The Benefits of knowing the Mnemonica stack ?

Sep 10, 2008
915
3
QLD, AUS
In my opinion, some of the best benefits of Mnemonica are:
- You can reach the stack from new deck order with just overhand shuffles and faro shuffles.
- From what I know, and from my experience, magicians use Mnemonica more than any other stack.
- It's a true memorized stack, so you don't need to use any calculations or formula to know where a card is in the deck, or what card lies at what position.
- Since it's not formulaic, there's no repeated patterns that your audience may pick up on.
- The relatively unknown principle that every 4 of a kind is within 26 cards of each other.

In terms of effects unique to Mnemonica itself, probably really the only noteworthy one is "Any Hand Called For", a spectacular poker demonstration that requires quite a bit of memorization.

I'm sure there's more, but none come to mind. I'll have another quick scan through it if you want me to though.


Most of the other effects can be accomplished with any other memorized deck stack.
 
Sep 10, 2008
915
3
QLD, AUS
That first effect is a beautiful piece is called "Mnemonicosis", an adaption by Tamariz of Dai Vernon's "Trick that cannot be explained". It's one of my favourite pieces to perform.

It's explained in depth in Mnemonica. However, it's not a trick that you need Mnemonica for. I have a friend that does it with the Aronson stack.
 
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Nov 14, 2011
62
2
ok thanks that trick is only reason i want to learn the stack such a great effect but any tips on remembering the stack ?
 
Sep 10, 2008
915
3
QLD, AUS
Tamariz gives a great way of memorizing the stack, however I'll touch briefly on 2 methods.

1. A memory palace.
Basically create a palace of 52 rooms in your head. It can be a combination of real places, if you like. The important thing is to make sure you can, in your mind, visit each room. Make it 3 dimensional so it involves your spatial processing. You then in your mind, place a single playing card, and it's stack number in a room, and remember which room it was in. When attempting to recall the name of the card, or what position in the stack it is, go through your memory palace. Since you'll be using your spatial processing as well, recall is much easier.

2. Association.
Associate each playing card and stack number with a very vivid image that will help you recall it. These links are called "Mnemonics" and this is the system that Tamariz discusses. When you attempt to recall the card's position, recall the image associated with it, and recall will be far easier.
 
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Reactions: pmayon and Wulee
Nov 14, 2011
62
2
ok thanks ill try that and exaclty what page is Mnemonicosis by Tamariz on i found something on page 98 but does not seem like the method david used , i could be wrong though.
 
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Reactions: AdrianF3
Feb 4, 2008
959
3
lol i know that i was asking if he heard of it
Well I still don't see the exact connection, though I'm sure he probably has. Anyone who has been doing magic for the last few years probably has. Psypher, being one of the biggest releases of last year, isn't exactly a "hidden gem" in the magic world....Gem perhaps....just not hidden.
 
Jan 1, 2009
2,241
3
Back in Time
which is a better stack aronson or mnemonica ?


They both pretty much accomplish the same type of effects. The only difference and it's pretty minor is that Aronson's stack allows for a few "hands off" type of effects while Tamariz's kind of doesn't. Other than that there really isn't a huge difference and your spectators most likely wouldn't notice it.

The one thing about Mnemonica is that it will take a bit longer than it's mentioned in the book to actually get the stack down to a point where you know every location. I've heard a few people tend to use another method for it. IE: Instead of the exact one in the book, they have each card be the image of a celebrity or important person. IE: Queen of Clubs = Queen of England. etc etc. Things like that.
 
Sep 26, 2007
591
5
Tokyo, Japan
Using Mnemonica stack has been my favorite piece since I have learned it. The book is great, but in my opinion, it is only a starting point for what you can do with this stack.

Imagine what you can do with TWO people that know the stack. Tony Chang and I did a small routine together back in Seattle that presents itself as nothing short of either a miracle or being freaks of nature.

After learning and messing around with the stack, your guesstimation becomes more accurate, and then SOOO much opens up to you in terms of creating your own on the spot ideas.
 
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