talkmagic.co.uk

Has anyone seen any good presentation of what I call mathemagic? You know what I'm talking about. Where someone can pick any set of numbers and through a series of seemingly random functions the answer is always the same. I've tried it on a few different people and they always look at me with suspicion by the end. I think mathemagic is a hard sell. Anyone agree/disagree?

JAlexBrown

It never hurts to search - check out this thread. It is pretty old but relevant to your question.

http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic3531.p ... ight=maths

I would say on the whole the math must be disguised if it is to be magic, but there are exceptions. I have seen magic squares peformed as I "look how quick I can do this" effect, and the concept of the square IS so powerful that this actually works as a form of entertainment. It is not how I perform the square though.

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for not searching first. I think that asking a spectator to do some straight math is too obvious. When they're done they know the answer will be the same; and if not, they work it out with different numbers and prove the answer will always be the same. I used to use the 1089 trick (know what I mean?) to bring the spectator to 1089. I would "randomly" pick a book and have them turn to the 108th page and read the 9th word to themselves. I'd then read their mind. Or, for a switch up, I'd have written the word on a piece of paper before the demonstration began. Either way, results were always mixed but mostly unimpressed. I'm not familiar with Magic Squares. I'll have to do some research on that.

JAlexBrown

Here's a great one.. kind of a mentalism bit. Afrer forcing three cards whose values add up to 15, reveal this prediction:

4 2 9
3 7 5
8 6 1

You'll notice that all rows and columns add up to 15. When you reveal the prediction, let the laypeople be confused momentarily, then explain what it is.

Kepp in mind this is only the basic technique... there are many more complex techniques that are quite large. I recommend you research them after using this one a few times.

No offense, Mike, but I'm certain the entire intelligent population of the Universe is aware of the magic square. What's really impressive is its mentalism presentation. A spectator thinks of a number, you jot some numbers down on a page, and they happen to add up to the number your spec thought of. Beautiful, simple, and straightforward. Why involve cards?

I think far more useful than a magic square is a f*rc*ng m*tr*x. They're fiddly to set up without a spreadsheet, but well worth it.