🕐 The Magic Clock

The Magic Clock for kids: the whole trick

You draw a clock face and turn your back. Somebody thinks of an hour and taps the numbers while you count out loud. On the twentieth tap, your finger is on the number they were thinking of. It's a level 2 conjurer trick for ages 7 to 12 (grades 2nd–6th), takes 10 minutes to learn, and needs 2 things you already have. Flick, the shop's rabbit, reads every step aloud with a picture, so a child can follow it alone.

The secret

Your first seven taps are anywhere you like. From the eighth you tap 12, then 11, 10, 9 and so on backwards. Whatever hour they started from, the counting catches up with them on the twentieth.

What you need

• A sheet of paper
• A marker

How to do it

1. Draw a clock face on the paper with the marker and put it where they can reach.
2. Ask them to think of an hour and to count up silently from it as you tap.
3. Tap any numbers you like for the first seven taps, counting out loud.
4. On the eighth tap go to 12, then work backwards: 11, 10, 9.
5. Ask them to say stop when your count reaches twenty. Your finger is on their hour.

Magic words to say

“Think of an hour. Any hour. Don't say it. Now count along with me in your head, starting from your number, and shout when we get to twenty.”

Pro tips

• Tap the first seven quickly and carelessly. They are doing nothing and looking like they do nothing is the job.
• Count out loud and steadily. Your counting is what keeps theirs honest.
• Learn it with a clock drawn on paper, then do it on a real clock on the wall, which is twice as good.

If something goes wrong

If they lose count, say "start again, and this time count on your fingers". It is their count that breaks, never yours.

Safety notes

• Only from the front.
• No fire, no flames and nothing sharp in a child's hand anywhere in the Magic Shop. Nothing ever goes in a mouth, a nose or an ear.

Why it works

After seven free taps you jump to 12 and walk backwards, so your finger and their silent count are moving towards each other round the dial. However far up the clock they started, the two meet on the twentieth beat, because the numbers you skip at the start are exactly the ones their head start used up.

What kind of trick is this?

🔮 Prediction. You knew all along, or you read their mind. Almost every trick ever invented is one of eight kinds, and knowing which one you're watching is how magicians work out how a new trick is done.

The skill it teaches: Patter: what you say. A trick is a story, not a thing that happens. Perform it and it counts towards the Mind Reader badge.

Questions about the magic clock

How do magicians read minds?

They don't hear your thoughts. Mind-reading tricks use maths that always lands on the same answer, a secret peek, or a code agreed with a partner beforehand. Magicians who do mind tricks are called mentalists.

Can you do magic with no props?

Yes, and those are the handiest tricks you can own, because you always have them with you. Number tricks need nothing but your voice, and some illusions need only your hands.

More from The Mind Reader's Corner

• 3️⃣ Think of a Number (level 1, 2 minutes)
• 🔮 The 1089 Trick (level 1, 5 minutes)
• 🎲 The X-Ray Dice Trick (level 1, 3 minutes)
• 🐘 The Grey Elephant in Denmark (level 1, 3 minutes)
• All 80 magic tricks for kids, the easy ones by age, and how to put on a magic show