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Memo New user Germany (northrhine-westfalia) 77 Posts |
Hi,
You can use mnemonic techniques like teached in the most memory books (loci method, master system, Dominic system) for a lot of magic-tricks and other shows. I got a few performances with memory and mental calculation shows (I take part in memory championships, too. Holding world records and won titles. Have been apeart on german and chinese tv a few times). Normally I finished my show with a short memorytraining for the audience. I gave seminars and teaching lessons in memory techniques, too. But in discussions with magicians and mentalist I ofter heard an opinion, that you also can find in this board, where some people prefer to descriptions of those stuff in the inner board: This would be like telling secrets of magic-tricks. I have got another opinion. For me this is not magic-stuff, but something totally different. I´d rahter prefer those techniques to be known by everyone and told in schools, because it helps you a lot in school and college, if you know how to handle them (telling from my own experience). Most books about memory techniques are sold as regular books in normal stores, not like magic books without ISBN in special magicians stores. Therefore I´d be happy to hear a few more opinions! Best regards from Germany, Memo
"There have been many claims by magicans and mentalists to the invention of mnemonics; some of the claimants have been world-famous performers - and none of them have a right to their claims!" - Corinda
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drwilson Inner circle Bar Harbor, ME 2191 Posts |
Greetings Memo,
I have always felt the way that you do about revealing some of the techniques of mnemonics. You can find this stuff in libraries, all over the web, and in any bookstore. I have posted some basic information on my website. Some performers use the memory act as a pitch act, selling memory books or tapes at the end of the show. Of course the problem that this creates is that if the stuff that you perform is fairly basic, you will take some of the wonder out of it for the audience. I think the correct response to this is to memorize really huge amounts of information, or to memorize things very quickly, so that the audience can still marvel at your skill. I have not heard many magicians denounce "exposure" of mnemonics. If you look in Fitzke's Trick Brain, he dismisses memory demonstrations as feats of skill, not magic, so at least in his opinion exposing mnemonics would not be exposing the secrets of magic. Yours, Paul |
Memo New user Germany (northrhine-westfalia) 77 Posts |
Quote:
Of course the problem that this creates is that if the stuff that you perform is fairly basic, you will take some of the wonder out of it for the audience. I think the correct response to this is to memorize really huge amounts of information, or to memorize things very quickly, so that the audience can still marvel at your skill. Sometimes it is difficult to make the difference, what is really much or really fast and what is not. For example most of the people thing it is harder to memorize binary digits in stead of normal digits because there are only 0s and 1s. It is much easier of couse. Most of the people are really amazed if you memorize a 100 digits binary number in a minute (maybe "covered" as 100 bulps, nearly half of it randomly choose n are on, the rest is off). And they are still amazed, if they know the basics. And you really have to train a lot to achieve this.
"There have been many claims by magicans and mentalists to the invention of mnemonics; some of the claimants have been world-famous performers - and none of them have a right to their claims!" - Corinda
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drwilson Inner circle Bar Harbor, ME 2191 Posts |
It's hard to know what audiences will perceive as difficult until they talk to you afterwards. I once had someone tell me that my dictionary test (which amounts to memorizing a list of 301 words) was much harder than memorizing pi to 5,200 digits because there are 26 letters but only 10 different numbers!
The real irony here is that I actually remember pi digits as words. I got the opposite response from a group of high school students at a science and math magnet school for gifted kids. They were right, of course. So the only way to be sure is to try it out in front of people! Yours, Paul |
Roy Elite user Israel 486 Posts |
Where can I find the method to remember binary digits?
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Fred E. Bert Veteran user New York, NY 359 Posts |
I taught the mnemonic system in Corinda's 13 Steps to my girlfriend. She's a High School biology teacher. She demonstrated it to her classes and memorized a list of 20 items that they came up with. (She has 5 classes so she actually remembered 100 items in one day). She then explained the mnemonic method to them and told them to practice it at home.
The next day, she asked how they did. NONE of her students tried it because they felt it was "too hard." Actually, out of almost 100 kids, only ONE gave it a try. This is unfortunately a reflection of the apathetic nature of today's kids. If it's not immediate gratification, it's boring or not worth their time (here I go sounding like an old man at 29 and complaining about the younger generation!) My 7 and 10-year old nephews on the other hand have picked up on mnemonics instantly and can remember a list of 20 items on the spot! I think Mnemonics is fascinating. I'm currently reading Harry Lorayne's Memory Mastery. It's amazing that the brain can work this way, and yet the majority of people are not aware of it. I suspect that while it comes across as an interesting principle, most would not be willing to invest the time to learn mnemonics. I don't think mnemonics is a magician's secret. As you said, you can find many books in the library (most of them by Harry!) But I wouldn't go explaining mnemonics to an audience. Just show them a memory stunt to demontrate the power of the human mind and leave it at that. Those who are interested can do their own research afterwards. If a spectator comes up to you and asks you about the memory stunt, you can point them in the right direction. Unfortunately though, a lot of mnemonics literature includes a system to memorize a stacked deck -- Not something you'd want to expose... |
Scott Cram Inner circle 2678 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-02-09 16:24, Roei wrote: I wrote an article on Binary Number memorization methods over on Mentat Wiki. Check out Karl Fulves' book "Combo" and Lewis Jones' "Pattern Principle" in Semi-Automatic Card Tricks III, too. Quote:
On 2005-02-09 16:50, Fred B. wrote: Outright explaining memory systems could be wearing on an audience who isn't prepared for a lecture. There are some simple things you can teach an audience to do to show them the power of their own memories, however, which can really add to a presentation. Harry Lorayne, for example, teaches his audiences how to remember a list of 10 items in and out of order. Chuck Hicock teaches his audiences how to remember the alphabet backwards. One local mnemonics performer I know not only teaches the audience the alphabet backwards, but teaches them to know at what position each letter is, as well. |
Memo New user Germany (northrhine-westfalia) 77 Posts |
I am finished my memory-perfomances wit h a teaching part normally and connect this with the reason of the event I am perfoming on. For example on a gala dinner for people from soccer-clubs, my last performance was to recall the best scorers of the German soccer-league (Bundesliga) since this league is existing and how many goals each of them achived. Then I tought the audience the last ten top-scorers. The reaction have been really great and I did not have the fealing, that my own prior performances have been devaluated by the information that it is not so difficult at all. But I am just doing such events for a few month now and that's why I am asking you to give me some advice or to discuss above those topics
Just to make it plain to everyone: If I am doing memory-performances, I do not mix it with magic or mentalism of course! (I am not good enough to do any performances with those things, yet and I´ll never mix both thing up)
"There have been many claims by magicans and mentalists to the invention of mnemonics; some of the claimants have been world-famous performers - and none of them have a right to their claims!" - Corinda
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Partizan Inner circle London UK 1682 Posts |
Mentat Wiki is a Dune reference Btw.
"You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."
- Mark Twain |
Memo New user Germany (northrhine-westfalia) 77 Posts |
I just know the Germans.
There are Andy "the enterbrainer" Häussler (party english page: http://www.enterbrainer.de), Wilfried Possin, Jens "Der Denker" Seiler (english page: http://www.jens-the-brain.com), Jan Formann and a few other doing shows with memoryskills as mainpart (mostly connected with mental calculation and/or mental magic). Do you know any Americans or British performers with such shows?
"There have been many claims by magicans and mentalists to the invention of mnemonics; some of the claimants have been world-famous performers - and none of them have a right to their claims!" - Corinda
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SpAgHeTtI Regular user 166 Posts |
I want to try the 'Dominic System'.....but it is hard to find so many names of famous persons....any suggestion?
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Memo New user Germany (northrhine-westfalia) 77 Posts |
Don´t stay with names. You can also use objects etc.
"There have been many claims by magicans and mentalists to the invention of mnemonics; some of the claimants have been world-famous performers - and none of them have a right to their claims!" - Corinda
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SpAgHeTtI Regular user 166 Posts |
No in the Dominic system......the idea is that famous person are more easy to reamenber and above all It easy to link an action to a famous person then if you must remenber digits 4 at times it 's easy to connect a person with an action(the action of the person of the last 2 digit)....
Sorry for the english but I hope you have understood....What do you think? Do you do any real digits test? Any suggestions? |
Memo New user Germany (northrhine-westfalia) 77 Posts |
You can do a 6 digit system, too. If you have a person, an action and an object for each number between 00 and 99.
I dislike it to use just persons, get confused to easy. But if you combine persons and objects it is easier (for me, at least). Got success with this system (as mentioned before) and most of the starters at the World Memory Championships use such systems. But for example the World Champion Ben Pridmore has got one image for each number between 0 and 999. And those are not persons (at least: not only persons, but also objects), as far as I know.
"There have been many claims by magicans and mentalists to the invention of mnemonics; some of the claimants have been world-famous performers - and none of them have a right to their claims!" - Corinda
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