Here's something you can do if you have AOL Instant Messenger. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the trick - it's an old one - but I've worked it into a AIM conversation quite effectively. It's a great thing to do if the convo gets boring.

Let person "A" be you, and "B" be the other person

A: Hey, you wanna see a magic trick? I'll do it right through this conversation.

B: Sure.

A: Okay, it's a card trick that is going to prove that I can read your mind from far away. You know the suits, right? Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, and Spades? I'm gonna abbreviate them to H, C, D, S

B: k

A: I'm going to put up six cards, and I want you to look at just one and memorize it. Know the value and suit. don't move your mouse over it or anything, just tell me when you've done it.

A: KH JC KS QD QC JD (Note: it is more effective to use colors when sending this message.)

B: Ok got one.

A: Good, now just to be absolutely sure that there is nothing between you and me that could give it away, I want you to close your IM box and just think of your card. Wait for me to respond. (Note: not as suspicious as it sounds, trust me.)

A: KD KC JH QS QH (again, colors)

A: I've removed your card from the original six

B: (ALWAYS AN AWESOME REACTION)


Have fun with it. It works surprisingly well, and the fact that it is not done it person makes it even more impressive.

--DAN

I used to be fooled by this ,

it sounds good to me but what if they dont close the box and notice u changed them all??

besides that i think its pretty creative, thanks for the trick

Do a direct connection. That way, you will know when the connection has been closed along with the IM box.

jim pace does this same effect on visuantics with a deck of cards...
and ive seen this trick b4 online and have been fooled by it...
good idea using aim tho...

You could ask them to tell you just before they close the box

yeah, I used to be fooled by this...but if they study it, they might figure it out.

The classic internet trick comes to AIM...Thanks for that, I'll be sure to use it

how do u do a direct conection??

i think this trick would actually be really fun to do because from the looks of it, it seems like something that gets great reactions.
ive seen it be4 on websites, fooled me the first time or so

And what makes it better than the online method is that it leaves no trace of the method. If you fool them the first time, you fool them permanently.

Cool! Nice thinking. I was actually fooled by this trick when I saw it online. I had to go back to figure out what just happened. But, it's a very neat idea to use in on AIM. I have created a few PC tricks myself. Anyone interested in learning them can check them out @ my website. (The tricks are free so don't worry! ) Thanks Dan for your great posts!

Very cool idea Dan!

Although, the closing of the window doesn't seem QUITE justified to me. Most of my friends are clever enough to realize that closing the window is only a way to get rid of evidence. Plus, most of my friends log all of their convos...so the closing of the window wouldn't stop a determined layperson for long.

thats why it should be part of your patter that closing the window is a way to completely separate you and them, so reading their mind is completely fair. People will fall for it easier than you'd think.

I love doing 'the Grey Elephant' effect over instant messenger.

I will have to try Dan's idea out sometime soon.

lol this trick is an online classic, every site that has an online card trick tries to pull this off