In YOU ARE SO CURSED!, Vickie Marotti uses some stunning street magic to convince her classmates she’s a witch. Now, author Naomi Nash shares some easy tricks sure to astound any spectator.

The Effect: Eerie words magically appear on the magician’s skin when she rubs cigarette ashes or dirt on them!

Equipment: A small chunk of clear wax, or a clear wax pencil, or soft soap.

Preparation: In Naomi Nash’s You Are So Cursed, Vickie writes a generic curse on her right arm to have ready when she needs it. When she’s faced with a bully, she takes off her sweatshirt slowly and keeps people focused on the stream of insults coming out of her mouth so that no one notices she’s actually writing the bully’s name on her left arm using the concealed chunk of wax!

Method: When the time is ripe, rub ashes or chalk dust or fine dirt over your arms. It sticks to the wax, making it look as if the words have magically appeared on your skin.

Street magician David Blaine uses a variation of this trick in which he asks a spectator to write a person’s name on a pad of paper. He keeps his audience distracted with talk about black magic and mystical forces while reading the imprint of the name from the sheet beneath, writes the name on his arm, and burns the original notebook page to produce enough ashes to rub over his arm!

The Effect: The magician chooses a spectator, shows him three photographs of celebrities, and brandishes an envelope containing a prediction of which of the three celebrities the spectator will mentally choose. After the spectator announces his decision, the magician reveals his prediction–which is uncannily accurate!

Equipment: A pen, two envelopes (one smaller than the other–it should fit neatly inside), a slip of paper, and three celebrity photographs of the magician’s choice from a magazine or web site (the cuter, the better!). Optional: A letter opener.

Preparation: On the slip of paper, write the following: I knew you would pick [Celebrity #3]! Slide it into the small envelope, and seal. On the front of the small envelope, write: I knew you would pick [Celebrity #2]! Slide it into the large envelope, and seal. Finally, on the front of the large envelope, write: I knew you would pick [Celebrity #1]! Conceal the packet in a pocket or bag.

Method: Lay out the three photographs of celebrities in front of the spectator. Tell him that your psychic ability is so powerful that you have predicted which celebrity he will pick well in advance–and then produce the envelope, being very careful not to show him its face with the printed message. Place the envelope face-down on a surface where it can be kept in plain sight.

Ask the spectator which celebrity he has chosen. If he chooses the first, smirk and simply turn the envelope over to show the message saying you knew he’d choose the first celebrity. If he chooses the second, carefully rip open the envelope without showing its face (a letter opener is handy, here). Remove the small envelope and show its face, being careful to appear smug. If the spectator chooses the third celebrity, open both envelopes carefully, and show the spectator the paper inside. Then make a quick get-away while he’s still stunned, and before he asks to see the envelopes!

The Effect: The magician holds up a deck of cards, firmly grasps it at the bottom, and riffles the tops of the cards, asking the spectator to think of one card in the deck. After asking the spectator to concentrate, the magician concentrates and extracts the card’s name from the spectator’s mind!

Equipment: A standard deck of cards. (Don’t use your dad’s best poker deck for this one. He’ll ground you for life!) Scissors or knife.

Preparation: Choose a card that will be your ‘forced’ card–the card that the spectator will choose. An easily visible red card of a low number is good for this purpose, such as the 3 of Diamonds. Take any other card in the deck and slice it by one millimeter, making it slightly shorter than the rest of the cards in the deck.

The cards will be held face-out to the spectator. Put the 3 of Diamonds two-thirds of the way toward the bottom of the deck, and put the short card immediately on top of it. The card facing the spectator should be turned so that only the back shows.

Method: While talking about your powers of ESP, casually draw a deck of cards from your pocket, grasp it firmly at the bottom, and instruct the spectator to think of a card. Riffle the cards at the spectator’s eye level, a foot or two from eyes, so that the faces are blurred. However, the short card in the deck will allow the spectator to focus on the forced card, the 3 of Diamonds, for longer than any other. After pretending to exercise your psychic powers, name the forced card! It is a near-certainty that they will have chosen the card you named.

The Effect: The magician plucks a dead insect from a window ledge. It magically comes to life in her hands!

Equipment: A fly. Glass bottle. And most importantly, warm hands.

Preparation: Catching a fly is probably the most difficult part of this trick, so it’s best done during a time of year when flies are plentiful. You’ll need to swat the fly lightly–only enough to stun it and collect it in your glass bottle. Store the bottle in your freezer for no more than 15 minutes; when the fly enters a comatose state, it is ready for the trick. Remove the fly from its container and gently place it somewhere inconspicuous, like a window ledge.

Method: While talking about your magical and mystical powers of healing, offer to demonstrate themon the ‘dead’ fly lying on the nearby window ledge. Brush the insect into your palm, and asks one of your spectators to cup her hands beneath your own. The heat from your palms quickly revives the fly! The process can be speeded along by gently breathing warm air onto the sleeping insect. Within a few moments, it will fly away and leave your spectators amazed!

Note: The key to all these tricks is to practice them many times beforehand! Improvise a dialogue (or a ‘patter’) as you’re presenting your sleight-of-hand. The key to convincing your audience is to be as natural a performer as possible!