Optical Illusions Set 3

Optical Illusions 3

ESCHER'S BELVEDERE
What is wrong with the structure? This is the first impossible print created by the Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, in 1958. The top floor appears normal, but is in fact perpendicular to the bottom floor: impossible!

BECKONING BALUSTRADE
Can you find the figures hiding in between the columns? This figure ground illusion is by Roger Shepard, and is a variation of the more famous "faces/vase" illusion.

MELANCHOLY TUNES ON A FLEMISH WINTER'S DAY
How does the column come forward? It can't. This is another impossible image, based on the original impossible triangle illusion by Roger Penrose.

BETWEEN ILLUSIONS AND REALITY
What is peculiar about the two openings?If your cover up the top half of the illustration, the scene is perfectly possible. Look at it all together, however, and suddenly it is a lot more difficult to get into the entrances than you might think!

THE IMPOSSIBLE TERRACE
Are you seeing the balcony from the bottom of the top? Both. This is an adaptation fo Sandro del Piero's "Folded Chess Set", where perspective from both above and below is given simultaneously.

L'EGISTENTIAL ELEPHANT
Will this elephant have difficulty walking?At first glance this elephant seems to have all its legs, but look closely: none of them are attached to its body! Roger Shepard created this variation of the "impossible fork" illusion.

See also
Optical Illusions Set 1
Optical Illusions Set 2
Optical Illusions Set 4

Optical Illusions 2

VANITY

Can you see the skull? Charles Gilbert, an American magazine illustrator, created this classic illusion, entitled "All is Vanity", some time around 1905. It was a very popular motif that was imitated many times, including by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali.

MIRAGE

Where does the line of desert palm trees end, and the line of dromedaries begin? This Saharan scene was created by digital artist Alice Klarke.

SARA NADER

Can you find the face of the woman that the is serenading? This figure ground illusion is by Roger Shepard.

A MOUSE PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK WITH A CAT
Is the cat hiding from the mouse or the mouse hiding from the cat? This reversible photo illusion was created by digital artist Alice Klarke, based on an original drawing by artist Peter Brooks.

SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON
Can you find both a portrait of Saint George and a depiction of his slaying of the dragon? Look at Saint George's' hair to see the battle scene.

CORPORAL VIOLET
Can you find the three profiles (Napoleon, his wife and son) hidden between the leaves? This card, whose artist is unknown, originated around 1815.

See also
Optical Illusions Set 1
Optical Illusions Set 3
Optical Illusions Set 4

Optical Illusions

Collection of fascinating optical illusions, many of which have never before been published in this form. From classic illustrations of impossible figures to drawings of everyday objects which turn out to be extraordinary to scintillating graphic patterns which pulsate and change before-your very eyes, the variety of different effects is almost endless!

A HIDDEN PORTRAIT IN A STILL LIFE OF VEGETABLES

Do you perceive a face or a collection of fruit? This is Giuseppe Arcimboldo's classic portrait of the Emperor Rudolph II.

JASTROW'S DUCK/RABBIT ILLUSIONS

This is one of the most famous and classic of all illusion, which was created by the American psychologist Joseph Jastrow in 1888. Depending upon how you view the image, you can perceive either a rabbit or a duck.

VISION OF DON QUIXOTE

How many hidden faces can you find? There are several hidden faces in this illustration of the classic Cervantes character, but the main scene is ambiguous with a portrait of Don Quixote and his faithful servant Sancho Panza.

THE MYSTERIOUS LIPS
Do you perceive the face? The Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali, who was fascinated by ambiguous imagery, entitles this scene "The Mysterious Lips that Appeared on the Back of my Nurse", painted in 1941.

ANGELS
Can you find both the heads and bodies of angels? The head and hand of the large angel contain the bodies of four smaller angels.

See also

Optical Illusions Set 2
Optical Illusions Set 3
Optical Illusions Set 4

Your Card Is

Effect: You tell a spectator the name of a card he chose.

Secret: Spread a shuffled pack face up to show they are well mixed. Remember the bottom card. Turn the cards over and ask a spectator to take one. Ask him to remember the card and then place it face down on top of the pack. Cut the cards a few times. Spread the cards before you. The selected card is the next card to the right of the one you remembered earlier. Pretend to read the spectator's mind and reveal the card selected.

Where Are The Matches?

Effect: Two empty matchboxes and one containing some matches are moved around on a table. The spectators are unable to identify which box contains the matches.

Secret: All three matchboxes are empty. Attached to your right arm and hidden by your sleeve is a matchbox containing some matches. Shake a box with your left hand it sounds empty. When you mix up the three visible boxes you can make any one appear to be the full one, simply by shaking it with your right hand. The spectators think it contains matches because they hear the sound from the hidden box.

Watch Wizardry

Effect: You use a watch to divine a thought-of-number.

Secret: Show a watch and ask someone to think of any number from 1 to 12. Tap a pencil against numbers on the dial. As you do this, the spectator mentally counts to 20, one for each tap, beginning with one above the number he is thinking of. You make the first seven taps anywhere on the watch face. On the eighth, tap your pencil on 12. Continue tapping the numbers anti-clockwise around the dial. When the spectator reaches 20, your pencil will be pointing to the number he is thinking of.

Wand Power

Effect: The magician makes some mysterious passes around a wand or pencil which uncannily starts to move on its own.

Secret: The magician secretly blows on the wand, which causes it to roll.

Props: Use a wand or pencil. A smooth, firm surface is essential.

Preparation: Practice blowing toward the wand gently and secretly.

Presentation: Lay the wand on the table and very slowly trace circles around the outside of the wand with a finger. Then, as you move the finger away, the wand seems to follow. You claim to have created a static field that pulls plastic like a magnet. The trick is that as you draw the finger away from you and from the wand, you blow gently on the wand. The audience is so busy watching the movement of the finger, they won't notice that you are blowing towards the wand, which causes it to roll easily on the flat surface.

Wallet Of Wonders

Effect: A 10p coin changes to two 5p coins.

Secret: To make the special wallet required you need two sheets of paper, folded as shown. Open out the folds and glue the shaded areas together. Put two 5p coins in the centre of the top sheet and fold it around them. Fold up the bottom sheet and turn the whole lot over. Place a borrowed 10p in the centre of the empty sheet and fold the paper around it. As you do this secretly turn the whole packet over.Open the paper to reveal the two coins.

Walking Through A Postcard

Effect: A postcard is cut so it will go over your body.

Secret: Boast that you can walk through a postcard then make the following moves. Fold the postcard in half length ways. Make as many cuts as possible from the edge of the card to the centre and from the centre towards the edges as shown. The more cuts you make the easier the trick is to do. Unfold the card and cut along the centre, from A to B. You can now open out the card into a large loop that will easily go over your body.

Vanishing Ring

Effect: You make a finger ring vanish.

Secret: The ring is tied to a long piece of elastic which runs up your sleeve to a safety pin attached to the top of the sleeve.The elastic should be long enough to allow you to put the ring on your finger. Take the ring off and pretend to show it in the air. When you let go, the elastic carries the ring up your sleeve. You could, if you wish, find the ring (a duplicate) in a sealed box that has been on your table since the start of the trick.

Unburstable Balloon

Effect: You stick pins into an inflated balloon – but, thanks to your magical powers, the balloon does not burst.

Secret: The balloon has on it several pieces of clear adhesive tape. These will not be visible from even a short distance away. Push a pin into the balloon at one of the taped areas and the balloon will not burst (although it will go down after a while). You can push the pin into several different places to prove your magical ability. When you want the balloon to burst simply push the pin into an area that is not protected by tape.

Two In The Hand

Effect: Someone thinks of one of two items, you predict which.

Secret: Give someone any two items. They could be coins, cards, buttons – anything you like. He holds one in one hand and one in the other. While your back is turned, ask him to think of either object – he has a free choice. To help him concentrate suggest he holds the chosen object up to his forehead. After a short while, ask him to lower his hand and you then turn round.You know which he chose as the hand holding it will be lighter than the other. Holding it up causes blood to drain from that hand.

Turn Over Card

Effect: A chosen card reverses itself in the pack.

Secret: Spread the cards face down and ask a spectator to take any card. While he is showing the card to the rest of the audience, secretly reverse the bottom card then turn the whole pack over in your hands. Walk towards the spectator and ask him to replace his card in the pack face down. As you walk back to your table, turn the reversed card face up and turn over the whole pack again. All the cards are now face down with the exception of one card – the one the spectator chose.

Travelling Ace

Effect: The Ace of Diamonds vanishes from the pack.

Secret: Put the Ace of Diamonds in your pocket. Arrange the remaining Aces so the Ace of Hearts is behind the other two. With the point of the Heart uppermost it looks like the Ace of Diamonds. Turn the cards face down as you say: "I will put these Aces in the pack – the Ace of Clubs, the Ace of Diamonds and the Ace of Spades". Ask a spectator to go through the cards and take out the Ace of Diamonds. When he fails to find it, you take if from your pocket.

The Travelling Coin

Effect: A coin travels from one hand to the other.

Secret: Place a coin on the palm of your left hand and another on the fingers of your right hand as shown. Turn over hands quickly and simultaneously. Lift the right hand and the coin has vanished. Lift the left hand to reveal there are two coins beneath it. Due to the positioning of the coins, this trick works automatically. Even so, you should still practise it in private before showing it to anyone. If you are left handed, you may find that the trick works better if the positions of the coins are reversed.

The Self-propelled Ball

Effect: A ball rolls across the table until you tell it to stop.

Secret: Under the table cloth is a small ring attached to a length of strong thread. The thread runs across the table to where your secret assistant is sitting. A small ball is placed on the table. It must go into the concealed ring. On your word of command your assistant pulls on the thread and the ball moves. You then pick up the ball and hand it to a spectator. As you are doing this, your assistant pulls the ring from beneath the cloth and hides it.

The Removable Thumb

Effect: You appear to remove your thumb!

Secret: Practise this in front of a mirror. Hold out your left hand with the palm facing you. Bend your left thumb in half towards your body. Bend your right thumb in half and place it alongside the left (see figure 1). Place your right forefinger over the front of the two thumbs where they touch (see figure 2). Move your right hand to the right and it looks as if you have removed your thumb (see figure 3). This trick should be done only to people who are directly facing you.

The Ninth Card

Effect: You divine the identity of a selected card.

Secret: This is how to make someone take the card you want. Secretly place the card you decide to use ninth from the top of the pack. Ask someone to call a number between 10 and 20. Count that number of cards, one at a time, from the pack. Add the digits of the chosen number. Deal that number of cards off the cards just dealt. Ask someone to look at the next card. It will be the card you placed at ninth position. You can reveal it in any way you wish.

The Mystic Seven

Effect: You predict which pile of cards a spectator will choose.

Secret: One a piece of paper, you write: "You will choose the Seven pile". The paper is then folded and given to a spectator for safekeeping. You now take several cards from a pack and arrange them in three face down piles. The three piles are formed as follows: Pile One: Any seven cards. Pile Two: The four Sevens. Pile Three: An Ace, a Two and a Four (which add up to seven). A spectator is given the choice of any of the three piles. Whichever pile is chosen the prediction is always correct.

The Haunted Pack

Effect: A pack of cards divides to reveal a chosen card.

Secret: Ask someone to take a card, look at it and remember it. Point to the top card of the pack. As you do this you secretly drop a few grains of salt on the top card. The spectator puts his card on the top of the pack and the pack is then cut, so the chosen card is hidden somewhere near the centre. Hit the edge of the pack with the heel of your hand and, thanks to the secret salt, the pack will divide at the chosen card.

The Ghostly Card

Effect: A playing card vanishes when placed in a glass tumbler.

Secret: You need a piece of clear plastic the same shape and size as a playing card. Place this on top of a pack of cards. Cover the cards with a handkerchief and apparently remove the top card in the handkerchief. You actually take the sheet of plastic. Show a glass tumbler and ask a spectator to push the card, still covered by the handkerchief, into it. Whisk the handkerchief away and the card has vanished. Being transparent, the plastic cannot be seen from even a short distance away.

That's Torn It!

Effect: A coin is wrapped in paper. You then tear up the paper – the coin has disappeared!

Secret: Place the coin on the paper, just above the centre. Fold the top portion of paper down over the coin. Fold the right side of the paper around to the back. Do the same with the left side. Lastly, fold the bottom portion back. This procedure leaves the bottom edge of the packet open. Hold the paper in your hand and allow the coin to slip secretly into your hand. Tear up the paper and the coin seems to have vanished.

That's It

Effect: You apparently read someone's mind to identify an object selected while you are out of the room.

Secret: You need a secret assistant. While you are out of the room someone selects any object in the room. When you return, your accomplice points to objects around the room but you have arranged that the fifth object he points to will be the chosen object. Identifying objects three times in succession (after arranging a different code number with your accomplice for each repeat performance) should be enough to convince the spectators that you possess amazing powers of mind reading.

Marvellous Memory

Effect: You appear to memorize the order of a pack of cards.

Secret: Cut a small hole in the bottom right corner of your card case. Ask someone to shuffle the cards and hand them back to you. Look through the cards quickly, then place them in the case. Hold the case in front of you and you will see the index of the first card through the hole. Name this card and pull it from the case. Do the same with a few more until you think you have proved that you really did memorize the order of the cards.

That Rings A Bell

Effect: A small bell rings of its own accord.

Secret: A small bell is on your table. Hold an opaque scarf in front of you, between your hands. In the top right corner of the scarf there is a small pin. Show the other side of the scarf by moving the right hand to the left and the left hand to the right. Do this a few times, then pin the scarf to your left shoulder. This leaves your right hand free to reach down and ring the bell. Immediately bring your hand back up to recover the scarf from your shoulder.

Sweets To The Sweet

Effect: Sweets, produced from a handkerchief, eventually vanish.

Secret: Tie a wrapped sweet to a long length of thread. Attach the other end of the thread to the centre of one side of a handkerchief. Fold the handkerchief in half. Hold two corners in one hand and two in the other. Tip the handkerchief and the sweet falls out into a box on your table. Allow the handkerchief to fall open, with the sweet hidden at the rear. Lift the handkerchief and repeat the above movements until you have produced numerous sweets. Then tip the box to show they have vanished.

Sympathetic Diamond

Effect: A large Ace of Diamonds changes colour when coloured handkerchiefs are passed over it.

Secret: The principal diamond on the card is actually cut out. It gets its colour from a piece of card held behind the Ace. Each time you want the colour of the diamond to change the secret card is moved to a new position. To get a multi-coloured diamond, position the card centrally so all four corners on the card are visible through the diamond-shaped hole. The handkerchiefs hide the movement of the secret card, look colourful and provide a reason for the colour changes.

Sweet And Sour

Effect: You tell the difference between sweet and sour by means of an amazing mental ability.

Secret: On a sheet of card write the words "SWEET" and "SOUR" and tear the card into nine pieces as shown.The pieces are dropped into a bag and mixed up. When you reach in and take a card, you know immediately whether the word on it is "SWEET" or "SOUR". This is possible from the way the card is torn. The "SOUR" pieces have only one straight edge. The "SWEET" pieces have two straight edges, with one exception which has no straight edges whatsoever.