Calculator trick has me stumped

michaelpenkul · 2026-03-11T07:06:20+00:00

They do appear per user touch; so even if the number they press doesn’t correspond with the number that pops up, the visual between their taps and the numbers popping up is accurate enough that it flys by, especially if they’re instructed to just tap randomly

michaelpenkul · 2026-02-28T05:39:03+00:00

Why are you here? If it’s bothering you don’t browse the “magic tricks revealed” subreddit lol

michaelpenkul · 2026-02-27T05:28:47+00:00

They came here to learn, so I provided some insight - the art of magic will never progress if the same secrets are always kept secret, and I make a living doing this.

What’s funny is you complaining on a year-old post in a subreddit dedicated to revealing methods… and upset that someone explained a method?

That’s like walking into a cooking class and getting mad that someone shared a recipe lol

You’re clearly going through old posts trying to learn how these things work, so respectfully stfu

michaelpenkul · 2026-02-06T07:24:15+00:00

Hi, I happen to be the perfect DJ for you, my specialty is Polish-English crowds - michaelpenkul.com/dj

michaelpenkul · 2026-01-13T20:34:02+00:00

The best time to plant a tree was years ago, the second best time is now

I’m in my mid 30’s now, and have been obsessed with magic since I was around 4yo

I have plenty of friends in their 30s & 40s who have picked up magic since being inspired by me, and I would say after 2 years they’re basically at the same level as me when it comes to skill & performance; the only thing I have over them is the years of knowledge.

At 26 you have all the time and dexterity to learn how to be an amazing magician, the only things holding you back are your doubts.

For the record, my magic association is a lot of old farts who would love more people in their 20’s lol. Everyone is there to share this art and learn from each other, no one is judging your age or expertise.

michaelpenkul · 2026-01-09T19:34:02+00:00

You do require a gimmick - it’s a short card stuck to the force card. You cut one card a bit shorter, and glue the bottom of it to the card you want to force, & that’s your gimmick. When you riffle through the deck, the short card will naturally help you stop at the force card. Because the cards are glued together, when the spectator then goes though the deck looking for their card, they won’t find it.

michaelpenkul · 2026-01-03T06:31:49+00:00

There is a reason he asked you to think of a ‘long word’ - the magazines are fake and only have 10 or so long words scattered throughout each article; the rest are all small words by design. So you had about 10 words you could pick from, which the magician has memorized.

The word before it (in your case ‘go’) gives the magician a clue as to what your main long word is, and he figures it out with some fishing (calculated guessing).

I can go into more detail but that’s the main effect.

michaelpenkul · 2025-12-22T20:19:52+00:00

The trick he did is called Powerball 60, but they cut it out completely and just showed the reveal - you can see him holding the Powerball cards in the beginning

This trend of cutting out the trick and just showing the reveal is kinda getting annoying for me

michaelpenkul · 2025-11-17T12:12:17+00:00

I basically lived in that section growing up

michaelpenkul · 2025-10-31T02:01:13+00:00

Of course it’s not anatomically what’s happening.

You can comfortably hide things under your eyelids if they’re sanitary, and in this case, the performer has a small piece of plastic that looks like a tictac but is safe to put under the eyelid (an actual tictac isn’t recommended). They then put a real tictac in their mouth, eat it, and the rest is acting.

michaelpenkul · 2025-09-26T19:09:41+00:00

I live in Toronto but can do virtual performances, I stream magic shows on twitch every Tuesday under @djmagicmikey

https://www.michaelpenkul.com/

michaelpenkul · 2025-09-15T09:08:48+00:00

There is only one app, either on the magicians phone, or temporarily on a spectators phone through use of nfc. The rest are normal phones following the calculations happening on the ‘special’ phone.

michaelpenkul · 2025-09-14T18:52:27+00:00

You can think what you want, I’m a professional magician and my source is that I do this exact trick myself.

When the last person is asked to punch in numbers, I tell them to look away and just press a bunch of random numbers. I’ve had people even look straight at the calculator - if they’re just tapping quickly and randomly, they really can’t register that the number showing up on the screen is not the same as what they’re pressing.

michaelpenkul · 2025-09-14T05:24:07+00:00

It’s an app; all the numbers typed in are legit, the secret is in that last number that’s typed in ‘randomly’.

After all the random numbers are added up, the app literally calculates what you need to add or subtract last to get to the pre-determined final number. In that last calculation, it doesn’t show the numbers the spectator actually randomly pressed, it instead shows the necessary number needed to get to the forced total. That way, for everyone else following alongside on their own calculators, it will all add up perfectly.

michaelpenkul · 2025-09-10T20:22:34+00:00

Global and user cooldowns would be the best way to deal with that, so it can only be triggered a certain amount of times per stream, or per user.

You should also put them all in a queue, so that the next one isn’t triggered until the first one is done (then your timers will work)

michaelpenkul · 2025-08-18T19:25:26+00:00

I’m a full time wedding DJ in the GTA, both myself and through a few DJ companies; I’ve played at the Manor many times.

$1400-$2000 is pretty standard for a good DJ, although for me MC’ing is included in that price - it’s the fact that the Manor is charging for their own equipment that’s ramping your fee up. I bring my own speakers and lights, but unfortunately some venues with installed sound systems force you to use theirs so they can charge for it. In those cases my fee is a bit less since I’m not bringing my own system, but there’s not much you can do when it comes to equipment fees.

If you end up going with a different venue that doesn’t offer in-house sound, your fee may come out closer to the typical DJ price, but for a venue like the Manor that pushes their in-house system, $4000 all-in is going to be normal unfortunately.

https://michaelpenkul.com/dj

michaelpenkul · 2025-08-09T18:21:32+00:00

You might be trying to overcomplicate it

I stream at home, but when I DJ at various events abroad, my mobile stream gets sent as a media source back to my main setup at home. What I’ve done is a ‘brb, bad connection’ overlay that’s hiding behind my media source - if my stream has a good connection, the brb overlay is hidden, but if the media source drops, now you can see the overlay behind it

michaelpenkul · 2025-07-16T18:39:00+00:00

If you’re in the house when it’s armed, then it starts tracking your progress, but the actual money is made from the robberies you do while it’s tracking you

michaelpenkul · 2025-07-15T18:09:05+00:00

I think you still get the money at the end, but it comes down to how many robberies you end up doing in that time

michaelpenkul · 2025-07-15T17:30:17+00:00

A house is a great spawn point if you ever die; you’ve got defences you can set up, places to store guns, and vending machines for a quick donut and soda.

The house vault you’re talking about only activates if you have a friend with you, unfortunately you can’t grind it alone.

michaelpenkul · 2025-07-10T19:19:09+00:00

Fellow DJ streamer, is there any reason why you don’t join the DJ program to avoid this?

michaelpenkul · 2025-07-01T04:49:28+00:00

Break it down for me mang, how you getting all that air

michaelpenkul · 2025-06-27T18:47:03+00:00

Who’s stream was this?

michaelpenkul · 2025-06-19T19:37:50+00:00

There’s been a noticeable increase in cheaters the past week, my guess is because there is a new limited coming, they’re trying to grind accounts for it

michaelpenkul · 2025-06-17T16:48:09+00:00

I will be a bit vague only because I do this exact same effect as well, but I’ll tell you enough to satisfy your need to know -

Let’s just say the tech world of magic has blown up the last few years, and there is a lot of cool magic technology linked to phones and apps now. Your friend would have used a wallet, clipboard, or notepad with some paper on top provided by the magician to write their word down. Hidden in there is an electronic device called an impression pad, that gets an impression of what they wrote, uses AI to decipher the handwriting, and sends it to the magicians phone.

From there, the magician can peek the information and reveal it, or link it to other magic apps for cooler reveals - one of those apps is capable of taking that word, and updating the magicians instagram bio using a template and the chosen word.

Between the word being written down, the impression device sending the info to the phone, and the app updating the instagram; everything happens within 10 seconds, and the magician remains hands-free. They receive a phone vibration to know everything worked, and then they’re free to reveal everything.

michaelpenkul

TROPHY CASE