I was watching An Evening of Wonders last night with Darren Brown -if you haven't seen it already I highly reccomend it, he is a master of the audience- and for the final trick he ofcourse performed a trick which I have never seen before, but which was both small and totally killer.

Previously in the show he had a bit of paper thrown into the audience, people were asked to write down three digit numbers and then total them up at the end. This was done and it totalled: 4608.

The patter at this point was masterful:

"Well i'm sorry, theres no way I could have known that..." Then the camera zooms in on the badge he has been wearing on his shirt the whole show: "4608".

"And more importantly look at the number... that is the 4th of the 6th 2008, that is todays date and thats our show, goodnight everybody!"



Needless to say the crowd went wild, and clearly it was a force on the numbers, but how was it done? Where can I buy this trick or learn the method and does it only work in stage conditions?




Tom
xx

That is called 'Add-a-number' with an awesome presentation.
'Add-a-number' is a classic plot and has been around for quite a few years with various presentations and methods. There are some on the market (some pricier than others). Derren is amazing but for us mere mortals, I can highly recommend Banachek's PSI Series #1 DVD. Which contains a home made AAN pad that is really deceptive and works really well. I have personally used this in a group performance and it delivers. This technically only needs 4 or more spectators but I feel it plays best on stage or with a larger crowd.
Rev.

If I was to do this myself -as I am definitely buying PSI 1- would I learn how to force numbers I like, such as the date, and could I do the badge reveal or something similar? Like a big bannar across the stage, or something


xx

Yes, in most cases (and definately in Banachek's) you can force a number of your choice.
I found a vid of Banachek for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ygob1VBWbU

I just received Jamie Daws effect Pinned and it contains a version of this effect. I will be writing a review soon.

I was at one of the theatres where this was performed. There are plenty of ways to do this without the need for a stooge but in this case I'm guessing it was stooged. Way to clean. Don't let that hold you back though. Look into the many ways of performing this and consider how practical would it have been to use one of those methods in the context of the show? After all the effect was a sort of an aside, climax was part of a set of climaxes which had been set up throughout and were falling like dominoes. To take back the pad or whatever to do it alone would have broken up the flow of events considerably. Remember it's the effects and the show that are importantt not the methods.

sorry to bring up an ''old'' topic but I have to say that Luke jermays version is the final word on add a number type effects...
it is almost too powerfull..

Okay, you've got my attention.

What's the name of Luke's effect?

Did some fishing...
http://www.lybrary.com/three-cheers-und ... -1477.html

For that much I'll stick with stooges and Banacheks method in his Psi Series. I can make up for any lack of pizazz, with my presentation. That's where 95% of mentalism rests anyway. It's all about presentation.

But in the description, it doesnt say that every spectator in the room write four numbers aswell and when the each add them up everyone's number matches the prediction.. An AWESOME killer ending and guaranteed standing ovation