Best of DFB ideas
A compilation of ideas using DFB (updated in April 2024)
As the Facebook group is pretty terrible to navigate through and find the best uses for Digital Force Bag, I decided to compile some of the best ideas in this post.
The quotes have been edited for reading clarity. The original sources are all credited.
Song Prediction
“I borrow their iPhone are start a song on Spotify and turn the volume down to zero. Ask them to name a number and force them a song using DFB.
Finally, I let them press the volume up without turning the phone...”
CREDITS: Tommy Sköld
Song Prediction - Advanced
“Have the force item be a famous song everybody would know of, like “We will rock you by Queen”. All other items in the list should be songs of famous singers, but with made-up titles.
Peek their number (e.g. 37) but input their number+2 (39, in this case). Ask them to find their number in the list, and if they are able to hum the song in their mind. Obviously they cannot, as it does not exist, so ask them to go down the list, one by one, until there is a song that they can hum. They will arrive at “We will rock you by Queen”.
CREDITS: Christian Grace, Chester Sass (120% Chestosterone), and Ryan Lackey (via the Facebook group)
Time is a flat circle
Let's say I'm getting coffee with someone named Julia. Maybe we're old friends, maybe we just met. She notices that under my phone case I have a piece of paper full of tally marks.
She asks me about it. I take it out and say:
“Do you really want to know? Ok, Name a number from 1-100”
She says 27. I tell her to open my notes app, check the Movie Quotes note, go to the n.27, and read it out loud.
Julia reads: “Time is a flat circle. Everything we have done or will do, we will do over and over and over again…”
I say: “Do you know what that means? That time is not linear, it repeats itself. One day the universe will be over and everything will start again and repeat itself as it always has. Everything that happened will happen, even this exact moment will happen again… you will do the things you always did, you will think the things you always thought, and name the number you always named. Because Time is a flat circle. Everything we have done or will do, we will do over and over and over again—forever.”
[As I say this I turn over the piece of paper, she can see the quote written in there. She reacts.]
“Time is a flat circle. Everything we have done or will do we will do over and over and over again…” This quote is from s01 of True Detective, absolutely worth a watch. You can also find this specific clip on YouTube
I then reach for the piece of paper, turn it back, make another mark, and put it back under the phone case.
CREDITS: Social Magic Club
An Unusual Prediction
“You are sitting with a friend and you tell them that you have something for them. You explain that in your notes application you have created a special note, just for them.
«Earlier this morning I wrote the message for you and even though it’s just for you I won’t let you see it just yet. I’d like you to pay close attention to that feeling inside you right now, that feeling of curiosity, of wanting to know. Whenever that feeling becomes too much and outweighs the acceptance of not knowing just ask me to show you the note. I’m interested to see when that feeling of curiosity will take over. Till then I will not touch my phone, In fact why don’t you place it in your pocket for now...»
At some point your friend expresses the desire to know more and you take your phone from them. You point out that it is 13 minutes past the hour and openly unlock your phone and open the notes application. You point out the top most note titled The Minute You’ll Ask and open the note.
Your friend sits in silence as they read the note and scroll all the way to the bottom of the note and then back up to the top. They are unable to believe the absolute accuracy of the prediction. It shows proof that you knew exactly when their curiosity would take over.”
CREDITS: Chris Rawlins (via The Jerx)
[Note by Antonio from Social Magic Club]: Personally, I just use the secret feature of MultiNotes (disclaimer: my own app), so that the note can simply say “You will want to check the note at exactly 7:14”, instead of being a list full of “NOT NOW”. If you want access to this secret feature, tap 5 times on “MultiNotes is made with ❤️ in Copenhagen”, in the instructions tab of MultiNotes.
Intuition Test (OFF BY TWO)
“Strike up a conversation with a group of participants about intuition. After one or two people share anecdotes about following their instincts propose a simple experiment to demonstrate how you use intuition in your work.
Begin by saying:
"First though we have to determine which of you is the most intuitive member of the group at this moment... Let's do something a bit random to figure that out."
Take out a business card and jot down a note sight unseen to the group. Hand the card to someone with the request that they keep it hidden away for the time being.
Now explain:
“I’ve recently been bitten by the ‘movie bug’ and set a goal to watch all 100 of the greatest movies ever made.
Now I understand that such a list is rather subjective but I found a film critic with whom I typically agree and started working through HIS ‘Top 100’. When I looked at the list I was surprised to see where he ranked my all-time favorite movie, ‘The Shawshank Redemption’.
You all can’t be certain where it fell on the list but I’d like to invite everyone to make a guess - just be sure that your guess isn’t too close to anyone else’s to ensure we have some variety.”
Go around the group and have several people announce their guesses.
“So no one was spot on... but let’s take a look.”
Unlock the phone, open DFB, invite someone to find “The Shawshank Redemption” on the list and have them announce its ranking (let’s say 16 in this example).
“So who was closest?”
One or two people nominate Andrea who guessed 14.
“Well it seems that you, Andrea, are the most intuitive member of the group at the moment - off by 2 isn’t bad at all! I think you’d be perfect for this experiment.”
***You now proceed with another routine that seemingly relies on Andrea's intuition.***
After its successful conclusion say:
"Now I know what some of you are thinking, 'If I was in Andrea's shoes I would have made different choices...' Others might not be giving yourself enough credit by thinking that you'd never have succeeded as well as Andrea just did.
To both of those thoughts I say - YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! You would have made different choices and you may NOT have succeeded - but that doesn't mean that you can't trust your instincts. It just so happened that Andrea was the right person IN THIS MOMENT to do something incredible... because her intuition was the most accurate in the beginning.
But that's something that I tried to anticipate..."
Turn to the person that's been holding your business card the entire time and say:
"I wrote something on my card and gave it to you at the very start - BEFORE anyone guessed where 'The Shawshank Redemption' fell on the 'Top 100' list... Go ahead and take a look."
The person removes the card and reads, «I believe that ANDREA will be the most intuitive person in the group with a guess that's only OFF BY 2.»”
CREDITS: Drew Backenstoss (via the Facebook group)
Subconscious Influence
“You talk about how as a society we keep accumulating more and more TLAs – that is, three-letter acronyms. Especially in the era of social media, it seems like every month brings a new one that we're expected to remember. LOL OMG! IKR? FML. So you propose to play a game with someone: you're going to write down a few TLA's that DON'T currently have any popular meaning associated with them, and your participant is going to make up something that those three letters could stand for. By seeing what she comes up with, you'll learn a lot about how her mind works.
The first one you write down is PSW. You ask her to make up something those letters could stand for, and whatever she comes up with – "Pacific Sanitation Workers," or "Plastic Snoring Wombats," or "Prehistoric Stegosaurus Wranglers," or what have you – you write down next to the letters. Then you say let's do a few more. On the next line down you write another one: ITA, and write whatever she comes up with for that one. Then say you'll switch it up by doing one that's an actual word: CAR. Then do one more with random letters, KRS.
Based on her responses to that, you think you've learned something about her, and you'd like to try something. You get out your phone and open a list of the top 100 movies in your Notes app. You say you want her to do something that might not make any sense right now, but it will soon. You give her your phone, and you hold the paper with the TLAs you've just written next to it. Then you ask her to try to think of some different things that each of those acronyms could stand for while she scrolls down to the bottom of the movie list – so her brain will be trying to do two things at once, which often produces some interesting results.
When she gets to the bottom you take the phone back and exit the Notes app. Then you ask her to name a number from 1 to 100. She does. You ask her if she remembers what movie is at that number. She says no. You open the notes app again and start to show her. But first, you say you have to confess something: that bit with the acronyms wasn't really about seeing what she would come up with; it was about implanting a suggestion that she wouldn't notice consciously, but that hopefully her subconscious would pick up on. You have her look at the acronyms again...
PSW
ITA
CAR
KRS
...but instead of reading them left to right, read them top to bottom. She sees that they spell out "PICK STAR WARS," which of course is the movie at the number she picked.”
CREDITS: Joshua Quinn (via the Facebook group)
As a bar trick for free beers
“I have been using this app purely for free beers for about a year now. They go through a list titled "100 things you should do before you die", and they always end up with "Buy a beer for a magician".
They always buy one. Girls too. My record - i won 5 beers in one evening.”
CREDITS: Andrius Ramanauskas (via the Facebook group)
For a job interview
“Just used DFB in a job interview as part of a presentation I was asked to prepare. Went down very well.
They asked me what topic I had chosen for the presentation. I think I frightened them a little when I said I was going to make one up on the spot with a topic chosen by them from a list...
Thankfully they appreciated it when all the stuff I had prepped was for the forced topic.”
CREDITS: Barry Fazakerley (via the Facebook group)
To make a planned trick feel spontaneous
“You could use a list of 100 presentations along with the Digital Force Bag app. You could say it was a list of subjects you found interesting and have been looking into and then have them select one at random (wink-wink) and then you could offer to “show them some research” or “give them a demonstration” of their freely (nudge-nudge) chosen subject.
CREDITS: DT (via The Jerx)
Are you interested in more?
There are more ideas in the official Facebook group, on the Magic Cafe thread, and on The Jerx website. I have also an additional idea in my PDF which you can find here for 89$.
If you like DFB, you might also like MultiNotes, which gives you up to 8 multiple outs in a replica of the Notes app. More info on MultiNotes here.
If you have other tricks or ideas you’d like to submit on this page, email me at aferrara98 (at) gmail.com