I rarely get to work on my own creations these days. 911 Summing is one of those rare occasions. It is an effect and method I have created more than 20 years ago. Both the effect and the method are to the best of my knowledge completely new and have never been published before.
This is a math effect I have had a lot of fun with. It can even be performed as puzzle challenge rather than a magic effect. I have performed this for people twice as smart as myself - engineers, scientists, researchers, professors - you name it. Not once has anybody figured out how it is done, even though, the principle behind it is easy and in the reach of anybody who can add and subtract small numbers. The method is cleverly hidden in plain sight.
If you want to entertain a table of smart folks, if you want to fool your 'know it all' cousin, this is the effect to present.
In addition to my original version you get two versions designed by Werner Miller. Werner has further improved the effect and has created a version that is particularly suited for class room demonstrations. If you are a math teacher or instructor and you want to incorporate magic into your presentation, then you should definitely get this.
Effect:
You present a couple of cards with two digit numbers on them. In one incarnation of the effect you show 9 cards. There is nothing special with the cards. They could be business cards for an impromptu presentation, or pieces of paper torn from a notepad if you want to perform this over the phone, or they could be nicely crafted metal or wooden plates with numbers already on them.
You instruct your spectator that once you leave the room (or turn your back, or make somehow else sure that you don't see or hear anything) he or she is to remove zero, one or two number cards from the ones lying on the table (no force whatsoever; the spectator has a completely free choice of how many and which cards are being removed). With the remaining cards an addition is formed. For example, the spectator could arrange two cards next to each other to form a 4-digit number and then beneath that 4-digit number a 6-digit number could be created using 3 cards, and then below that a single card representing a 2-digit number, etc. There is complete freedom of how the remaining cards are being arranged into an addition.
Once the spectator is satisfied with his or her addition the total is calculated. Only the total is communicated to the performer. If you are in another room perhaps somebody calls you on your cell phone. If your back was turned the spectator simply states the total. There are no stooges or impression devices, switches of numbers, or any other trickery involved. The total and only the total is communicated to you.
Based on the information of the total you can exactly determine which cards were removed at the beginning. There is no pumping, no multiple outs - nothing. You know how many cards have been removed and what numbers are on those cards. Very simple, very amazing!
The effect can immediately be repeated. Actually repetition strengthens the effect.
Important Points to Remember:
- There is no conventional trickery being used. No stooges, no impression devices, no forces of any kind, no glimpsing or marking, nothing.
- The effect can immediately be repeated as often as you like. Actually the effect is further strengthened if it is repeated a few times.
- Can be performed over the phone. Some of my best performances have been given over the phone. The phone implicitly assures that you cannot see which cards are removed nor how the remaining ones are arranged. On top of that a phone presentation makes the performance even easier.
- Simple method. Yes, you will have to do some small number calculations, but it is so easy that kids can do it, even though it is virtually impossible to derive the method from seeing a presentation.
1st edition 2011; 10 pages.
word count: 2159 which is equivalent to 8 standard pages of text
