Reading reveals that the first thought that I will explain the tricks known as "Names of the dead". This is a trick that is very simple to do, but if done right angles and the arrangement can look and look fantastic.
For this trick, you distribute 3 slips of paper, and ask three people to help. 2 is a draft of the name of the people living in their slips, and the 3rd person, the name of the dead. This slip is folded and placed in a hat, without you touching them. You then closed his eyes, or a hat that held high above your head so that you can not see into it. You can reach and bring out the slip with the names of the dead.
This mind reading revealed trick is easy. Take a sheet of note paper, and tear it into 3 pieces. The top and bottom pieces will have one smooth edge and one coarse edge, but the center piece will have 2 coarse edges. Have someone in the crowd write a dead person's name on the center slip, and 2 other spectators, the names of a living person on every one of the other 2 slips. Have the slips folded and dropped into the hat. When you reach into the hat, all you want to do is feel for the slip with 2 coarse edges.
When you have found it, don't bring it out immediately. Have the audience focus on the names they have written. Uncloak the slip, still folded, and hold it against your head. Build up the suspense, then expose the slip in your hand as the one with the dead person's name. If you want, you can leave the room while the names are being written, and be brought in blindfolded for a dramatic presentation.
Another mind reading revealed trick which is hip is named "The magic numbers". You write a prophecy on a slate and cover it with a hankie. You then pass out a pad of paper to a viewer and ask him to draft a 4 digit number on the pad. Two other spectators each write a four digit number under the first. Have a 4th observer add them together and announce the result. The slate is uncovered and there on the slate is the solution.
Use a pad about five by seven inches with a cover. The pad should open at the narrow edge (top). On the 1st page write down a 4 digit number, and under this 2 more 4 digit numbers just as if they were to be added together. When writing your figures, try and make them seem like they were authored by different folks.
Draw a line under the row of figures so they might be added together. On another piece of paper add these figures. Don't write them on the first page, but commit to memory the total, or write it terribly faintly on the slate. Fold back the cover and first page of the pad (with the figures) so the 2nd (blank) page is in view.
To start this mind reading revealed trick, divulge the slate and seem to concentrate. Write down the total of the figures you wrote on page one, on the slate, so that nobody can see them. Cover the slate with a hankie and give it to someone to hold, or stand it up in clear view. Go to one of the audience and ask him to draft a 4 digit number on the pad. Hold the cover and first page down along the back of the pad so that he writes on the second page.
Repeat this with 2 more spectators from different parts of the room so you are walking about quite a lot. Ask the 3rd person who writes down figures to draw a line under the column of figures so that they might be added.
Now walk to the opposite side of the audience, and as you do so, fold the top page over onto the pad, so that your figures are on top. As you do this, rip out your page, close the cover of the pad, and ask a viewer to add the figures. Give him the pad to rest the piece of paper on. Ask him to broadcast the result after he has added the figures. Have the 1st observer, who is holding the slate, show it and read what's written on it. The totals will agree.
With mind reading revealed tricks as straightforward as these, I am sure everybody has the power to become a mind reader.
Dazzle your acquaintances and family, but don't forget, like each good mentalist, never tell them your secret.