Effects that make you look smart

Aug 17, 2010
411
4
The best thing you can do is study grammar, sentence structure, and expand your vocabulary. Being well spoken will probably help more than anything else.

Read some things on critical thinking, on any branch of logic you prefer; epistemology is particularly appropriate, as magic generally exploits what we think we know about the state of things in a trick.

The Knight's Tour from 13 Steps looks like it takes a lot of brain power. Saw Ricky Jay do that while reciting a Shakespeare soliloquy and doing cube roots of numbers.
 
Sep 1, 2007
3,786
15
Mathematical, Memory (Cognitive) fast analytical genius.

Yep, just like I said. There is no trick on earth that is going to fake that for you. You want to be a memory expert? There you have a little more luck. Learning mnemonics takes some time, but I can personally vouch for their effectiveness. Of course, this all hinges on you being willing to do the work. And given the fact that you would rather look smart than be smart, I have my doubts.
 

Ashrei

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2007
350
2
Yep, just like I said. There is no trick on earth that is going to fake that for you. You want to be a memory expert? There you have a little more luck. Learning mnemonics takes some time, but I can personally vouch for their effectiveness. Of course, this all hinges on you being willing to do the work. And given the fact that you would rather look smart than be smart, I have my doubts.

Steer, any book you would suggest on mnemonics?
I'm sure I can get great number of resources on 'em through google search, but since you said you can vouch for their effectiveness, I was wondering if you had used anyone else's methods in that regards.
 
Sep 1, 2007
3,786
15
Steer, any book you would suggest on mnemonics?
I'm sure I can get great number of resources on 'em through google search, but since you said you can vouch for their effectiveness, I was wondering if you had used anyone else's methods in that regards.

Harry Lorayne's The Memory Book is the most accessible to magicians, but if you have a lot of money to blow, the Farrow Memory System is the most comprehensive I've ever seen and includes a few original mnemonic devices as well, such as a system for memorizing long strings of numbers based on synesthesia.

I've incorporated memory demonstrations into my act for the last year or so and they always go over reasonably well, but that's mostly a matter of presentation. It took me months to figure out how to work it into the act.
 

Ashrei

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2007
350
2
Thank you for the input. Farrow's system does look great, though I'd still have to weigh the cost into the equation...
From your description, it may be worth the cost.
 
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