Firstly, thanks for purchasing The Lottery Prediction. If you are reading this, it means your book is on its way to you. How exciting! You're one of 200 people who own and can perform this trick.
Some background on the method.
I had this idea in Bristol one weekend and wrote a post about it here. The original method is far more complex than the ones described here. But, if you want one of the numbers to be named freely, then I recommend you give it a read.
Readers loved it so much that they asked me to print some copies of the gimmicked book. I did this with a few secret additions and some tweaks.
One year later, I met Paul Brookes, who had been performing the trick in his magic bar in Bath, England. It was a surprise to hear how well the trick worked in such an intimate environment. I loved hearing how he would give away real tickets.
Feeling inspired, I came up with a major improvement a few weeks later – making every page a new chapter with only one-page number on display.
And so, we printed a new run just for you.
This is not a fancy trick release with a big magic company like theory11 or Ellusionist. It's a small run of a gimmick based on an idea shared in this blog. I hope you enjoy performing it.
What's the basic trick?
The magician holds a book on winning the lottery that they bought from Amazon. These books really do exist, and people buy them in the hopes they can use math to win the lottery. Of course, if magic were real, you'd just predict it with magic.
The magician throws the book to a random spectator, who is asked to stand up and open the book randomly and remember any page number they see.
A total of six spectators do this and remember random numbers before throwing the book back to the magician on stage.
It's at this point when the magician delicately opens the first page of the book and reveals a bookmark – but it's not a bookmark; it's a lottery ticket.
The magician carefully hands this to an audience member in the front row and asks them to read each of the six numbers aloud.
As soon as they finish reading, the magician says to the six spectators:
"If you heard your number, please sit down."
All six spectators sit down, and there is thunderous applause.
What's the advanced trick?
This version is a combination of ideas from Paul Brookes and Tom Elderfield.
The magician holds two books about the lottery that they bought from Amazon.
A spectator is brought up onto the stage and asked to choose and hold onto one of the two books on stage.
The magician throws the other book to a random spectator, who is asked to stand up and open the book randomly and remember any page number they see.
A total of six spectators do this and remember random numbers before throwing the book back to the magician on stage.
The spectator on stage examines the book they chose, and the magician riffles through the book and asks them to stop. This spectator remembers the random page, saying it aloud for the audience to hear, too.
It's at this point when the magician delicately opens their wallet or purse to reveal a folded-up lottery ticket.
The magician hands this to the spectator on stage and asks if they can see the number they chose on the ticket. The spectator is shocked and says yes! Not only is their number on the ticket but it is circled with a pen, too.
The magician asks them to read all six numbers aloud.
As soon as they finish reading, the magician says to the six spectators:
"If you heard your number, please sit down."
All six spectators sit down, and there is thunderous applause.
The Method
The specially gimmicked book only has the same five numbers repeated throughout it. This means that no matter where the spectators open the book, they are guaranteed only to choose one of the five force numbers.
You should ask the six spectators to stand up in different areas of the audience or to join you on stage. They never announce their individual numbers, as multiple spectators could choose the same numbers. Instead, you ask them to either sit down or return to their seats if they hear their number after they are read aloud.
The method is similar to Wayne Dobson's Tossed Out Deck. And it works well because the audience assumes six different numbers are selected, and even if one or two spectators bump into each other later, it's unlikely they chose the same, and even if they did, this is possible and does not downplay the overall effect.
Notes:
The trick is much more impactful if an audience member reads the numbers aloud instead of the magician. It's best if this audience member is not one of the six spectators.
It's also worth physically demonstrating the process for spectators or opening the book randomly and remembering a number such that they don't riffle through the pages. A fun subtlety is to obviously look and remember a page number on the right page when you do this, even though there won't be one there.
The Lottery Ticket
You need to purchase a lottery ticket with the numbers the book forces:
08, 14, 28, 42, 54.
There are only five numbers, so the basic effect works with lotteries that only include five numbers. Most lotteries include six numbers, so you'll need to add a random number to your genuine ticket.
I recommend choosing an odd number like 33.
Advanced Method
The advanced method involves a second genuine lottery-themed book, which you will need to purchase from Amazon. At the top of the trick, an audience member selects the books, and this involves an equivoke force.
Paul Brookes uses the equivoke force but then only performs the basic method. He does this so that one of the book's internal pages can be shown fairly at the start of the trick.
Tom Elderfield had the idea of using a riffle force with this book, such that you can force a specific odd number, like 33, to one spectator, and this number can be circled in pen on the ticket. This is a nice kicker if you present it well. I recommend using a guillotine to trim the page before your force page in the genuine book slightly, which will make it easier for you to find and force the force page.
