If you’ve been to after-work parties or cocktail gatherings, the sight of a person amazing the rest of the crowd with mind reading tricks shouldn’t be unusual to you. It’s entertaining, it catches the awe of the crowd, and it becomes an opportunity for the party to be more fun and longer.

It’s fitting to give certain rules before reading naming several tricks in reading minds.

Rule #1 – The more people involved in the trick, the better. It may be a common sight that a mind reader and a member of the audience go one and one, while the rest of the people in the room are mere spectators. However, as the old saying goes, the more the merrier. That old adage surely applies to doing mind reading tricks as well.

Rule #2 – Practice the trick before performing it. It would be such a shame if you perform a trick and fumble while doing so. Be warned, when doing these sorts of tricks, your audience will be extra critical of everything you say and do. Even the slightest mistake in what you say may ruin the entire trick, and ultimately, the party as well.

Rule #3 – and this is the most important rule – NEVER, EVER, share the trick with the crowd after performing it. After you’ve successfully performed the trick, if the audience is amazed, they will express it by clapping and cheering. Most probably they will ask you to reveal how you did it. Don’t be carried away with your new-found fame, because once you spill the beans and tell your secret to the trick, you’ve given away the one thing that made you a star of the night. Just appreciate the applause, let it sink in, and avoid the temptation of kissing and telling.

When you’re done swearing that you’ll promise to follow all 3 rules, now you’re ready to learn mind reading tricks! Here are 2 of the best ones I’ve seen.

TRICK #1 – The Numbers Game. This trick requires a good friend as an assistant. Now, the goal of this trick is to convince the crowd that you’re so good with numbers that you can determine the sum of three random numbers – even before you’d know what those 4 numbers are. First things first, pick a number above 3600. For example, 3630. This will be the sum you’ll predict. Write it down in a piece of paper and place it in an envelope. Then, display this envelope to the crowd.

Then, ask 3 random spectators to shout out the year when they were born. For example, 1988, 1967, 2001. Write these numbers for everyone to see. Next, to convince the crowd that you’re even going to make things difficult for yourself, ask your assistant to write a 4th number. Do not look at this 4th number. KEY: Make it appear that your assistant is NOT your assistant. Instead, make it appear that you also RANDOMLY chose him or her. Now, have this assistant write a 4th number, making sure that when you add the previous 3 numbers to that number, the sum must be 3630 (the number you guessed). All that’s left to do now is create a little suspense, get your envelope, and reveal the slip of paper you’ve written. Wow, you’ve guessed the sum of 4 totally random numbers! Amazing!

TRICK #2 – Whatever you write. This is more of a joke than a trick. But, it can still be considered a mind reading trick. All you need is 2 slips of paper and a member of the audience. Have that member stand at the opposite end of the room, and instruct him to write his favorite line from a song. After he has done so, tell him “I will write in my paper, whatever you’ve written.” Now, in your own piece of paper, write the words ‘whatever you’ve written.’ Then, tell your volunteer to reveal his paper. It contains the words he chose. Now, remind the audience that “I wrote whatever you’ve written” on your paper. Reveal your paper, and true enough, you wrote exactly that – Whatever you’ve written!

These are just 2 of the tricks that we usually see first-hand in parties. They never grow old. Enjoy playing these mind reading tricks!