The Effect
You send your friend a link to a simple website containing the five classic Zener ESP shapes (Circle, Plus, Wavy Lines, Square, and Star). While your back is turned, they select a shape. Without looking at their screen or asking a single question, you instantly know which shape they are thinking of.
The Method
Audio Method: Presbycusis
This method uses a high-pitched frequency that younger ears can hear, but older ears cannot. It is perfect for performing for your …
The Effect
You send your friend a link to a simple website containing the five classic Zener ESP shapes (Circle, Plus, Wavy Lines, Square, and Star). While your back is turned, they select a shape. Without looking at their screen or asking a single question, you instantly know which shape they are thinking of.
The Method
Audio Method: Presbycusis
This method uses a high-pitched frequency that younger ears can hear, but older ears cannot. It is perfect for performing for your parents, grandparents or anyone who is considerably older than you are.
Before you show the trick to anyone, you must secretly prepare the website on their phone (or your own).
Open the website: https://esp.themagicianswife.co.uk
Scroll to the bottom footer where it says “Based on the 2008 paper The Donor’s Gaze…” and tap the footer text exactly 5 times.
A secret menu will appear with options that you can use to tailor this effect to your needs.
In the secret menu, use the slider to adjust the frequency pitch. Push it up until it sits right at the very upper limit of your hearing (it should feel almost like a pressure in your ear rather than a loud sound).
Save your settings. A special link is created that secretly encodes all your settings within the URL. It means you could send this special link to another person and all your secret preferences load on their device! Now, whenever a shape is tapped, the device’s loudspeakers will emit a “silent” high-pitched pulse that only you can hear.
You will hear a specific number of pulses based on the shape chosen. The code is based on the number of lines/points making up the shape:
1 Tone = Circle (1 continuous line)
2 Tones = Plus Sign (2 intersecting lines)
3 Tones = Wavy Lines (3 separate lines)
4 Tones = Square (4 straight sides)
5 Tones = Star (5 points)
Listen for the pulses, count them, and reveal the shape!
Visual Method: Backup
If you are in a loud room, the device is on mute, or your hearing isn’t what it used to be, there is a built-in visual failsafe.
Look at the Article Reference Number printed at the bottom of the page. It is the last piece of information in the footer. This number updates in real-time to match the spectator’s choices.
The first digit of the reference number is the first shape they tapped. The second digit is the second shape they tapped and so on, up to a total of five shapes are tracked for you.
If the reference number starts with 32…, it means they selected the Wavy Lines (3) and then changed their mind to the Plus Sign (2). To ensure you never get confused, the fake digits in the reference number only use the numbers 6 through 9 and 0. Therefore, any number between 1 and 5 that appears is guaranteed to be one of their selections!
You’ll have to trust us when we tell you that nobody will notice the paper numbers changing on their device. This is becuase the trick utilises a psychological trick known as change blindness. Because their chosen shape occupies the screen for a moment, it is much harder to spot the number changing.
Pro Method: Digital Spy
If you would like to unlock the special “Professional Method”, and have the ability to perform this trick from another room, over video call or under challenge conditions, then consider donating to our ko-fi page and we’ll send you the instructions so you can perform the ultimate second sight act!
© 2026, Lora Jones. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
