Sum Trick!

Effect: You predict the total of a sum.

Secret: Write 1089 on a piece of paper, fold it and place it on your table.
Ask someone to choose any three- digit number.
All three digits must be different and the first must be higher than the last.
Get them to reverse the whole number and write that underneath the first.
If, for example, he chose 983 he now writes 389.
The lower number is then subtracted from the other.
The answer (which, in this example, is 594) is then reversed and this time the two are added together.
Open the paper – your prediction is the same as the spectator's total.
In fact, if the calculations are done correctly, the answer is always 1089!

The Removable Thumb

Effect: You appear to remove your thumb!

Secret: Practise this in front of a mirror.
Hold out your left hand with the palm facing you.
Bend your left thumb in half towards your body.
Bend your right thumb in half and place it alongside the left (see figure 1).
Place your right forefinger over the front of the two thumbs where they touch (see figure 2).
Move your right hand to the right and it looks as if you have removed your thumb (see figure 3).
This trick should be done only to people who are directly facing you.

Cup Through Table

Effect: A cup or glass vanishes when wrapped in a sheet of paper.

Secret: A piece of paper wrapped around the cup or glass will retain the shape of the cup – even after the magician has secretly dropped the cup into his lap.

Props: A cup or glass, any small object and a sheet of newspaper or tissue paper.

Preparation: Select a piece of newspaper slightly larger than the cup so that it will cover it completely with some overlap.

Presentation: Place the cup over any small object and wrap the paper around it. Ask the audience what is under the cup.
Everyone will, of course, suspect that you are about to vanish the object.
Lift the paper and cup to reassure everyone that the object is still on the table. Moving the wrapped cup slightly towards you, just clear of the table relax your hold so that the cup is allowed to quietly drop into your lap, out of sight of the audience, of course, whose attention is still focused on the object.
The paper will retain the shape of the cup.
When you again place the paper over the object, you must maintain the illusion that you are replacing both paper and cup.
Wave your hand mysteriously over the "cup" and claim that you will make the object vanish.
When you lift the "cup" the object is still there.
Remove the object but replace the "cup".
Tell the audience that something must have gone wrong and you are unable to vanish the object, so you have decided to vanish the cup instead! At that moment dramatically smash your hand down onto the paper which will flatten, giving the appearance that the "cup" has penetrated the table.
Bring the cup from under the table (removing it from your lap, in one smooth movement) and replace it on the table.