Memorized decks, repeating lists and other memory feats come and go in the fickle world of magic. RIght now they seem to be popular, possibly due to The Chinese Virus and virtual shows. I’m, personally, convinced that virtual shows will vanish like a fart in the wind when people finally wake up and realize many of the politically based protocols are pure cosmetic theater with no basis in science. No one looking at the numbers can reasonably deny this.

https://thinkersplayground.com/ is a wonderful site exploring memory systems. I’ve particularly chosen this site, as it has some very good advice when memorizing a deck of cards.

Here’s a handy pdf file that I’ve found helpful in memorizing the Mnemonica stack:

They must be stopped. Our Republic will fall if they are not. This is not a test.This is reality.

Yesterday I spent way more time than I should have listening to some old man drone on and on about his theories on magic. He is a revered name so I have no intention of saying who it was or embarrassing him. He did nothing more or less than hundreds have before him.

I tire quickly of the standard answers given in forums and groups:

Read Nelms

Read Tarbell

Make it your own

Read Devant

Read <Insert the latest hot theory book here>

I seriously doubt if most of these pontificators actually read any of the stuff they are recommending.

As a young man I dutifully read Nelms’ Showmanship for Magicians, well most of it. It seemed to me as if he crammed a short essay into 300 pages. I’ve looked at, but not studied the large rasher of books on theory since then. Basically, there is only one book which has been rewritten dozens, if not hundreds, of times. Yeah, there may be an interesting twist or insight now and then, but certainly not a books’ worth.

While I continue to be a proponent of the Five Foot Book Shelf, a one inch shelf is ample for the theory section.

Tired of the same old crap? i/m ran across the http://Wild About Houdini blog while messing around today. Whoever is doing this is a huge fan and the entire blog seems to be written with a lot of care. Like most blogs, readership is pitifully low. I would suggest spending a few minutes checking this out rather than watching some 14 year old expose the lates Penguin download.