Description

I love Magic Squares but always thought of them as being a demonstration of mathematical skills rather that magic. Not that there’s anything wrong with a demonstration of skill, I like having variety items in my show, but in this case my goal was to make the Magic Square trick seem magical rather than mathematical.

This is Instasquare. You show a blank grid, drawn on your pocket notepad, and ask someone to call out a number. A wave of a pen and the grid visibly fills with random numbers. You then tear off the sheet, sign and date it, and give it to the stunned spectator showing them sixteen different ways the Magic Square adds up to their chosen number. A memorable magic souvenir.

Martin

Genii Review:

Martin Lewis has come up with a novel approach to the Magic Square plot. In this version designed for close-up, we are not treated to a demonstration of the (alleged) genius mind of the performer. On the contrary, the spectator freely names a number—from within a spectrum—then uses a pen as a magic wand, waving it at a blank 4 x 4 grid that’s been drawn on a page of a 3” x 5” spiral pad. Suddenly, different numbers appear in every square in the grid, and when the columns and rows are added up in the manner of a traditional Magic Square, each one totals to the freely named number. What the %#& $? Best of all, the page can be ripped out and handed to the spectator (who, let’s face it, did the magic) as a souvenir. In addition to a mechanical gimmick, the routine makes use of subtleties and touches to make this impossible to backtrack. There are modest angle considerations during the moments when the grid is shown blank, but nothing onerous, and the appearance of all the numbers is shocking.

One needs to divorce oneself from the premise of a traditional Magic Square in order to appreciate how this is an entirely different effect—a fast, confounding, magical impossibility brought about by the actions of the spectator.