Stranger X

Jonathan Levit’s “The Stranger” is a reputation-making routine that has earned its place in the shows of top magicians around the world.

Your audience selects a card, then randomly dials a phone number. The stranger who picks up is confused about what this is and why you’re calling. Maybe they FaceTime to prove this isn’t a prank call. But after you explain you’re a magician, they name a card. It’s the selection.

“A revolutionary magic utility for the modern world.” Michael Carbonaro

Whether you're using it for a five-minute routine or a fifteen-minute finale, a quick trick for friends or a showstopper on stage, The Stranger is one of those tricks that consistently gets INSANE reactions.

A perfect trick that I pull out when I want to send them over the edge. Paul Gertner

I use it in every one of my shows. Dan White

Jonathan is an evil genius. Max Maven

But where most magicians would stop, Jonathan kept going. After seven years on the App Store, over 100 updates, and thousands of performances, the Stranger just got a major upgrade. This is Stranger X.

See Stranger X in action:

Stranger X is a ground-up rebuild. Every lesson from his own performances, his team, and thousands of users since 2019 went back into this version. Setup now lives on one screen, so there are fewer taps and a shorter path from opening the app to dialing your Stranger. And the new UI is just the start.

Borrowed Phone Mode

Select the Stranger X with Borrowed Phone at checkout for the cleanest way to perform the Stranger we’ve ever seen.

Picture this. Your participant selects a card. You take their phone and let them type in random digits to form a phone number. But the person who picks up? It’s your Stranger, ready to reveal their card. It’s the full Stranger routine, on a borrowed phone.

Working impromptu with no Live Stranger at the ready to take a call? Use the borrowed phone to call a Conversation Recording. It’s the ultimate Every Day Carry. A playing card is chosen. A phone is borrowed. A call is made, and a conversation ensues. In the end, impossibly, the card is revealed. Since it is on their phone, there is nothing for the audience to see, nothing to backtrack, no way it could possibly have happened.

Run Stranger X using a borrowed phone with just one tap of an NFC tag. All made possible by The Stranger X App Clip. This revolutionary new way to perform The Stranger is normally unlocked through an in-app purchase, but you can save $50 by bundling it with Stranger X through Vanishing Inc.

Built-in Community

We’re all magicians here, so we can tell you that the “Stranger” your audience dials is always going to be someone that you know. But how do you find someone to be your “Stranger”? What if they’re busy when you want to perform?

In the years since The Stranger first launched, Jonathan cultivated a community of thousands of users to become each other's Strangers. Now, that community is built into Stranger X. There is a community of Stranger users in your region who are waiting, ready to be your Stranger, and excited for you to be one of theirs. Connect with and join a local WhatsApp group directly in the app, and have a whole community at your fingertips.

What if your Stranger doesn't pick up? Line up as many Strangers as you like and let Stranger X do the rest. Auto Advance cycles through your list of Strangers, then falls through to a Conversation Recording if no one answers. Whatever happens on the other end, the reveal always happens.

Conversation Recordings and Custom Convincers

Even with a community of thousands of Strangers at your disposal, sometimes a Live Stranger might not be right. That’s where the Conversation Recordings come into play. These recordings have been tested by hundreds of performers over thousands of shows to make sure they sound exactly like a real live call. No difference to the audience.

While the built-in recordings are phenomenal, Stranger X introduces the ability to create your own conversation recordings or custom convincers. It might sound complicated, but Stranger X walks you through the entire process and makes it simple to let your creativity shine. Then share your work in the new Marketplace, where the Stranger community comes together. Publish your recordings and convincers for other performers to download, or browse theirs by search, tags, and region. Prefer to keep something to yourself? Do that, or send it privately to just one Stranger. Your material is no longer limited to what's built in.

All New Offline Mode

No cell service? No wifi? No problem. Whether you’re performing a show in a basement or on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, Stranger X’s new offline mode means your show will go on. Stranger X’s Conversation Recordings and convincers run completely off your device, meaning you’ll always be able to perform.

Fully compatible with Nexus and Nexus Now

Stranger X is now fully integrated with Nexus and Nexus Now, so your Stranger can reveal far more than a playing card. A birthday. A duplicated drawing. Lotto numbers. And much more, all carried by the same call. (Nexus and Nexus Now are sold separately.)