DIGIT by DekEl with Kenton Knepper, is both an effect you will perform right away, and a principle you will apply to countless effects.
“This is an ingenious principle that is entirely reliable and realistic. Everyone needs this because it is simple, direct, and completely impromptu. Just the sort of thing mentalists want to blow people away anytime, one on one or in a group, with no real effort and entirely off-the-cuff without preparation. This is one of those things that mentalists will be relying upon for a very long time…and those first to get it will be on the cutting edge of our future foundation of methods. That said, it is incredibly simple and easy, with only a few trials with friends needed as practice to learn.”
— Kenton Knepper
Main Effect:
A spectator holds a number of fingers behind their back, and the mentalist does likewise. The spectator is to hold out as many fingers as their number when they hear it called out, but to keep that number hidden at all times. Naturally, the mentalist brings out his hand and is showing the same number of fingers held up as the spectator is holding behind their back.
A variation is when the mentalist plays “Rock, Paper, Scissors” and always wins…with the spectator hiding their choice behind their back!
That’s right, a spectator can hold any number of fingers behind their back, or do Rock, Paper, Scissors, and the mentalist will ALWAYS KNOW.
Now, that’s just for starters. Before we tell you what else you can do with DIGIT, let’s get a few things out of the way first.
- NO Secret Helpers
- NO Prompting
- NO Peeking of the Fingers
- NO Reflections or Mirrors of Any Kind
- NO Dual Reality
- Nothing Written
- NO Set-Up
- NO Pre-show
- NO Gimmicks
- ENTIRELY IMPROMPTU
- EVERYONE, including the spectator, is fooled.
There are many stunning applications of this secret principle once you learn it.
What more can you do with DIGIT?
The mentalist asks the spectator to think of something. It can be a time, the spectator’s star sign, a birth date, a card, a street number, a color, or anything else that is part of a group of different choices. The mentalist has the spectator place their hands behind their back and indicate the desired item. For example, the spectator could raise 2 fingers behind their back to indicate the number 2.
The mentalist then knows which item the spectator is thinking about.
The mentalist names various colors in a rainbow. The spectator is told to catch a color behind their back secretly by closing their hand around one of the colors with their imagination. The spectator never says what color they are holding in their “colored ball of energy” behind their back. Still, the mentalist gives an Aura Reading and then names the color the spectator is energizing in their hand! Another version simply has the person point behind their back to an imagined color, and this allows the performer to see the aura right through the person.
This effect is entirely impromptu, will work in almost any condition and with most people. It’s quick to learn, needs little practice, and absolutely no memory work to begin performing right away.
The performer doesn’t need to see the spectator’s hand at any time. The method uses absolutely nothing in the way of gimmicks. DIGIT can easily be applied to almost any known Mind Reading effect, or to aid in any form of information gathering.
During a reading, it can easily be combined with palm readings and other sorts of readings, such as Major Arcana Tarot cards.
In short, if you are a Mentalist or true Mystery Performer, this is something you simply must have in your bag of invisible and impromptu tools.