Joshua Jay and My InsanityInside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

Nice Guy, Great Writer

I never met Joshua Jay and but for the fact that virtually everyone who has met him thinks he’s a great guy, I’d be jealous of him. I’m still jealous but not the kind of jealous that eats your guts away and makes you want to dresslike the person and register as that person at conventions and then skip out on your bill.

I told you, I am at the brink of insanity.

Anyway, I read Joshua Jay’s description of a method of running through a deck of cards once and being able to determine the identity of the one card removed. It takes a fast mind and some math skills.

I have neither but it is fun trying.

I was able to master Bob Cassidy’s method for memorizing a deck of cards (really just half a deck) in only about three months so I figure, I’m sure to have this one down by next year.

I tried about thirty times last night and was right twice. I don’t know if that’s better than the odds of just guessing. I know the system works because I’ve done it very slowly ? with paper and pencil ? and I was correct. I think, like all learned skills, this will be one I will practice and practice until I can one day watch someone else do it and say, “wow, that really is a cool trick.”

Check out Joshua’s column in this month’s Magic magazine. If anyone has any suggestions on how to simplify the math or thumb movement, I’d love to hear it.

If you’ve already mastered it, don’t tell me because I’d probably become jealous of you and I can’t promise it won’t be the bad kind of jealousy.