For those who are fortunate enough to have a Real Die (or a Mental Die if you have the inferior Murphy’s knock off), here’s a way to perform a Which Hand routine under impossible conditions. This wouldn’t be my predominant reason to buy a Real Die, but it’s certainly a great little bonus if you already have one. The presentation I’m building this off is an impossibly accurate body language reading demonstration, but you can ultimately make it whatever you want (as you should)! Let’s jump into the handling.

After explaining the Which Hand game, I first prep them by saying I want them to try not to react to anything I say. I ask them to keep a complete poker face, and even to close their eyes at any point if they feel like their body language could give it away.

I also tell them to make sure both fists look the same. I tell them the tip we all learn as magicians, to make sure the fist that’s not holding anything isn’t clenched too tight, or else it’ll give away that it is in fact, not holding anything. I think this makes the feat a bit more impressive. After they hide the die in one of their closed fists, have them extend both arms straight out (see illustration below).

When they do this, you’ll be receiving a reading of a number from the die. Keep this number in mind. You might try to feign “reading them” while you double check what number you’re receiving. Now, tell them to drop one of their arms to their side (see illustration below).

One of two things will happen. Either the number you’ve been receiving will change, or it won’t. If it changes, the hand dropped is holding the die. You know this due to the fixed orientation of their fist causing the uppermost number of the die to change. If the number doesn’t change, then the hand still up is holding the die.

If they decide to drop the die hand, you can say something like this: “Unconsciously, most people try to hide the die away from me. This means putting it out of sight, as far as possible from me. Meaning they usually drop the hand with the die. I think that’s what you’ve done here.”

If the die is in the upper hand, you can say something similar but slightly altered: “I think you almost bluffed me on this one. Most people usually drop the die hand down, because they want to hide it away from me. But you boldly kept the die in the hand that’s still up, open your hand and let’s see.” I repeat this phase an additional two times (just my personal preference), then get ready to do the last phase which has a nice kicker (which you can probably guess).

I have them hide the die again and have their arms extended the same as the previous phases, but this time with their fists facing up (see illustration below). I say “you’ll see why I want your hands like this in a second” while I give them the instruction.

After they get into position, I ask them to turn one of their fists over (see illustration below). Just like last time, since this action will change the orientation of the die, you’ll be able to know which hand has the die. If your reading changes, it’s in the first they just turned down. If it doesn’t change, it’s in the fist that they left face up. Depending on what fist they turn over (the die fist, or the non-die fist), you can do your BS body language reading and adjust your revelation to suit whatever hand they chose to hide the die in.

Here’s the good bit. If during that last phase they hid the die in the fist that they turned down, have them turn it back up. If it was hidden in the fist that was face up, you’re good to go. You’re going to reveal the uppermost number on the die. You’ll have a reading of the number already. All you have to do is tell them the number, and then have them slowly open up their fist one finger at a time. What I say is something along the lines of “Telling you what hand you put the die in was the easy part. The harder part was trying to keep track of what number the die was on throughout the entire game. I gave it to you with a Y on top, and if I was following you correctly, the number on top right now, in your hand is an X”. Trust me, this absolutely kills.

If they turn over the fist holding the die, and you want to guarantee a smoother reveal (you know, without telling them to turn their fist back up), you can tell them to switch (under the guise of “mixing things up this time”). By that I mean turn the fist that is face down face up, and vice versa.

I personally like going from choosing an arm to put by their side to choosing which fist to turn over. You can mention that they are way more physical tells in a big motion like putting your arm by your side than there are in a small action, like turning your fists over. You can say you want to further challenge yourself for the last round or something. However, if you have no real desire to stick with a body language reading presentation and want their actions to be congruent throughout, you can just have them turn one of their fists over for every phase.

The great thing about this handling is that you never have to go near them at any point; unlike most, if not all, of the Which Hand-dedicated detection devices on the market which require you to make contact or go near the participant. With the Real Die you can stand several paces from them, or even have your back turned. You would just have to pick any side (e.g., right), and say “drop your right hand by your side, keeping your left hand as it is.” Then you get your reading.

My favourite aspect about using a Real Die is that you have a built-in kicker that brings the routine a satisfying conclusion. With other Which Hand presentations, the last phase can be quite tricky to get right. Simply guessing the hand again is boring, yet doing something like predicting the outcome of the entire Which Hand game can negate the power of the previous phases.

Thanks to the very nature of the prop that we’re using, the closer is a very logical one.