IBM is neither the International Brotherhood of Magicians nor International Business Machines. Here it stands for Impossible Birthday Message.
This is a feel-good effect that leaves your participant with a good, positive vibe. This effect can be performed literally for any occasion like birthdays, wedding anniversaries, family dinners, etc or even if there is no occasion and you are just performing for family or friends. There is an emotional hook, there is drama, there is suspense, and you end up leaving a memorable little souvenir with your participant, which also contains your contact details.
It is not a birthday or star sign divination routine.
You show a couple of sentences with a few blanks in them and ask the participant or the birthday boy to try to guess the correct words to fill in the blanks. He will not be able to do so. But miraculously, he will be able to fill in the correct words, deriving them from his own birthday. And finally, the sentences will become inspiring and motivating quotes for the participant, and you can leave this as a memorable souvenir.
This routine can be easily adapted to any language as it is not language-dependent. There are no sleights, no preshow, no stooges, no instant stooges, no dual reality, no peeking, no secret writing, no anagrams, no impressions, no tearing.
