The Genii Forum

I have a relative who absolutely LOVES mathematics and appreciates Card Magic. What Self Working/ Mathe-Magic Card Book would you recommend? Actually it (all) doesn't need to be Cards.

I have been thinking about getting him Woody Aragon's Book in English for his birthday. What do you think?

btw.. just left, er, RAN AWAY from Magic Cafe!!! This is my first post here. Genii seems MUCH more civil!

Here's what I think you are looking for:

Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas that Animate Great Magic Tricks

http://www.amazon.com/Magical-Mathematics-Mathematical-Animate-Tricks/dp/0691151644/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329751996&sr=8-1

Welcome to Genii Forum!

Mathematical Wizardry, of course!

Mathematics, Magic and Mystery by Martin Gardner is very good, and the Dover reprint is very affordable. If you can get a copy, Art Benjamin's book Mathemagics is also excellent (it's on rapid calculations). I think it was recently republished as 'How to Look Like a Genius Without Trying' or something similar.

Ian Kendall wrote:If you can get a copy, Art Benjamin's book Mathemagics is also excellent (it's on rapid calculations). I think it was recently republished as 'How to Look Like a Genius Without Trying' or something similar.

Not in the format that you requested, but Prof. Benjamin is quite entertaining (and I hate math). May compliment the book mentioned above.

http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=1406

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/arthur_benjamin_does_mathemagic.html

There's also the fairly new Persi Diaconis book. Seems like a pretty smart guy being a former McArthur Genius Award recipient and working as a professor at Stanford. He also ran away from home with Dai Vernon at the age of 14 to pursue magic prior to his current gig.

http://www.amazon.com/Magical-Mathematics-Mathematical-Animate-Tricks/dp/0691151644/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329757517&sr=8-1

http://www-stat.stanford.edu/~cgates/PERSI/

I somehow overlooked erdnasephile's post as I was scrolling down. I agree with him is what I meant to say, instead of re-posting the link.

The Woody Aragon book does have one self working effect that is becoming very popular, but is not primarily math based or sleight free. Tamariz's VERBAL MAGIC would be worth considering, but I would second the prior posts about Persi Diaconis' wonderful book, widely available, reasonably priced, extremely sophisticated.

diaconis book better for math; aragon for magic; both worth having

Thank you all for your posts! I will get two or three of the suggestions posted. I really appreciate your suggestions. I, for one, am not a fan of self working or mathematical Card Effects. But as stated, these are a gift for someone who appreciates mathematic novelties.

Thank you again. Your unselfish sharing of knowledge is truly appreciated!

I know my relative will appreciate them as well... not to mention the Authors and Publishers!

Just ordered Erdnasephile/ Mr. Pungot's and Harry's suggestions.

Once he plows through those two I will order the others.

Thanks again!

Card mechanic wrote: I, for one, am not a fan of self working or mathematical Card Effects.

Just for future reference, and anyone else interested in this genre, Jim Steinmeyer has three wonderful booklets of Strangely Self-Working Conjuring available on his website (Impuzzibilities Series).

Richard Vollmer also has a few self-working gems worth checking out and I believe Aldo Colombini has a DVD devoted to Vollmers card effects.

Finally, I would like to repeat what has been said in the past about self-working/math based magic, so as not to dismiss the potential of these effects: When judiciously used and combined with sleight-of-hand, miracles can be achieved.

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Pungot's statement above. He is absolutely correct and I don't mean to dismiss Self Working or Mathematical Magic Effects as I have seemingly done. I was simply trying to say I prefer to work out the sleights, however, no doubt the day will come when my hands simply won't be able to do them and I will quickly run to the Self Working Effects with much appreciation! I didn't mean to offend (anyone) who enjoys this genre and wanted to make that clear. Thank you Edward for pointing that out! I also have no doubt that I will pull some Effects from the books I ordered for my relative.

A matter of fact, I just, this morning, reclaimed the Magic Squares Effect that I had forgotten. It took a while, but I got it back and am very grateful!

Fellow South-Paw Harry Anderson closes with magic squares and has a wonderful manuscript on several handling and presentation ideas worth checking out.

Thanks for mentioning the magic square, I think I'm going to re-read Harry's manuscript again and play with some of his ideas. The other Harry (Lorayne) probably has some great ideas on this as well and I wouldn't be surprised if there's some work on it in the book you just bought.

Magic Squares are truly amazing! They are great in that you can do them sitting in a bar or restaurant (or anywhere) where there is paper and pen/ pencil. No need for a Deck of Cards or Coins etc.... and it blows people away! Sleight of Mind LOL! So glad to be able to do it again!

Thanks again Edward for showing me the way my post came off and prompting me to clarify!

My Magic Square presentation is on Vol. 4 of my "Best Ever" DVD set and also on the internet, if you know how to find it. I'm a lousy computer person, so can't help you with that - I'm sure someone else can. HL.

Here is the magic square performance Mr. Lorayne is referring to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeaTzZO8jTU

IMHO, no one does it as well as Harry. Enjoy!

Thanks for posting Erdnasephile!

Great job Harry!

Please do NOT call Magic Squares… « Magic Squares » in performance. Toi easy to Google. I refer to it ss sdvanced Sudokus…

Colm Mulcahy's book is pretty good.

+1 for Harry Lorayne's "Mathematical Wizardry." It is available as an ebook or as a softcover book.

BTW, I ordered my copy from Harry when the book first came out. He was very amused to find that I made a math error in totaling up my order

Michel Asselin wrote:Please do NOT call Magic Squares… « Magic Squares » in performance. Toi easy to Google. I refer to it ss sdvanced Sudokus…

Wizardry Rhomboids?

Self-Working Number Magic: 101 Foolproof Tricks, by Karl Fulves (which includes 98 illustrations by Joseph K. Schmidt), is available dirt cheap in paperback (Dover) from a variety of online vendors. I gave my copy away to a young kid/aspiring magician a couple years ago, and I will be replacing it. There are some unique and entertaining tricks in the book, most of which require nothing more than pen/pencil and paper, and some of which I use pretty often. One of the tricks I really like is called the "The Nine Mystery." It's a clever trick which I have found can be made even more amazing than as explained in the book by using a Pilot "FriXion" pen and a lighter. Number/mathematical magic can be fun, and when used sparingly, can add some refreshing variety to one's repertoire.

If my fading memory hasn't slipped a gear again, I believe there are several fascinating mathe-magic card tricks in his book "Destination Zero." I need to dig that volume out of the bookcase and give it a new read, now that I think about it. I recall it being quite good when I first read it several years ago.

MagicbyAlfred wrote:Self-Working Number Magic: 101 Foolproof Tricks, by Karl Fulves (which includes 98 illustrations by Joseph K. Schmidt), is available dirt cheap in paperback (Dover) from a variety of online vendors. I gave my copy away to a young kid/aspiring magician a couple years ago, and I will be replacing it. There are some unique and entertaining tricks in the book, most of which require nothing more than pen/pencil and paper, and some of which I use pretty often.

How does the Fulves book compare with Martin Gardner's Mathematics, Magic & Mystery?

Both volumes are worth having.
And as Alfred points out,
the Dover editions are second-hand cheap.

Math Encounters
You will find a few surprises in this ongoing lecture series [i.e. Diaconis, Benjamin, Mulcahy]
https://momath.org/math-encounters/previous-math-encounters-presentations/