Lasse Burholt, from Denmark, starts his mind reading video by telling the viewer he’s going to predict their answer to a question – and asks them to share the video if he is proved correct.
The mind-reading mentalist (in the truest sense of the word) then holds up a series of simple sums for the viewer to work out and asks them to think of a number between five and 12. He finishes up by asking if you’ve ‘Got it?’, before guessing that you answered seven – I guessed nine.
You TubeIt seems we’re not the only ones who Burholt failed to mind read, because although the video’s been viewed more than 16 million times it ‘only’ has 250,000 shares. This means he only guesses the right number once every thirteen people.
However, despite Burholt’s less than stellar success rate, when we spoke to him he confessed that although he might have messed up the number, he may have ‘psychically’ predicted how you’d act afterwards.
Burholt (who goes by the nickname ‘Balama’ the Danish for ‘troublemaker’) told us that one of his reasons for making the video was to demonstrate that: “Facebook users have a strange urge to comment everything, especially [to] point out how right they are.”
Lasse Burholt - FacebookHe continued:
The main reason for this video’s huge viral hit rate is because hundreds of thousands of Facebook users simply cannot stop themselves from pointing out I did not guess which number they picked!
He also said that he wanted ‘to make some noise’ and get noticed, in the hopes of connecting with people worldwide to ‘create some positive vibes’.
You TubeThe viral star claims to have made the video ‘spontaneously in one take’, after being inspired by the magician Rick Lax.
Before putting it up on his Facebook profile he expected around ‘300,000 views’, but the video’s been a staggering success, managing to get more than fifty times that amount.
So Burholt may not have been able to guess your number, but he did predict that you’d be dying to tell him that he got it wrong…
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.