talkmagic.co.uk

Hello all,

This happens to me all the time:
someone asks me the time, and i take a guess based on the last time i looked at the clock and how much time i think has passed. I am usually correct within 5 minutes either way.

It is quite fun.

I heard Kenton Knepper talking about how mentalists should know stuff other people dont know. All the time, not just when performing. He gave a few examples such as knowing which lift will arrive first. I think knowing the time without having to look at a clock fits into this. It isn't a magic effect, but it could become quite mysterious.

So I'm looking for a method of always knowing, or appearing to know the time. If someone asks i would like to be able to tell them fairly quickly.

The ideas i have had so far:
• constantly count - tried it... got to 12 seconds before i got distracted...
• Tactile watch - cut the strap off and keep the watch in my pocket, then if someone asks the time i could just feel the watch (in the act of removing my phone to verify my claim)


I was wondering if anyone has done anything like this before, and if someone could point me in the right direction?

thanks,

Sam



p.s. - i have also taken to predicting the weather, every day for last 6 months my boss has asked me if it is going to rain during his lunch break. My method is to just presume that the weather is unlikely to change during the half hour he is out of the office. I've only been wrong twice. Apparently there is an app you can get that fairly accurately counts down to when it will rain in your area - this might be useful but i can't find it.

Here's a bonkers idea!

Get an invisible rxxl and attach it to your belt on the right hand side - if you're right handed. Attach a very small ladies watch face to it. When someone asks you the time, simply pick up the watch with your right hand and scratch your head, glimpsing the time as you do so. Then drop your hand and replace the watch.

Or use any other hxxd oxt method you can think of.

Just shooting from the hip - no pun intended!!

K

Reminds me of a scene from some film ... was it one of the Crocodile Dundee movies? I don't think so but you get the idea. There was a chap who could tell the *exact* time (not just 'noon') from the position of the sun. He'd hold up his hat up to mask the sun itself, in order to shield his eyes, and voila, the exact time. Obviously he had a wristwatch stitched into the inside top of his hat. Loved that.

If you normall wear a watch on your left wrist, wear one of those silly band type watches that cost about £5 on your right wrist with the clock face on the inside of your wrist.

Get them to hold your watch over the sleeve and achieve this by holding your left arm out and making a fuss of you not seeing the watch. While on the off beat catch a quick look at your other watch.

http://mygolflady.blogspot.co.uk/2010/0 ... h.html?m=1

There's a homeless man in Bournemouth who everybody asks the time and he's always right within a few minutes.
He answers literally straight away.

My perception of time is awful.

My method of being able to predict the time would be this; keep on making random guesses and eventually one day the laws of probability state that I'll get it right then look like a complete wizard

I can normally tell the time to within five minutes without fail. Many of us can (and might not realise it). I think if you get people to check and confirm, etc, you are making too much of it. Forget the gimmicks. Just keep guessing like you do. Many people think my ability is uncanny, whereas I know they can all do it as well as I can.

A friend of mine can look at you and tell your weight to within five pounds. When I was fighting I could look at a man and do the same. Now I am fighting very sporadically and training as sporadically I can't do it so well. Just announce what you know (time, weight, bra size) and say nothing more.

Thanks for all of the pointers.

I'd love to have a sure fire way of doing this. But I would also lose my own satisfaction and enjoyment about getting it right without any help.
So Tonyb I think you are right,

Cheers.

kevmundo wrote:Here's a bonkers idea!

Get an invisible rxxl and attach it to your belt on the right hand side - if you're right handed. Attach a very small ladies watch face to it. When someone asks you the time, simply pick up the watch with your right hand and scratch your head, glimpsing the time as you do so. Then drop your hand and replace the watch.

Or use any other hxxd oxt method you can think of.

Just shooting from the hip - no pun intended!!

K

what are rxxl, hxxd oxt ?

rxxl is reel, as in a pull. Don't know what hxxd and oxt are.

I think it was hold out.

Could be wrong though

Always knowing the time? How bout a s***i G*****k?

or you could have a pocket watch that nurses wear hidden on the inside of your jacket as you reach in to get a pen.

I like Sams original idea of guessing the time but this could lead to mistakes...

Some basic survival techniques help you figure out the rough time by the position of the sun and the topgraphy of the land. maybe someone could use buildings instead of trees and landmarks?

Also weather predicting is quite easy with the right techniques.

I highly recommend the work of Devin Knight & jerome Finley on Cloudbusting

Jerome Finley, Dale Hilderbrant and Caleb Strange have some fantastic "Element Manipulation" style effects as i like to call them that i have been doing research of my own into.

Hope this helps

Art

Is there a radio signal still broadcasting the time? rugby ? but perhaps it has gone digital.

pocket speed dial the speaking clock with a hidden earpiece ?

We have a bedside alarm clock which uses the Rugby time signal and automatically changes twice a year. Unfortunately it does so 24 hours in advance of the official time change so we have to make allowances!

If I were going to do this I'd probably take a similar approach to one mentioned above - a watch mechanism pinned near the inside jacket pocket (not a nurses watch as the faces are upside down).
Inside the pocket I'd have a small clear glass marble - they look just like miniature crystal balls. Take out the marble, peek the time and place the marble with delicate care and precision (like it HAD to be in an EXACT position) on the flattened palm of my left hand. I'd keep my hand rigid and turn my body till my finger tips pointed in the direction of the sun - and the way the light refracted on my palm would tell me the time.

I always wear a watch though.


Jim