Effect: You jot down your "prediction" on a piece of paper and fold it. Using some number calculations, the spectator arrives at the number 1,089. Your prediction and their number match!
Secret: Give the spectator a piece of paper and a pencil. Tell them to write near the top of the paper a three-digit number, where all the numbers are different. Example: 289 or 302, not 303 or 555, etc. They must all be different. (NOTE: It doesn't work if all the numbers are the same or if the number is symmetrical like 202.)
Tell them to reverse the three-digit number and if it is a larger number than the original one, to put it above the original number. If it is a smaller value, ask them to write it below the original number.
Tell them to subtract the smaller value from the larger value.This is important: Ask them if the resulting number is a two- or three-digit number. If it's a two-digit number, you know that it's 99. But, just tell them to put a zero in front of the two-digit number. If the result is a three-digit number, just continue.
Tell them to reverse the digits of the resulting number and add both three-digit numbers together.The result will be 1089. Neat, eh?
