Movements Mind Reading Routine

Effect: The mentalist endeavors into the idea of hellstronism, or muscle reading, which can give the impression of being able to read someones mind through tiny unconscious movements they give away. To show this, he has three spectators come on stage.

The mentalist then shows a stack of 30 or so cards, each bearing a different specific movement that a person could make. Each spectator on stage then takes a card and reads it without letting anyone see.

The mentalist is able to read the first two spectators minds by going back to back with them and reading their unconscious movements. Then, with the third spectator, the mentalist explains that the spectator is to read his mind. The mentalist writes a movement and shows it to the audience. The spectator is then able to divine this thought of movement.

Method: The deck genuinely does contain completely different movements throughout. But on top I contain my three force cards I will use on the spectators. The top two force cards will read basic movements, such as jumping jacks or spinning around, but the third card is different from all the rest of the cards. It reads, Play along. The movement I will be thinking of is clapping my hands.

Essentially, you simply need to force these three cards on the spectators. I prefer a basic riffle force to the position, and then simply ask the first person to take the top card off the stack and the second person to take the next card and the last person to then take the next card off.

I simply ask the three spectators to memorize what the cards say as I turn around and to not give away what it could be in anyway. The first two spectators in their mind will understand and believe this to be an interesting trick in which they think of random movements. The third spectator is turned into an instant stooge. When choosing someone make sure they are quite playful and not too narcissistic to play along. When you explain you will send them a movement in your mind they will understand and simply go along with the instructions.