When did tricks appear? Illusionists and magicians of the world. The history of Hocus Pocus. Pleasant twilight of the Middle Ages

23.06.2020

Share with friends: It is known: it is enough just to get hooked on the intrigue of the developing action in order to be drawn into the round dance of novelty. Especially if the plot involves some kind of paradox. Testifies English writer Somerset Maugham:
“Do you like card tricks? - asked Mr. Max Kelada.
“I hate it,” I answered.
- I'll still show you one.
He showed three."
The rapidity of the text should not confuse you - everything is presented correctly. Truly devilish attraction card tricks is capable of drawing an idle viewer into a much larger number of tricks.
In fact:
- a deck of playing cards inexplicably changes its color in the hands of the winner international competition illusionists Sergei Volkov;
- the aces, laid out on the table, obeying the clear and confident movements of Alexander Zhabin’s hands, suddenly suddenly find themselves gathered in one pack;
- the card conceived by the spectators and shuffled into the deck is almost immediately discovered inside an envelope sealed with wax seals, - this is demonstrated by Vasily Rudenko;
- six-year-old Katenka Savitskaya, the daughter of an illusionist, literally builds a huge house of cards out of nothing with lightning speed.
And so on. And the like.
What magic are these miracles imbued with? Do people master cards like ordinary stage props? Or have people been so fascinated by cards that they attract them like a magnet?
Let me remind you of the short and expressive number “The Player” (staged by Mikhail Kharitonov). The performer is People's Artist of Russia Vladimir Danilin, who was awarded the highest world prize for illusionism in 1991 - the Grand Prix of the International Federation of Magic Societies (FISM).
A confident magician appears on the stage. Calmly and intently, he works with a deck of cards. Fast but soft turns. Error-free transfers with a slight touch of carelessness. Retrieving cards and fans from thin air. Graphically clear plastic. And the audience sees: yes, in front of them is a master of the highest class. A disturbing music continues his run, the rhythms intensify, and suddenly confusion appears in the maestro’s movements. If before he masterfully manipulated the cards, now they show their independent existence, and the magician inevitably has to follow what their element dictates to him. And they start a devilish round dance, appearing in the most unexpected places, following their own understanding. One of them, like a demonic obsession, even hovers over the head of the exhausted ruler. The result is tragic - the master dies, unable to withstand the devastating dynamics of otherness imposed on him. Two streams of card cards erupting out of nowhere complete this spectacular parable, and the hall plunges into darkness...
This stage interpretation can be accepted as an option, or it can be discarded. But the fact remains - a simple deck of cards has amazing appeal. Why?
We do not know for certain when and where they originated. Only two legends can serve as guides to ancient times. According to the first, they were created by Indian Brahmins around 800 AD. Another claims that cards appeared in China around 1120 AD - the then ruler Seung-Ho became interested in them to entertain his concubines. But researchers recorded the moment of the appearance of playing cards in Europe - 1376, Italy. Some scientists believe that they were brought by Arab travelers, others believe that the cards were brought with them by participants in the Crusades. But no one disputes that the Indian and Chinese originals were heavily revised in Europe. Traces of Italian and Spanish influence are preserved in the name of the deck - Neiris.

Trick "The appearance of a house of cards." Performed by Sergey Volkov

Vasily Rudenko guesses the cards conceived by the audience

“Note that the playing cards symbolize the four great characteristics human nature, wrote American researcher Jesse Muller in 1956. “Love is personified by the suit of hearts, the passion for knowledge is represented by clubs, the desire for wealth can be correlated with diamonds, and the suit of spades speaks of death.” An interesting observation, especially since it was precisely four card suits that were originally announced in Neiris.
The European game of cards, which had developed by 1480, subsequently changed slightly. True, from the original Italian system with its swords (an analogue of future spades), clubs (clubs), cups (hearts) and coins (diamonds), three later stood out:
- Swiss - with acorns, roses, leaves and coat of arms;
- German - with acorns, leaves, hearts and bells;
- French - with clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds.
The most stable were the French images of suits, which after the Thirty Years' War practically replaced the rest of the symbolism and are now in use almost everywhere. However, the familiar deck has acquired a curious polyphony. Melody human passions added the time motif. In fact, red and black colors are consonant with the ideas of day and night. 52 sheets correspond to the number of weeks in a year; not everyone understands the joker, which reminds us of a leap year. I'm not saying that the four suits are quite consistent with spring, summer, autumn and winter. If each jack is valued at 11 points (it comes immediately after the ten), the queen at 12, the king at 13, and the ace is taken as 1, then the sum of points in the deck will be 364. By adding a “single” joker, we arrive at the number of days in year. Well, 13 lunar months easy to deduce from the number of cards of each suit. Why is the calendar not coded?
It is extremely difficult to answer the question of when the first card trick was performed. But the name of the first sharper was preserved in the chronicles - Ricco de la Moliniere. And the year is 1495. Since that distant time, contempt for cheaters has cast its unkind reflection on the works of wizards of the entertainment genre. Of course, the false removal of cards used by de la Moliniere or the tattoos on their backs are part of the secret arsenal of magicians then and now. However, entertainment masters sharply distinguish themselves from card swindlers, always emphasizing that they seriously respect the Criminal Code.
“Fi, cards! How low is that!” - some said. And they justified: they say, it is unknown what combination of cards is formed in an unexpanded deck lying on the table, and therefore the advantages of deep strategic thinking disappear, there remains a reliance on luck, risk, instant tactical twist of the original plan. This is why deception and clever tricks become possible. It’s not like in chess, where the positions of the pieces are open from the very beginning, and the majesty of the game evokes respect. “But true life is all about risk, luck or bankruptcy!” - others objected. Well, this is understandable, people often have to deal with the unknown. Isn't a card game a model of the zigzag, and often unpredictability, of life's path?
The two opposing positions of public opinion that I have outlined have always existed. Hence the swing of the card “pendulum”. For example, the English king Henry VIII in 1526 declared cards to be a “devilish game” and outlawed them, and in 1541 this ban was lifted. One way or another, the cards are alive to this day, despite some inherent shade of Satanism.
If the external side of card actions is the gambling attraction, the hypnotism of magic and the effectiveness of spectacular chords, then what are the internal springs of this exciting devilry? The first, lowest level is the use of special, pre-prepared decks. A sort of student scales for beginners. The cheaters don't even give them their attention. Well, what's the point if the entire deck consists of, say, seven hearts? Magicians are a different matter. Such primitiveness is also suitable for their mysterious sacred rites. And the most famous Austrian magician Johann Hofzinser, who once said that “any trick requires the whole magician from beginning to end,” even developed a classification of special cards consisting of five divisions.
Hoftzinzer is a legendary figure in card illusionism. They say about him that he invented more than five thousand card tricks. True, he himself believed that he only had about 60 original trick ideas, the rest were just compositional discoveries. Associated with the name of this unique artist is the second class of secret trick springs, when tricks are performed with ordinary cards, but without the use of sleight of hand.

One of the few surviving portraits of Johann-Nepomuk Hofzinser. He looks like a poet or musician, doesn't he?

Here's an example. In advance, even before demonstrating the trick, four aces are placed on top of the deck, and the deck itself is placed face down on the table. The magician invites any of the spectators to lift up about half of the deck (pack A) and place it on the table next to the remaining half - also face down. Next, you should remove the top card from A and, without looking at it, place it on top of the remaining half. Then another spectator should do approximately the same with half deck A: remove the top half from A (this will be pack B) and place it face down on the table, then return the top card, without looking at it, from B to A. The third spectator must perform a similar technique with pack B: place its upper half (pack B) face down on the table, and then return the top card from B to B without peeking. The trick is over. When the fourth spectator turns over the top cards of each of the four piles, they turn out to be aces. Performed at a relatively fast pace, the trick looks extremely impressive, although it requires almost no preliminary training.
The most common third area of card magic is tricks that include preliminary layouts and require a certain sleight of hand. It was in this class that Hoftzinzer showed his greatness; both sharpers and modern card sorcerers most often operate in it.

A fragment of a performance by card magicians in one of the Scandinavian variety shows

“Without some sleight of hand, without these manipulations that are fascinating for the performer himself, imparting to his art a piquant excitement and a certain kind of sportiness, according to which, in fact, colleagues evaluate the magician much more strictly than the audience - without this it is difficult to talk about a magician who has reached a decent level , wrote Canadian illusionist researcher Sid Lorraine. “Sleight of hand here is the underwater part of the iceberg, and shifts are just a decorative component.” A very accurate and competent observation, because when I visited one of the recently opened Moscow casinos, where I was asked to demonstrate several tricks with cards, one of the managers whispered: “If possible, with sleight of hand.” Yes, the hidden mechanics of the fingers is why experts value it, leading to exciting effects. All the unnoticeable mixing, special hiding of cards in the hands, subtle substitutions - this is the arsenal of this kind of tricks. And also the magic tales known to many: “Four queens walked, met four jacks, then four aces appeared...”
Two decades after Hofzinser's death, his friend Georg Heubeck will tell Ottokar Fischer about the card magic of the remarkable master, and he will devote his life to searching for materials about him. But the card maestro's 18 tricks will remain a mystery. For example: any eight cards are pulled from the deck and placed face down on the table; the spectator names any of the suits, and all eight chosen cards turn out to be cards of that particular suit. Or: two aces are placed on the table; one card is taken from the deck, remembered, put back into the deck and shuffled; one of the aces lying on the table is revealed - it turns out that it is not an ace at all, but the same card that was drawn; then the second ace turns into it...
Finally, the last one upper class card magic - tricks based solely on sleight of hand.
According to the illusionist E. Keogh, the Russian magician Pavel Sokolov-Passo “was a real nugget, perhaps the only one of its kind. He was working simultaneously with two decks of cards, which instantly appeared and disappeared in his hands. Cards were “pulled out” from the “nose”, “ear”, “mouth” of the spectators, they flew through the air, decreased and increased in size. It is known that the cards are in the magician's hands all the time, but he moves them between his fingers so quickly that they are no longer visible to the audience. Try to do this with at least two or three cards - and then you will appreciate the skill of Passo, who manipulated two decks.”

Pavel Sokolov-Passo during a demonstration of the trick "The appearance of card fans in both hands"

“Who am I? Where did you come from? Where am I going? - such questions were displayed on the poster next to the portrait of a masked man, the unique card master Jose Antenor Gago y Zavala, Marquis d'Orihuela. At the end of the last century, he performed in the Mecca of the gambling business, the famous Monte Carlo, shocking the audience and surprising experts. Possessing the highest hand technique, he made the cards just chosen by the spectators disappear from the deck, then pulling them out of thin air. He threw them to the last row, and they, spinning in the air, returned to him. Famous gamblers who worked in gambling houses came to his performances and meticulously studied the incomparable technique of the “man in a mask.”

By appearance José Antenor Gago y Zavala, you would never tell that this is the legendary card magician "The Masked Man"

But that was a long time ago. And now?
Macau is a small place near Hong Kong. Here in the casino, when darkness falls, gambling hell unfolds. Around midnight, the game gains momentum and a furious, ruthless game unfolds. Huge bets, stacks of unopened banknotes, hawkish tension. “The main person here is apparently a young, very young, beautiful Chinese woman,” says Bulgarian journalist Krum Bosev. - She shuffles and deals the cards. What skill, what grace, what beauty! When did she learn this art? She takes a deck of cards with gentle, thin fingers, long, like those of virtuoso violinists, barely touches them, and they seem to move on their own, play in her hands, stick to her fingers. With lightning speed, she groups them into a perfect semicircle, and just as quickly, the cards begin to fly out of her hands like small rockets. The cards make a beautiful, perfect circle in the air and fall evenly and accurately into the hands or in front of the players' hands. And all this is done with extraordinary elegance.”
The rapacity of the game and the sophistication of the plastic, the monetary motive and the free line of flight, the despicable cards and the pure melodies of the hands... The performance of Alexander Popov, laureate of the All-Union Competition of Illusionists, comes to mind. He demonstrated true fantasy. I divided the deck in half - one half for each hand, and the obsession began. The cards on his palms rose vertically, shifted to the sides with lightning speed, releasing other parts of the deck from below. Those, in turn, opened like a book and immediately slammed shut, letting new packs of cards inside. At the same time, the half-decks rotated, unfolded, fell over and were transferred up and down, so that the eye did not have time to catch the details of this incredible speed. Such an enchanting riot lasted about 30-40 seconds - a gigantic time for a prestidigitator accustomed to measuring manipulations in fractions of a second.
When people ask me about the most mysterious magician, I always answer: Charlier! He showed up quietly and unexpectedly - in London. A withdrawn, silent old man with parchment skin and a strand of gray hair. When? “About 1874,” indicate domestic historians of illusionism A. Vadimov and M. Trivas. “About 1870,” notes German researcher Jochen Zmeck. This old man settled on the outskirts of London in a small attic and suggested calling himself Charlier. Was the name real? This is still unknown. Where did he come from? And this remains a mystery to this day.
Charlier turned out to be a card magician. He did not recognize any other props. " The Greatest Master in card manipulations,” spoke of him English expert Angelo Lewis. The most prominent sorcerers of that time visited him, and he taught them completely new techniques for working with cards. For example, a volt (switching the upper and lower half-decks) was performed with only two hands. Charlier suggested acting alone, and this technique went down in the history of card magic under the name “Charlier’s volt.” Using computer terminology, he invented several plastic finger programs to demonstrate a kind of superpower. In particular, he developed a special system for arranging cards in the deck - after shuffling it with the audience, the magician could guess which card the audience had in mind. Unfortunately, nothing is known about Charlier’s public appearances. He made his living by engraving inscriptions on watches and cigarette cases...
In 1882, Charlier disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only the card tricks and legends he invented. Here is one of them. He suggested to a prominent illusionist who visited Charlier to shuffle the deck, take out any card from there and place it face down on a stool, which he did. From a small drawer, Charlier pulled out a playing card with a completely clean face. Holding it in his hands, he began to perform some “incredibly organized gestures” in the air over the lying card. Then his hands froze in space, and on the white side of the card appeared the image of the card that was on the stool! Then Charlier made several “discharging” passes, and the card in his hands again became white. And to this day this trick has not been solved. Sometimes a strange thought creeps into my mind: was it not the same principle of transferring a card image that Hoftzinzer used? Or maybe there were parapsychological effects here?

English playing cards depicting theatrical scenes (late 18th century)

In May 1992, the American wizard Tony Hassini visited Moscow. He suggested taking a deck, shuffling it, and then saying out loud the names of any two cards. For example, choose six and king. It is not recommended to name close cards, say, seven and eight, otherwise the trick may not work. Did you name it? Fine. Hassini would click the deck, and the cards you mentioned would end up lying side by side - either close together, or (worst case) separated by a single card. We tested Hassini by unrolling the deck. But everything worked out exactly as the magician said.
This trick practically does not fail automatically - you can check it yourself. Why this happens, I don’t know. Here some completely incomprehensible card melody appears. And the authors American books They also don’t know the art of card tricks. Maybe you can solve the riddle? Try...

Illusionary art (tricks) have attracted the attention of mankind for more than four and a half thousand years. What is the reason for such enduring popularity of magic tricks? The answer is simple - a person always strives for something unusual, fantastic, dreams of soaring in the air like a bird, disappearing and appearing anywhere and doing this with various objects. A person wants to believe in a miracle and that is why magic tricks and illusionary art are so popular.

Magic translated from ancient Greek means sorcery, sorcery. "Magos" means astrologer, fortuneteller, magician, sorcerer, illusionist.

What is focus? In the Middle Ages, it was believed that tricks and tricks were something devilish. Wandering magicians, demonstrating their tricks to the audience, tried with all their might to show the divine origin of their tricks, for which they made the sign of the cross and called on the name of Jesus Christ. Ancient magicians used a phrase that was usually pronounced in the Temple during the removal of the holy gifts: “Hok est corps meum” - “This is my body.”

Over the years, the meaning of this phrase was forgotten and “Hok est corps meum” became “Hokus Pocus.” In Rus', “hokus” turned into “focus”.

Vladimir Dal gives the following definition in his dictionary: Hocus Pocus- buffoonery, JOKE, hassle, a distraction, an incomprehensible phenomenon based on art and pretense. A magician is a trick or a buffoon.”

Dahl, familiar with the tricks of farce magicians and salon magic, pointed out the main rule in the work of magicians - “averting one's eyes,” i.e. distraction. IN modern world illusionism is a demonstration of tricks using various equipment, the unexpected appearance and disappearance of large objects, people, etc. Manipulation – tricks with small objects: balls, scarves, cards.

The main principle of a magician is this: say the opposite of what you are doing. This rule was invented by ancient magicians and magicians. A person is unable to keep track of two actions at the same time. From which it follows that the magician must be able to perform several uncoordinated separate movements simultaneously. Many people talk about the “subtle movements” of a magician. This is wrong. All the magician's movements should be visible to the audience, they simply direct the audience's attention in a different direction.

There are many magicians living in the world now. Illusion shows awaken the viewer’s imagination, make him dream and believe in miracles. Every meeting with the magic of tricks brings delight and surprise to a person.

HISTORY OF FOCUS

The art of illusions (tricks) originated in Ancient Egypt about five thousand years ago. Magicians of that time made jewelry disappear and appear, and beheaded geese. During tricks, huge statues of gods crawled out of the ground. These statues could stretch out their hands to the people, the statues could even cry. Such performances were considered either divine power or the power of darkness.

IN medieval Europe Magic tricks were considered witchcraft and magicians paid for it with their lives.

In the 18th century in Germany and Holland, the performances of one self-proclaimed “wizard” who called himself Ojes Bohes and used the pseudonym “Hocus Pocus” were very popular. During the “bazaar witchcraft”, he used confusing phrases “hocus pocus, tonus talonus, vade celeriter” in order to divert the attention of the audience.

This “spell” was immediately picked up by other magicians and after some time became business card all illusionists.

In the 18th century, in England, illusionists and magicians gained some recognition and position in society. Thanks to this, by the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, hundreds of professional magicians appeared. And so-called “scientific” tricks, that is, tricks that can be explained from a scientific point of view, are becoming widely popular.

Features of mathematical tricks.

Mathematical games and tricks appeared along with the emergence of mathematics as a science.

Back in Ancient Hellas Personal development was unimaginable without games. Our ancestors knew chess and checkers, puzzles and riddles.

We all know the great Russian poet M.Yu. Lermontov, but not everyone knows that he was a great lover of mathematics, he was especially attracted to mathematical tricks, of which he knew a great variety, and he invented some of them himself.

Mathematical tricks are interesting precisely because each trick is based on the properties of numbers, actions, and mathematical laws. There are quite a lot of mathematical tricks; they can be found in separate books for extracurricular activities in mathematics, you can come up with it yourself.

The main theme of arithmetic tricks is guessing the intended numbers or the results of operations on them. The whole secret of the tricks is that the “guesser” knows and knows how to use the special properties of numbers, but the thinker does not know these properties.

The mathematical interest of each trick lies in its exposure. theoretical foundations, which in most cases are quite simple, but sometimes are cleverly disguised.

Like many other cross-discipline subjects, mathematical tricks receive little attention from either mathematicians or magicians. The former are inclined to regard them as empty fun, the latter neglect them as too boring. Mathematical tricks, let's face it, do not belong to the category of magic tricks that can keep an audience of spectators unskilled in mathematics spellbound; such tricks usually take a lot of time and are not very effective; on the other hand, there is hardly a person who intends to draw deep mathematical truths from their contemplation.

And yet, mathematical tricks, like chess, have their own special charm. Chess combines the elegance of mathematics with the pleasure that the game can bring. In mathematical tricks, the elegance of mathematical constructions is combined with entertainment. It is not surprising, therefore, that they bring the greatest pleasure to those who are simultaneously familiar with both of these areas. magic trick mathematical illusion

Mathematical tricks were the most favorite entertainment of the 17th and 18th centuries. The ability to guess a given number, the result of arithmetic operations, was considered in those days almost witchcraft. Many did not know that these guesses are based on very simple properties of some numbers and mathematical operations. However, even now mathematical tricks are great entertainment, they cause sincere amazement and general interest, and most importantly, they contribute to the formation logical thinking schoolchildren, instill in them a love of mathematics, and show them the wonderful possibilities of this science.

Currently available huge amount a wide variety of mathematical tricks, which are based on various mathematical theories, as well as the properties of the objects involved (dices, cards, dominoes, calendars, etc.).

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ABSTRACT

HISTORY OF FOCUS

The art of illusion (tricks) originated in Ancient Egypt about five thousand years ago. Magicians of that time made jewelry disappear and appear, and beheaded geese. During tricks, huge statues of gods crawled out of the ground. These statues could stretch out their hands to the people, the statues could even cry. Such performances were considered either divine power or the power of darkness.

In medieval Europe, magic tricks were considered witchcraft and magicians paid for it with their lives.

This “spell” was immediately picked up by other magicians and after some time became the calling card of all illusionists.

Peculiaritiesmathematical tricks.

Mathematical games and tricks appeared along with the emergence of mathematics as a science.

Even in Ancient Hellas, personality development was unimaginable without games. Our ancestors knew chess and checkers, puzzles and riddles.

Mathematical tricks are interesting precisely because each trick is based on the properties of numbers, actions, and mathematical laws. There are quite a lot of mathematical tricks, they can be found in separate books for extracurricular work in mathematics, or you can come up with them yourself.

The mathematical interest of each trick lies in the exposure of its theoretical foundations, which in most cases are quite simple, but sometimes are cunningly disguised.

Mathematical tricks were the most favorite entertainment of the 17th and 18th centuries. The ability to guess a given number, the result of arithmetic operations, was considered in those days almost witchcraft. Many did not know that these guesses are based on very simple properties of some numbers and mathematical operations. However, even now mathematical tricks are great entertainment, they cause sincere amazement and general interest, and most importantly, they contribute to the formation of logical thinking in schoolchildren, instill in them a love of mathematics, and show the wonderful possibilities of this science.

Currently, there is a huge number of a wide variety of mathematical tricks, which are based on various mathematical theories, as well as the properties of the objects involved (dices, cards, dominoes, calendars, etc.).

Guessing the number of cards removed from the deck

The person showing asks one of the spectators to remove a small packet of cards from the top of the deck, after which he himself also removes the packet, but with a slightly larger number of cards. He then counts his cards.

Let's say there are twenty of them. Then he declares: “I have four more cards than you and enough more to count to sixteen.” The spectator counts his cards. Let's say there are eleven of them. Then the shower lays out his cards one at a time on the table.

Counting to eleven. Then, in accordance with the statement he has made, he puts the four cards aside and continues to place cards, counting further; 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. The sixteenth card will be the last, as he predicted.

The trick can be repeated over and over again, and the number of cards put aside must be changed all the time, for example, one time there may be three, another five, etc. At the same time, it seems incomprehensible how the shower can guess the difference in the number of cards without knowing the number of cards taken by the spectator.

Explanation. In this also simple trick, the performer does not need to know the number of cards in the spectator’s hands, but he must be sure that he has taken more cards than the spectator. The shower counts his cards; in our example there are twenty of them. Then he randomly takes some small number, say four, and subtracts it from 20; it turns out 16. Then the shower says: “I have four more cards than you, and enough more to count to sixteen.” The cards are recounted as explained above, and the statement turns out to be true ).

Using numeric card values

Four card trick

The deck of cards is shuffled by the spectator. The person showing puts it in his pocket and asks someone present to name any card out loud. Let's assume that the queen of spades is named. Then he puts his hand in his pocket and takes out some card of the spades suit; this, he explains, indicates the suit of the named card. He then draws a four and an eight, making a total of 12, the numerical value of the queen.

Explanation. Before demonstrating this trick, the performer takes out from the deck an ace of clubs, two of hearts, four of spades and eight of diamonds. Then he puts these cards in his pocket, remembering their order.

The deck shuffled by the spectator is also lowered into the pocket, and so that the selected four cards are on top of the deck. Those present do not even suspect that when the deck was shuffled, four cards were already in the showman’s pocket.

The numerical values of the four cards laid aside form a series of numbers (1, 2, 4, 8), each of which is twice as large as the previous one, and in this case, as is known, it is possible, by combining them in various ways, to obtain in total any integer from 1 to 15 .

The card of the required suit is drawn first. If it must participate in a combination of cards that add up to the required number, then it is included in the total count along with one or more cards that are additionally drawn from the pocket. Otherwise, the first card is put aside and one or more cards needed to obtain the desired number are drawn from the pocket.

When showing our trick, one of the four selected cards may be named by chance. In this case, the person showing immediately pulls it out of his pocket - real “magic”!

The series of numbers we encountered in this trick, each subsequent one being twice as large as the previous one, is also used in many other mathematical tricks.

Amazing prediction

One of the spectators shuffles a deck of cards and places it on the table. The person showing writes the name of the card on a piece of paper and, without showing what is written to anyone, turns the sheet over with the inscription facing down.

After this, 12 cards are laid out face down on the table. Someone present is asked to indicate four of them. These cards are immediately revealed, and the remaining eight cards are collected and placed under the deck.

Let's assume that three, six, ten and king were opened. The shower says that on each of these four cards he will place cards from the deck until he counts to ten, starting with the number following the numerical value of this card. So, for example, on a three you will have to put seven cards, while saying: “4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10”; you will need to place four cards on a six; you don’t have to put anything on the ten; The figure card in this trick is also assigned the numerical value 10.

Then the numeric values of the cards are added:

3 + 6 + 10 + 10 = 29

The rest of the deck is handed to the spectator and he is asked to count out 29 cards. The last one opens. The sheet with the card predicted in advance is turned over, and what is written is read aloud. Of course, the name of the card you just opened will be there!

Explanation. After the deck has been shuffled, the showman must discreetly look at which card is at the bottom of the deck. This is the card he predicts. Everything else comes out naturally. After eight of the twelve cards have been collected and placed under the deck, the noticed card will be the fortieth in order. If all the operations mentioned above were performed correctly, we will invariably arrive at this map). The fact that the deck is shuffled first makes this trick especially effective.

It is interesting to note that in the trick described, as in others based on the same principle, the performer can allow the spectator to assign any numerical values to jacks, queens and kings.

The trick, in fact, requires only one thing: that there be 52 cards in the deck; What cards they will be does not matter in the slightest. If they are all twos, the trick will also work. This means that the spectator can assign a new meaning to any card that he pleases, and this will not affect the success of the trick.

Tricks based on differences in colors and suits

Trick with kings and queens

Kings and queens are selected from the deck and laid out in two piles: kings separately, queens separately.

The piles are turned face down and stacked one on top of the other. Spectators ask to "cut" our eight-card deck one or more times.

The person showing removes the pile behind his back and immediately reveals two cards to the audience. It turns out that this is the king and queen of the same suit. The same thing can be demonstrated with the other three pairs.

Explanation. The showman should only take care that in the two initial piles the sequence of suits is the same.

“Removing” this sequence will not break. Behind the back, the one showing only divides the pile strictly in half and gets the necessary pairs, taking the top card in each half. This pair will always have a king and a queen of the same suit).

Using the front and back of cards

Comparison of the number of cards of black and red suits

Ten cards are selected from the deck: five red and five black. Cards of any one color are turned over, and all ten cards are carefully shuffled by the spectator. For a moment, the person showing removes the cards behind his back. Then he stretches his hands forward, holding five cards in each of them, which are immediately laid out on the table. Number open cards in each five turns out to be the same, and these cards will be of different colors. For example, if there are three red cards in one five, then three black cards will be open in the other five. The trick can be repeated as many times as you like, and it will always be successful.

Explanation. It is not difficult to imagine that among the cards of one five there will be as many open cards (and they are of the same color, for example black) as there are closed cards (red) in the other five.

Behind your back, you should simply divide the pack in half and, before showing the cards to the audience, turn over one of the halves. Thus, due to the fact that the cards are turned over, the number of open cards in each five will be the same and these cards will be different colors. In this trick, of course, you can use any even number of cards, you just need to make sure that half of them are red and half are black.

"Manhattan Wonders"

The spectator is asked to remove the deck approximately in the middle, taking any half for himself and counting the cards in it.

Let's say there are 24 of them. Two plus four makes six. The spectator notices the sixth card from the bottom in his half-deck, places this half-deck on another and, having aligned the cards, hands them to the person showing them. The latter begins to deal cards one at a time onto the table, while literally pronouncing the phrase “M-a-n-h-e-t-t-e-n-s-k-i-e ch-u-d-e- s-a” (“The Magic of Manhattan”), and so that for each card placed there is one letter. The spotted card will appear along with the last letter.

Explanation. As a result of the described procedure, the selected card always ends up in the nineteenth place from the top. Therefore, any nineteen-letter phrase, for example “P-o-r-a-z-i-t-e-l-y-n-y-e f-o-k-u-s-y,” leads to the desired card) .

Dice

Dice are as old as playing cards, and the origins of the game are just as obscure. And yet, it is surprising to note that the earliest known dice of ancient Greece, Egypt and the East have exactly the same appearance as modern ones, that is, a cube with the numbers from one to six, marked on the edge of the cube and arranged in such a way such that their sum on opposite faces is seven. However, the cubic shape of the dice is explained by the fact that only a regular polyhedron ensures complete equality of all faces, and of the five regular polyhedra existing in nature, the cube has a clear advantage as an attribute of the game: it is the easiest to make, and, moreover, it is the only one of them which rolls easily, but not too much (a tetrahedron is more difficult to roll, but an octahedron, icosahedron and dodecahedron are so close in shape to a ball that they roll quickly). Since the cube has six faces, putting the first six integers on them suggests itself, and their arrangement with the sum - seven - seems to be the simplest and most symmetrical. And this, by the way, is the only way to arrange them in opposite pairs so that the sums of all pairs are the same.

It is this “principle of seven” that underlies most mathematical dice tricks. In the best of these tricks, this principle is applied so subtly that no one even suspects it. As an example, consider one very old trick.

Guessing the amount

The person demonstrating turns his back to the audience, and at this time one of them throws three dice onto the table. The spectator is then asked to add up the three numbers drawn, take any die and add the number on its bottom face to the total just obtained.

Then roll the same die again and add the number that comes out to the total again. The demonstrator draws the audience's attention to the fact that he can in no way know which of the three dice was thrown twice, then collects the dice, shakes them in his hand and immediately correctly names the final amount.

Explanation. Before collecting the dice, the show person adds up the numbers facing up. By adding seven to the resulting sum, he finds the final sum.

Here's another clever trick based on the principle of seven. The demonstrator, turning his back to the audience, asks them to arrange three dice in a column, then add the numbers on the two touching faces of the top and middle dice, then add to the result the sum of the numbers on the touching faces of the middle and bottom dice, and finally add another number to the last sum on the lower edge of the lower bone. Finally, the column is covered with a scarf.

Now the speaker turns to the audience and takes out a handful of matches from his pocket, the number of which turns out to be equal to the amount, found by the viewer when adding five numbers on the faces of the cubes.

Explanation. Once the spectator has added up his numbers, the person showing momentarily turns his head over his shoulder, ostensibly to ask the spectator to cover the column with a handkerchief. In fact, at this time he manages to notice the number on the upper edge of the upper cube. Let's say it's a six.

There should always be 21 matches in your pocket. Having grabbed all his matches, the demonstrator, taking his hand out of his pocket, drops six of them back. In other words, he takes out all the matches without as many as the number at the top of the column. This number of matches will give the sum of the numbers on the five faces.

The fact that the spectator adds the numbers on the touching faces of adjacent cubes, and not the mutually opposite numbers of the same cube, serves as a good disguise for the application of the principle of seven.

This trick can be demonstrated without using the principle of seven. You just need to notice the numbers on any two faces of each of the cubes. The fact is that there are only two different ways numbering of dice, and one of them is a mirror image of the other and, moreover, all modern dice are numbered the same way: if you hold the die so that the three 1, 2 and 3 are visible, then the numbers in it will be arranged in the reverse order of the movement of the clock arrows (Fig. 1).

Drawing to yourself in your mind relative position numbers 1, 2, 3 and remembering the principle of seven, in order to imagine the location of the numbers 4, 5, 6, you can, looking from the side at the column (the upper edge of the upper cube is first covered with a coin), correctly name the number on the upper edge of any cube. With good spatial imagination and a little practice, this trick can be performed with amazing speed.

Calendars

There are many interesting tricks using a timesheet calendar. Here are some of the most interesting ones.

Mysterious squares

The person showing stands with his back to the audience, and one of them selects any month on the monthly table calendar and marks a square containing 9 numbers on it. Now it is enough for the spectator to name the smallest of them, so that the one showing immediately, after a quick count, announces the sum of these nine numbers.

Explanation. The person showing needs to add 8 to the named number and multiply the result by 9).

Matches

There are many mathematical tricks in which small objects are simply used as units of counting. We will now describe several tricks for which matches are especially convenient, although other small objects, such as coins, pebbles or pieces of paper, are also suitable.

How many matches are held in your fist?

The following trick is based on a similar principle, for which you need a box of 20 matches. The demonstrator, turning his back to the viewer, asks him to pull out a few matches (no more than ten) from the box and put them in his pocket. The spectator then counts the remaining matches in the box. Let’s say there are 14 of them. He “writes” this number on the table as follows: one is represented by one match placed on the left, and four by four matches placed slightly to the right. These five matches are taken from those remaining in the box.

After this, the matches representing the number 14 are also placed in the pocket. Finally, the spectator takes out a few more matches from the box and clasps them in his fist.

The demonstrator turns to face the audience, pours matches from the box onto the table and immediately names the number of matches clutched in his fist.

Explanation. To get the answer, you need to subtract from nine the number of matches scattered on the table ).

Who took what?

Another old trick can be demonstrated by 24 matches, which are piled up next to three small objects, say, a coin, a ring and a key. Three spectators are asked to take part in the trick (we will call them conventionally 1, 2, 3).

The first spectator receives one match, the second - two, the third - three. You turn your back to them and ask each of them to take one thing from those lying on the table (let’s call them A, B And IN).

Now suggest to the viewer holding the object A, take exactly as many matches from those remaining in the pile as he has in his hands. The viewer, taking B, let him take twice as many matches as he has in his hands. To the last viewer who took the item IN, offer to take four times as many matches as he has in his hands. After this, have all three spectators put their objects and matches in their pockets.

Turning to the audience and looking at the remaining matches, you immediately tell each spectator which object he took.

Explanation. If one match remains, then spectators 1, 2 and 3 took the objects respectively A, B And IN(in that order).

If there are 2 matches left, then the order of the items will be B, A, IN.

If there are 3 matches left, then A, IN, B.

If there are 4 matches, then someone made a mistake, since such a remainder is impossible.

If 5, then the order of objects will be B, IN,A.

If 6 then IN,A,B.

If 7 then IN,B, A ).

A convenient mnemonic would be a list of words whose consonants (in the order they are written) correspond to the initial letters of the names of the three selected objects. So, for example, if you show a trick with a spoon, fork and knife, then you can offer the following list of words:

1. L I V E N .

2. L e N i V e c.

3. V o L a N.

5. V a N and L l.

6. N e V o Lya.

7. N a L and V k a.

Here the letter “L” should denote a spoon, “B” should mean a fork, and “N” should mean a knife. The letters are arranged in words in an order corresponding to the order of objects. The numbers before the words indicate the number of matches remaining.

Coins

Coins have three properties that make them useful for performing mathematical tricks. They can be used as counting units, they have a specific numerical value and, finally, they have a front and a back side.

Each of the following three tricks demonstrates one of these three properties.

Mysterious nine

A dozen (or more) coins are placed on the table in the shape of a nine (Fig. 2).

The person showing stands with his back turned to the audience. Someone present thinks of a number larger numbers coins in the “leg” of the nine, and begins to count the coins from bottom to top along the leg and then counterclockwise along the ring until it reaches the intended number. Then he again counts from one to the intended number, starting from the coin where he stopped, but this time clockwise and only around the ring.

A small piece of paper is hidden under the coin on which the count ends. The person showing turns to the table and immediately picks up this coin. Explanation. Regardless of what number was intended, the count always ends on the same coin. First, do all this in your head with any number to find out what kind of coin it will be. When repeating the trick, add a few coins to the leg, then the count will end in a different place.

Which hand is the coin in?

Here's an old trick that uses the numerical value of a coin. Ask someone to take a ten-kopeck piece in one fist and a penny in the other. Then offer to multiply the value of the coin in your right fist by eight (or any other even number) and the value of the other coin by five (or any other even number). odd number, whichever you want). By adding these two numbers, the spectator should tell you whether the number is even or odd. After that you tell him which coin is in which hand.

Explanation. If the amount is even, then in the right hand there is a penny; if it’s odd, it’s a ten-kopeck piece. Posted on Allbest.ru

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When did tricks appear? Illusionists and magicians of the world. The history of Hocus Pocus. Pleasant twilight of the Middle Ages

HISTORY OF FOCUS

Features of mathematical tricks.

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