1st October 2021

Here’s a trick built upon some maths that not too many people know about. When 9 is multiplied by any number between 2 and 9, the digits of the answer will always add up to 9. That is the basis for this trick, and here are the easy steps:

1. Ask a single person to select a number between 2 and 9. Ask them to then multiply that number by 9.
2. Ask them to add the two digits of the answer. (It will always be 9).
3. Ask them to subtract 5 from that number (It will always be 4).
4. Ask them to assign an alphabet letter to the number based upon A=1; B=2; C=3 and so forth (They will get D).
5. Tell them to think of a country that begins with that letter, but not to say it out loud. 99.9% of the time they will choose Denmark (who’s heard of Djibouti?)
6. Now, tell them to take the second letter of that country’s name and think of an animal that begins with that letter, but keep it secret as well.
7. Pause and appear to be giving this some thought. Then quite casually, say, “I don’t think Denmark has elephants, except in zoos.”