Illusionists. Research work Tricks are not magic, but an explainable phenomenon that develops an activity

The art of mastering magic and illusion dates back to ancient times. It was in the Middle Ages that at fairs one could see all sorts of magicians who used mechanisms and tricks unimaginable at that time. This collection has kindly collected for you a selection of the most amazing tricks and tricks that won the hearts of even the most severe critics.

David Blaine “Frozen in Time” On November 27, 2000, millions of viewers watched David Blaine perform one of the most dangerous magic tricks on live television. He was placed in an ice capsule, and in this frosty sarcophagus he spent 63 hours 42 minutes and 15 seconds. Since the ice was transparent, everyone could be sure that Blaine was really there the entire time. After being removed from the ice capsule, he was immediately hospitalized as he was in a state of disorientation.

David Copperfield - “Portal”. David Copperfield deserves the highest mark among all illusionists thanks to the magnificent performance of many magic tricks. Many consider him the most talented magician of all time. IN in this case he managed to teleport himself and another bystander to Hawaii. This trick was never repeated and it still remains a mystery to many people.

David Copperfield - “Thirteen”. David Copperfield is well known for his acting skills and sense of humor, as well as his ability to easily find common language with any audience, which resonates in the hearts of viewers from all over the world. The trick is difficult to explain logically, and it is considered one of best tricks in the history of magical art. After all, no one has yet managed to make thirteen people disappear in the blink of an eye.

Paul Daniels and his “Cup” (1995). Audiences loved Paul Daniels' performances because they were dynamic and truly exciting. With his quick movements of his hands, Paul could entertain the audience for so long that he was rightfully considered the best magician in his genre. The Hollywood Academy of Magical Arts even awarded him the prestigious “Magician of the Year” award in 1983.

David Copperfield and “Death Saw”. Many magicians follow in the footsteps of David Copperfield and continue to try to repeat this trick at their performances in Las Vegas. After all, this trick is the most famous in the history of magic and illusion. Copperfield made the public believe that he was actually sawed in two. Despite large number different versions of this trick, in which in various ways illusionists saw their assistants, to this day no one has yet managed to repeat this trick exactly as Copperfield originally did.

Alvo Stockman's postmentalism is the future of written prophecies. This is a fast-growing type of magic trickery in which participants can write their predictions on a card, put an address, stamp it and send it to a friend. Predictions may contain information about the results football matches or any other questions that may interest the addressee, and the answer, to his amazement, will already come to him by mail.

Criss Angel walks on water. Criss Angel's shows like Trick of the Mind, Believe, and Phenomenon reached their peak thanks to his water-walking trick. After this trick, they began to consider him almost a black magician.

“Turning five one-dollar bills into five $100 bills.” And David Blaine again and again amazes people from all over the world with his magic tricks in his TV epic. Thus, one of his best tricks is considered to be turning one-dollar bills into hundred-dollar bills, which he then distributed in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina swept through there.

“Passing through the Great Wall of China.” David Copperfield demonstrated a variety of amazing illusions, including the ability to walk through the Great Wall of China. When this trick was performed, video technology was not so advanced, so Copperfield took time to create and plan this trick. In this performance, he relied on his intelligence, speed and originality, and, ultimately, this unique trick brought Copperfield legendary fame.

“Removal of participants' front teeth.” David Blaine once again shows off his incredible abilities in front of passers-by. This time, moving from one person to another, he “took out” each person’s teeth from their mouths directly on camera. There has been a lot of controversy over this video, but don't forget that David Blaine is a certified specialist in the field of street magic and magic performances.

“Metamorphoses.” The ability to transform into something else is one of the most outstanding talents illusionist. So, the trick of turning an ordinary guy into a pretty assistant and back just drives the audience crazy. This is one of the best tricks of modern illusionists, which requires remarkable ingenuity and agility from the performer in order for the trick to work as it should.

“Moving by truck.” Magician Penn managed to impress people with his trick with a truck tractor that literally drove over him without causing any harm to the magician.

“Levitation” by Criss Angel. Despite the fact that David Copperfield has already successfully performed levitation tricks, magic tricks Criss Angela is incredible and convincing because it was performed right on the street among the audience. Although some even believed that Criss really floated in the air, the author himself recognized his trick as an ordinary trick.\

Hans and Helga Moretti - “Shooting a Crossbow to the Head.” Such an impressive trick can lead to death, but it is not for nothing that the Moretti couple are recognized as one of best couples illusionists of Germany. Every time the blindfolded Hans points a throwing weapon at his wife's head, the audience definitely experiences a lot of excitement.

“Catching a bullet with your teeth.” Penn and Teller perform a trick of catching lead shells fired from revolvers at each other. Such bullets are often also marked by spectators, who then identify them. This trick is considered legal by experts.

Swallowing a hammer drill by Thomas Blackthorne. There are many magicians who love to swallow swords, but nothing compares to swallowing the drill bit of a working concrete breaker. Viewers were shocked by this action when it was shown on German television.

Deadly number on a roller coaster." Lance Barton is famous for his many tricks and is also the creator of the longest running magic show. Already at the age of five, Lance began performing magic tricks and to this day continues to amaze the world with his original tricks.

“Cigarette” by Derren Brown. Derren Brown is a respected mentalist and psychological illusionist. He has an outstanding memory, the ability to hypnosis, and can demonstrate such psychic abilities, like psychokinesis and clairvoyance.

Municipal educational autonomous institution secondary school No. 7 of the urban district of the city of Neftekamsk of the Republic of Bashkortostan

RESEARCH WORK

Tricks and illusions .

Completed:

student of 4th grade "E"

Gilemkhanova Azalia

Scientific supervisor:

Alyokhina E.F.

Neftekamsk-2018

Table of contents:

Introduction 3

Chapter 1. Main part

1.1. Definition of the concepts “focus” and “illusion” 5

1.2. The history of tricks and illusions 7

1.3. Magicians past and present 8

1.4. Types of tricks 9

1.5. Secret tricks 10

Chapter 2.

2.1. Survey. 11

2.2. Magicians Rules 11

2.3. Do-it-yourself tricks and manipulations 11

Conclusion. 13

List of references and sources 14

Application

Introduction

Relevance:

From TV screens and street posters it rains down on us:

Unique event!

Magic show!

Battle of the Mages!

Great and terrible!

Incredible and impossible!

Unique!.

From the pages of the media and TV screens we are literally bombarded with information about magic, magic and the impossibility of repetition. Due to the lack of sufficient objective knowledge on this issue, we are faced with a problem:

How to react to broadcast information?

What is this: sleight of hand, manipulation, magic?

Are we powerless against them, or are there scientifically explainable facts that reveal this “pseudo-magic” science?

The question arises:

What is focus?

Can anyone become a magician?

Target: learn what magic tricks are, nlearn to perform simple tricks.

Zadachi :

1. Study the literature on the research topic.

2. Find out whether there is a difference in the concepts of “focus” and “illusion”.

3.Study the history of tricks and illusions

4. Determine what types of tricks there are.

5. Find information about famous magicians.

Hypothesis: if you want, then every person can learn to perform tricks and illusions.

Object of study: inexplicable, secret, mysteriousthe art of illusions and tricks.

Subject of research: tricks and illusions.

Research methods:

1. Study of literature, materials from Internet sites.

2. Observation, questioning.

3. Analysis and synthesis of results.

4. Study and practice of magic tricks.

Chapter 1.

1.1. Definition of the concepts “focus” and “illusion”

In the dictionaries of V.I. Dahl and S.I. Ozhegov, D.V. Dmitriev and Wikipedia (Internet encyclopedia) you can get the following definitions of the concept “focus”.

Hocus Pocus - buffoonery, a joke, a hassle, a distraction, an incomprehensible phenomenon based on art and pretense (Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language/ V.I.Dal).

Focus- This:

1. The point of intersection of refracted or reflected rays incident on an optical system in a parallel beam.

2. The point at which the lens creates a clear image of the object. Be in focus. Don't get into focus.

3. The focus of the inflammatory process. The focus is on the lungs.

4. Focus, center. Earthquake focus. Get into the spotlight (translated; book)

5. A trick based on cunning, agility and dexterity.

6. (translated colloquially) A trick, a trick that attracts attention with its unusualness, surprise (Explanatory Dictionary / S.I. Ozhegov).

1 . Focus calledvisualdemonstrationwhat-lforunusual, incredible, whichbased ondeceptionvision, attentionathelpspeciallydevelopedtechniques, movements, whichaccording to generally knownideasNotcanhappen, Notcanbeimplemented.

2 . Focus call the action, which requires special dexterity from a person, skills.

3 . Focus called a trick, trick, trick.

4 . If youaskwhom- or, toeverything waswithout tricks , then that means, Whatyou are asking this person to do something- it's serious, do not show unnecessary initiative, etc.. n.

5 . Focus calledcomplexity, secretVmanufacturingwhat- orproducts, workwhat- ordevices orVactionWhich- ordesigns.

6 . Focus called unusual, unexpected act, whim andT. n. ( Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Dmitriev./ D. IN. Dmitriev. )

7. http:// www. scorcher. ru/ any/ magic. htm .

APPLICATIONS

Appendix 1.

Appendix 2

Survey of 97 students of MOAU Secondary School No. 7.

Appendix 3

A beginner's magician's guide.

Scientific tricks.

Focus 1.

Knot on a rope.

Is it possible to tie a knot in a rope without letting go of the ends? It turns out yes! Place a rope 50-55 cm long on the table. Interlace your arms over your chest. Then bend over to the table and take one end of the rope with each hand in turn. After the arms are spread apart, a knot will appear in the middle of the rope

How to start a fire underwater?

Since childhood, we know: fire and water are irreconcilable enemies. But this experiment proves the opposite. Fire can burn even under water.

You will need: a candle stub, a bowl, cold water, matches!

Progress of the experiment:

Attach the candle stub to the bottom of the bowl (adult help). Light a candle and drip melted paraffin into the bottom of the bowl. Blow out the candle and press its bottom to the paraffin stain. Wait until it cools down. Now pour water into the bowl, just not full so that it does not reach the top of the candle. Light the candle and wait a little.

What happens: the fire gradually burns the paraffin, but the candle continues to burn even when the wick has dropped well below the water level. A funnel formed in the candle, going deep under the water.

Explanation: Typically, when burned, paraffin melts and evaporates. But in this experiment the candle is in cold water. Water lowers the temperature of the paraffin, so its outer layer does not heat up to the melting point. In other words, the water cools the candle, and the outer layer of paraffin does not melt or evaporate. Thin walls are formed around the candle, which prevent water from flooding the fire. The flame burns a crater around the wick. But at some point the walls of the funnel will not withstand the water pressure, and then the candle will go out.

Focus 2.

Is it possible to cut wood with paper?

The paper is too soft and wrinkles easily. More likely to tear than to saw through the tree. Many people think this way, but this is not always true!

You will need: a sheet of paper, a compass, scissors!, a sharpened pencil, a long screw and a nut for it, a drill!, a wooden stick.

Progress of the experiment:

Using a compass, draw a circle on paper with a diameter of about 20 cm. Cut it out. Using the tip of a pencil, widen the hole in the center to accommodate the screw. Tighten the nut firmly until it presses the paper disk against the screw head. Now comes the dangerous part. Ask an adult to help you. You need to insert a screw with a paper disk into the drill chuck and turn it on. Carefully bring the wooden stick to the spinning disk. The most important thing is not to accidentally touch the disk with your hand!

What happens: the paper will easily saw through the wooden stick! You can try sawing through a plastic cup. It won't be able to resist a paper disc either.

Explanation: Thanks to rapid rotation, the paper becomes rigid and does not wrinkle. Just as a flexible rope becomes straight and rigid when stretched, paper becomes stretched in an experiment. At the same time, its edge becomes hard and sharp, like a saw, and can cut wood or a plastic cup. Also, you yourself noticed that it’s easy to cut yourself on the edge of the paper. This sometimes happens if you quickly run your finger along the edge of a sheet. Paper even cuts skin.

Focus 3.

How to light a light bulb with a pencil?

This experiment will prove that a light bulb can shine without wires. You will need: 1 coin cell battery 4.5 volts, metal scissors, adhesive tape, a flashlight bulb, a pencil with a dark lead circle at the blunt end.

Progress of the experiment:

Place the base of the light bulb (sharp tip) against the circle of lead on the blunt end of the pencil. Of course, the light bulb won't hold on by itself, so it's best to stick it to the pencil with a strip of adhesive tape. Place the pencil on the table so that its sharpened tip touches one of the battery legs. However, the light is not on yet. Open the scissors and touch one tip of the second claw to the battery, and the other to the thread of the light bulb.

What happens: as soon as you connect the light bulb and the second pole of the battery with scissors, the light bulb lights up!

Explanation: It is quite clear that the scissors have closed the electrical circuit. After all, without electricity the light bulb would not light up. And the role of wires in this experiment was played by scissors and a pencil. Metal scissors conduct electricity - this is not surprising, but a pencil? After all, it's made of wood! But wood does not conduct electricity. It's all about the stylus. In modern pencils it is made of graphite. Graphite is a mineral that conducts electric current. That is why the base of the light bulb must be pressed against the lead. If the base slips and touches the wood, the light bulb will not light.

Focus 4.

Can forks hang in the air?

Try to place a coin on the edge of a glass - you will hardly succeed. And forks rarely float in the air by themselves. But if you combine both, everything will work out!

You will need: a medium-sized coin, 2 table forks, a glass.

Progress of the experiment:

Place the coin forks on top of each other, then place the coin on the edge of the glass. In this case, the edge of the coin should only slightly protrude beyond the edge. You need to act very carefully. It is not so easy to balance a structure of forks and coins so that it lies without falling.

What happens: the coin is on the glass, and the forks are hanging in the air! They may wobble a little, but they won't fall.

Explanation: the fork trick is based on shifting the center of gravity. The center of gravity is the imaginary point at which the bulk of the body falls. If you look at any object, you can imagine where the heaviest parts are located and where the lightest ones are. Then it will become clear where the central point is. In the case of a design made of a coin and forks, the center of gravity falls precisely on the edge of the coin. This is why we managed to place a coin on the edge of the glass: the structure was balanced and did not fall

Focus 5.

Chemical volcano.

This simple experiment allows you to get a clear idea of ​​what a chemical reaction is.

You will need: soda (sodium carbonate) – 2 teaspoons; table vinegar (9 percent) - 2 tablespoons; a hollow cylinder with a diameter of 2–3 cm and a length of about 5 cm (you can make it yourself, or you can simply use any ready-made container, for example, during editorial experiments a toothpick box was used); water – 50 ml; gouache or red watercolor; plasticine; tea saucer.

Preparation: place the box on a saucer, stick plasticine on top so that you get a mountain wide at the base and converging upward with a hole at the top. To form a mountain, you can use either plain plasticine or use different colors, and also diversify the topography of our mountain by sculpting ledges, rock overhangs, and crevices. The more we work on the mountain, the more beautiful our upcoming volcanic eruption will be.

Progress of the experiment:

Pour two teaspoons of soda into the hole of the volcano (the proportions can be changed experimentally to achieve a more or less strong effect). Fill a glass a quarter full with warm (but not hot) water, add and stir a little red or burgundy gouache or watercolor until an intense color forms. Pour 2 tablespoons of vinegar into the colored water and mix everything. Carefully pour the resulting solution into the crater of the volcano and enjoy the eruption.

Explanation: soda and a tinted solution of acetic acid will enter into a chemical reaction, and red foam will begin to “erupt” from the crater of the volcano.

Focus 6.

Water pressure.

The deeper a diver dives, the more pressure the water puts on him. You can estimate water pressure by the force with which the stream escapes from the hole.

You will need: plastic bottle, knitting needle, water.

Progress of the experiment:

Fill the bottle with water and place it vertically. Make three holes in the bottle with a knitting needle (adult help).

What happens: jets of water burst out of the holes with varying strengths.

Explanation: The lower layers of water are under greater pressure, so the stream from the bottom hole hits the farthest.

Focus 7.

How to teach coins to dance?

You will need: several sheets of paper, colored pencils, 2 small coins, glue, thread, 2 chairs.

Progress of the experiment:

Let's draw a clown on paper, cut it out, trace it along the outline on another sheet and cut out the second clown. Tie the ends of the thread to the legs of two chairs and arrange the chairs so that the thread is stretched. Let's put one clown on a string so that he can pass between her hands. What happened? The clown fell. Now let’s glue a coin to his hands and glue the second figure onto the first one so that the coins are between the layers of paper. Let's color the clown on both sides. Let's try to put him on the rope again.

What's happening: The clown holds the rope perfectly and does not fall. Can even balance on the tip of a pencil without falling over.

Explanation : The clown does not fall due to the special location of the center of gravity. The center of gravity is the imaginary point at which the bulk of the body falls. Our center of gravity is somewhere in the abdominal area. It's the same with a paper clown: its center of gravity is located approximately in its stomach. If you place it on a string without coins, the center of gravity will be above the string. If the clown leans slightly to the side, the center of gravity will pull him down. The figurine will topple over. But when we glue two heavy coins to his hands, the center of gravity will be between the clown’s hands - under the thread. Now the clown stands firmly on the rope and will not fall. Motorcyclists in circuses who ride on a tightrope also resort to this trick: a heavy load is suspended from below the motorcycle, shifting the center of gravity.

Instructions on precautionary measures.

Before starting any experiment, consult with an adult, show a description of the experiment and explain where and how you are going to conduct it. If the description says that you will need adult help, then your assistant must remain until the very end of the experience. Never attempt to use sharp tools or heat any substances yourself. Look at what you will need for the experience and prepare everything you need in advance. When experimenting, don't forget about a notepad and pencil. It is very useful to write down what results you expect to get before starting an experiment. At the end of the experiment, write down the results obtained and compare them with those you expected. Were your expectations confirmed? If not, think why. Use caution when experimenting with household chemicals, such as soap or dishwashing liquid, and food products. Don't forget to ask permission to take these substances for experiments. When you finish the experiment, throw away everything you used. The products on which the experiments were carried out cannot be eaten! Be sure to wash your hands before and after experimenting with chemicals or products. At the end of the experiment, put everything back in its place. It is especially important to carefully remove items such as glasses, bottles, scissors, knitting needles, elastic bands and plastic bags. These items may be harmful to small children and pets. Even the smallest basin of water can be dangerous for a baby.

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Introduction

"The subject of mathematics is so serious that it is useful to seize the opportunity to make it a little entertaining"

B. Pascal

When we first met in a mathematics lesson, the teacher promised to guess the date of birth of each student in our class if we quickly and correctly performed the arithmetic operations she suggested. First, we had to multiply our birthday by 2, add 5 to the resulting number, multiply the resulting result by 50 and, finally, add the number of the month of our birth to the resulting number. After we told the resulting number to the teacher, she, as promised, guessed our date of birth and was mistaken only when we ourselves were to blame for the incorrect calculations. I really liked this trick. I also became interested in what lies at the heart of this trick. It was then that I decided that I would definitely research the issue of mathematical tricks, find out their secrets, make a selection of tricks and surprise and entertain my friends and acquaintances by demonstrating mathematical tricks in mathematics lessons, extracurricular activities and even at home parties.

I read in Internet sources that mathematical tricks do not receive special attention from either mathematicians or magicians. The first consider them simple fun, the second consider them too boring.

But, in my opinion, this is not at all true. Mathematical tricks have a deep meaning.

Mathematical tricks are experiments based on mathematical knowledge, on the properties of figures and numbers, presented in an extravagant form. To understand the essence of this or that experiment means to understand a small, but very important mathematical pattern.

A person's ability to guess numbers conceived by others seems amazing to the uninitiated. But if we learn the secrets of tricks, we will be able not only to show them, but also to come up with our own new tricks. And the secret of the trick becomes clear when we write down the proposed actions in the form of a mathematical expression, transforming which we obtain the secret of guessing.

In my work, I want to prove that mathematical tricks help develop memory, intelligence, the ability to think logically, improve mental calculation skills and, finally, simply increase students’ interest in mathematics, which should improve the quality of their knowledge.

Purpose of the work: explore math tricks.

Tasks:

    Study the literature on the topic under study.

    Demonstrate a few tricks.

    Explain them in terms of mathematics.

    Attract the attention of classmates to study mathematics.

Subject of research: math tricks

Object of study:"secrets" of mathematical tricks

Research methods: study and analysis of literature on entertaining mathematics, independent modeling of mathematical tricks.

Practical significance: The material can be used in mathematics lessons and extracurricular activities, at mathematical evenings and holidays, and during mathematical competitions.

Chapter 1. History of the emergence of mathematical tricks.

Focus- a skillful trick based on deception of the eye, attention with the help of dexterous and quick reception, movements (Ozhegov’s dictionary)

The history of mathematical tricks.

The first document that mentions the art of illusion is an ancient Egyptian papyrus. It contains legends dating back to 2900 BC, the era of the reign of Pharaoh Cheops.

Initially, magic tricks were used by sorcerers and healers. The priests of Babylon and Egypt created huge amount unique tricks using excellent knowledge of mathematics, physics, astronomy and chemistry. The list of miracles performed by the priests can include: thunderclaps, lightning flashes, temple doors opening by themselves, statues of gods suddenly appearing from underground, sounding themselves musical instruments, voice.

In Ancient Greece, the harmonious development of personality was unimaginable without games. And the games of the ancients were not only sports. Our ancestors knew chess and checkers, and they were no strangers to puzzles and riddles. Scientists, thinkers, and teachers have always been familiar with such games. They created them. Since ancient times, the puzzles of Pythagoras and Archimedes, the Russian naval commander S.O. Makarov and the American S. Loyd have been known.

We find the first mention of mathematical tricks in the book of the Russian mathematician Leonty Filippovich Magnitsky, published in 1703. 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.

Of great educational and educational value mind games K.D. Ushinsky, A.S. Makarenko, A.V. Lunacharsky have repeatedly indicated. Among those who were interested in them were K.E. Tsiolkovsky, K.S. Stanislavsky, I.G. Erenburg and many other outstanding people.

I would especially like to mention the American mathematician, magician, journalist, writer and popularizer of science Martin Gardner.

He was born on October 21, 1914. Graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Chicago. Founder (mid-50s), author and presenter (until 1983) of the column “ Math games" magazine "Scientific American" ("In the world of science"). Gardner interprets entertaining as a synonym for fascinating, interesting to learn, but alien to idle entertainment. Among Gardner's works are philosophical essays, essays on the history of mathematics, mathematical tricks and “comics,” popular science sketches, science fiction stories, and intelligence problems.

Gardner's articles and books on entertaining mathematics gained particular popularity. Seven books by Martin Gardner have been published in our country, which captivate the reader and encourage independent research. “Gardner’s” style is characterized by intelligibility, brightness and persuasiveness of presentation, brilliance and paradoxicality of thought, novelty and depth of scientific ideas.

Among our compatriots I would like to mention the name of Ya. I. Perelman. Yakov Isidorovich Perelman did not make any scientific discoveries, did not invent anything in the field of technology. He didn't have any academic titles and degrees. But he was devoted to science and for forty-three years he brought people the joy of communicating with science. It is with his books that the journey to fascinating world mathematics, physics, astronomy. And it was his books that helped me write this work. Ignatiev E.I., Kordemsky B.A. made their enormous contribution to the popularization of mathematics. and many other Russian scientists, teachers, methodologists.

Mathematical tricks are interesting precisely because each trick is based on mathematical laws. Their meaning is to guess the numbers conceived by the audience. Millions of people in all parts of the world are addicted to mathematical tricks. And this is not surprising. “Mental gymnastics” is useful at any age. And tricks train memory, sharpen intelligence, develop perseverance, the ability to think logically, analyze and compare.

Chapter 2. Mathematical tricks

    Focus “Guess the intended number.”

Let's ask any student to think of a number.

Then the student must multiply this number by 2, add 8 to the result,

divide the result by 2

and take away the intended number.

As a result, the magician boldly calls the number 4.

The solution to the trick:

The viewer thought of the number 7

1) 7●2 = 14 2) 14 + 8 = 22 3) 22/2 = 11 4) 11 - 7 = 4

The number X is guessed.

2) X●2 2) X●2 + 8 3) (X●2 + 8)/2 4) (X●2 + 8)/2 - X = X + 4 - X = 4

We got 4 regardless of the originally guessed number

    Focus “Magic table”.

You see a table in which numbers from 1 to 31 are written in a special way in five columns.

I invite those present to think of any number from this table and indicate in which columns of the table this number is located.

After that I will tell you the number you have in mind.

The solution to the trick:

This table is compiled as follows: each column corresponds to a certain number, after calculating the sum of which the magician guesses the number you have chosen

For example: You thought of the number 27.

This number is in the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th columns.

It is enough to add the numbers located in the first row of the table in the corresponding columns, and we will get the intended number. (1+2+8+16=27).

    Focus “Favorite number”.

Each of those present thinks of their favorite number.

I suggest he multiply the number 15873 by his favorite number multiplied by 7.

The solution to the trick:

1) 15873 * 7 = 111111. Thus, multiplying 15873 by 7 and by the favorite number, we get a number written only by the favorite number.

For example, favorite number is 5

1) 15873 *(7*5) 2) 15873 *35 = 555555.

4. Focus “Guess the intended day of the week.”

Let's number all the days of the week: Monday is the first, Tuesday is the second, etc.

Let someone think of any day of the week. I suggest you the following actions: multiply the number of the planned day by 2, add 5 to the product, multiply the resulting amount by 5, add 0 to the resulting number at the end, and report the result to the magician.

The solution to the trick:

Let's say Thursday is planned, that is, day 4.

Let's do the following: ((4×2+5)*5)*10 = 650,

650 - 250 = 400.

The number of hundreds shows the hidden day of the week.

By the way, the trick that our teacher showed us at the beginning academic year guessing the date of birth has the same secret.

May it be my birthday (which is a single or double digit number) X, and the number of the month of my birth at then we have:

(2 · X+ 5) · 50 + at= 100 · X + 250 + u. If you now subtract 250 from the result, you get a three or four-digit number, the last two digits of which indicate the month number, and the first one or two digits indicate the birthday.

5. Focus “Familiar numbers”

After this, the magician immediately calls out the intended numbers.

The solution to the trick:

6. Focus

2. Ask a friend to write a number from 100 to 999. The only condition! The difference between the first and last digits must be greater than one. For example, the number 346 is suitable, since 6 - 3 = 3, and 3 is greater than 1. But the number 344 is not suitable, since 4 - 3 = 1.

3. Suppose your friend has already chosen a number and written it down. Your task is to rewrite this number in reverse order (346, and you write 643).

4. Now subtract from more smaller (643 - 346 = 297).

6. Add both numbers (297+792).

The solution to the trick:

100a + 10b + c; a - c > 1.

100a + 10b + c - 100c - 10b - a = 99a - 99c = 99(a - c).

a - c = 2.99 * 2 = 198.198 + 891 = 1089,

a - c = 3.99 * 3 = 297.297 + 792 = 1089,

a - c = 4.99 * 4 = 396.396 + 693 = 1089,

a - c = 9.99 * 9 = 891.891 + 198 = 1089.

7. Focus

A circle of comrades who are not privy to the mathematical secret of Scheherazade's number can be amazed by the following trick.

Let someone write on a piece of paper - secret from the magician - a three-digit number, then let him add the same number to it again. The result is a six-digit number consisting of three repeating digits.

The magician invites the same comrade or his neighbor to divide - secretly from him - this number by 7: at the same time he warns that there will be no remainder. The result is passed on to another neighbor, who divides it by 11; there should be no remainder. The result obtained is passed on to the next neighbor, who is asked to divide the number by 13 (again without a remainder).

The result of the third division is transmitted to the first comrade with the words:

Here is the number you have in mind.

The solution to the trick:

This beautiful arithmetic trick, which gives the impression of magic to the uninitiated, can be explained very simply. Attaching it to a three-digit number itself means multiplying it by 1001 (Scheherazade’s number), that is, by the product 71113. It is clear that if you first multiply the intended number by 1001, and then divide it by 1001, then you will get it yourself.

This focus can be changed. Suggest division by 7, then by 11, and then by the intended number. Then we can say with confidence that the result will be 13.

8. Trick “Guess the result of calculations without asking anything”

Let's write some number between 1 and 50 on a piece of paper and hide it without showing the participants the trick.

In turn, let each participant write whatever number he wishes, greater than 50 but greater than 100, and, without showing you, do the following:

    will add 99 - x to its number, where x is the number you wrote on a piece of paper (you will calculate this difference in your head and tell the participants of the trick the finished result);

    cross out the leftmost digit in the resulting sum and add the same digit to the remaining number;

    the resulting number will be subtracted from the number originally written down by him.

As a result, all participants will get the same number, exactly the one you wrote down and hid.

The solution to the trick:

My number X , Where " X" more than 1 but less than 50.

Intended number at , Where " y" greater than 50 but less than or equal to 100.

y - (y + 99 - x - 100 + 1) = y - y - 99 + x + 100 - 1 = x.

9. Focus modeled by myself.

Guessing the house and apartment number of a participant in the trick.

Add 8 to the house number, multiply the result by 8, multiply the result by 125, add the apartment number to the result. Tell me how much you got, and I will tell you your house number and apartment number.

The secret of the trick:

(X + 8) * 8 * 125 + Y - 8000 = 1000X + 8000 + Y - 8000 = 1000X + Y.

The last one, two, three digits are the apartment number, the first 1 - 2 digits are the house number.

Conclusions.

Previously, I did not understand the significance of mathematical tricks because I knew little about them. I learned that the secret to solving many tricks is equations. While doing research, I became convinced that mathematical tricks are interesting to schoolchildren.

Thanks to my work, I increased my knowledge and also realized that magic tricks sharpen the ability to think logically, analyze and compare.

In addition, I realized that my current knowledge is not enough to understand the nature of many of the tricks I encountered while researching the topic. This applies to knowledge of algebra and geometry. Therefore, I will continue to study math tricks in future classes.

Conclusion

There is an interesting parable.

“Once upon a time there was an old man who, when he died, left 19 camels to his three sons. He bequeathed half 1/2 to his eldest son, a fourth to his middle son, and a fifth to his youngest. Unable to find a solution on their own (after all, the problem in “whole camels” has no solution), the brothers turned to the sage.

O wisest one! - said the elder brother, - my father left us 19 camels and ordered us to divide them among ourselves: the eldest - half, the middle - a quarter, the youngest - a fifth, but 19 is not divisible by 2, 4, or five. Can you, O venerable one, help our grief, for we want to fulfill the will of our father?

“There is nothing simpler,” the sage answered them. - Take my camel and go home.

The brothers of the house easily divided 20 camels in half, into 4 and into 5. The eldest brother received 10 camels, the middle one 5, and the youngest 4 camels. At the same time, one camel (10 + 4 + 5 = 19) remained extra. The brothers returned to the sage and complained:

Oh, sage, again we did not fulfill the will of our father! This camel is superfluous. “Not superfluous,” answered the sage, “this is my camel.” Return him and go home.” “There are no unsolvable problems. There is always a way out” (folk wisdom)

Mathematical tricks are varied. In many mathematical tricks, numbers are veiled by objects related to numbers. They develop skills in quick mental calculation, calculation skills, because... you can guess small and large numbers, awaken the imagination, surprise, fascinate, develop creative beginnings personality, artistic abilities, stimulate the need for creative self-expression. Mathematical tricks promote concentration. The magic of magic can wake up the sleepy, stir up the lazy, and make the slow-witted think. After all, without unraveling the secret of the trick, it is impossible to understand and appreciate all its charm. And the secret of focus most often has a mathematical nature.

Literature

    Perelman, Ya.I. Interesting arithmetic. Numbers and tricks / Ya.I.Perelman. - M.: OLMA Media Group, 2013

    Perelman, Ya.I. “Living Mathematics”, D.: VAP, 1994

    Kordemsky, B.A. Mathematical savvy. - M.: Science. Ch. ed. physics and mathematics lit., 1991

    Ignatiev E.I. In the kingdom of ingenuity - M.: Science. Ch. ed. physics and mathematics lit., 1984

    M. Gardner “Mathematical miracles and mysteries” - Moscow: “Nauka”, 1988

Application

Focus 1: “Familiar numbers”

Write down the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 in sequence on a piece of paper. Ask one of the students to add in their mind any three numbers following one another. And the result is to be named.

For example, he will choose 5, 6 and 7. In this case, the sum will be 18.

After this, I immediately call out the intended numbers.

The secret of the trick:

To do this trick you just need a little intelligence.

When they call the sum (5+6+7) = 18, divide it in your head by 3. In our case, you get 6. This is the desired average figure. The number in front of it is 5, and after it is 7. The whole effect of this trick is in the lightning-fast response.

Focus 2

1. Write the number 1089 on a piece of paper and put it aside temporarily (without showing it to anyone).

2. Ask a friend to write a number from 100 to 999. The only condition! The difference between the first and last digits must be greater than one. For example, the number 346 is suitable, since 6-3=3, and 3 is greater than 1. But the number 344, for example, is not suitable, since 4-3=1. It's clear? If not quite, read first))

3. Suppose your friend has already chosen a number and written it down. Your task is to rewrite this number in reverse order (346, and you write 643). Ready?

4. Now subtract the smaller number from the larger number (643-346=297).

5. Now write down the resulting answer in reverse order (it was 297, it will become 792).

6. Add both numbers (297+792).

7. Voila! Show me your piece of paper with the magic number 1089. You knew in advance what the answer would be! Indeed, 297+792=1089! Hocus Pocus!!! The most interesting thing is that this algorithm always works!

Briefly about the article: Art or deception? No matter how we feel about magic, we cannot deny the obvious fact that, being one of the first forms of manifestation human culture, it stands on a par with the most ancient signs of civilization - murder weapons, prostitution and religion. In order not to go beyond the scope of the topic outlined in this issue of the magazine, one should recognize a certain probability that real magic (i.e., the secret forces of nature that cannot be known by means of natural science) does exist. This gives us every right present her story in the form of a certain formula with three variables: true magic, temporary delusions and clever tricks. The mutual relationship of these concepts, unique for each specific era, determines true meaning the word "magic" and its many synonyms throughout human history.

Focus, bite, two guns

Brief History the art of effectively extracting eared representatives of the order Lagomorpha from male headgear

Abracadabra

Abracadabra

Abracadab

Abracada

Before you is one of the most ancient spells, known to mankind. One can now only speculate about its true origin. English explorer Old Testament John Allegro believed that it comes from the Mesopotamian expression “Ab-ba-tab-ba-ri.” This proverb was pronounced during religious rites among the ancient Sumerians and was consonant with the name of God mentioned in the prayer “Our Father” from the Aramaic translation of the New Testament. Some suggest that "abracadabra" should be read in Hebrew as: Ab (father) Ben (son) and Ruach acadasch (holy spirit). In the latter case, this Kabbalistic spell was written in the form of an inverted triangle (see above) and was worn on the chest as protection against fever and colds.

Magic: three in one

No matter how we feel about magic, we cannot deny the obvious fact that, being one of the first forms of manifestation of human culture, it ranks with the most ancient signs of civilization - murder weapons, prostitution and religion. In order not to go beyond the scope of the topic outlined in this issue of the magazine, one should recognize a certain probability that real magic (i.e., the secret forces of nature that cannot be known by means of natural science) does exist. This gives us every right to present her story in the form of a certain formula with three variables: true magic, temporary delusions and clever tricks. The mutual relationship of these concepts, unique for each specific era, determines the true meaning of the word “magic” and its numerous synonyms throughout human history.

We won’t dwell too much on misconceptions. It is common knowledge that solar eclipses, earthquakes and lightning were previously considered witchcraft, a miracle, a manifestation of divine will, and are now studied in junior classes high school immediately after lessons in the law of God and the basics of sexual hygiene. As for the history of true magic, known to us mainly only from biased literary sources, and therefore wearing mainly artistic character, then this topic has already been covered in the article by Anton Kurin, which you will find in the same issue.

The history of tricks, or rather, illusions, is interesting because “fake magic” in the full sense of the word is the science of magic, albeit fake. Being related to mechanics and optics, this science still retains full right to be called high art, combining practical theatrical entertainment with the mystical charm of everything inexplicable.

The art of illusion is purely individual, because a magician is creative personality, working exclusively alone (or in the company of supporting assistants). Unlike swindlers and charlatans, professional illusionists take money only for demonstrating their art, and not for some beneficial consequences for the viewer that supposedly will come after the “magic” session. However, for almost its entire history, magic tricks have been nothing more than a fraudulent means of exploitation folk superstitions and religious myths, intended not so much to entertain the crowd as to intimidate and subjugate it.

Goose in Egyptian

The pre-Christian era left us with too little objective information that would allow us to unambiguously recognize the focus in any divine miracle or man-made magic. However, taking into account that general principles illusionism remained unchanged at all times, we can with a sufficient degree of validity debunk certain antediluvian “sorcerers”, appreciating their undeniable ingenuity, courage and intelligence.

According to some historians, one of the first reliable references to fictitious magical performances can be found in the Egyptian Westcar papyrus, written during the reign of the IV Dynasty (17th century BC) and currently stored in the Berlin Museum. Its contents are stories about amazing wonders, which allegedly took place in Egypt at that time. These stories were told to Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) by his sons, who were trying to entertain their bored father.

One of them mentioned a certain man named Dzhedi, who lived in the village of Djed-Sneferu. According to Defdehor (one of the sons of Cheops), Djedi was 110 years old and he “knew the number of Thoth’s secret chambers, could connect the severed head with the body and forced the wild lion to follow him with his tail down.” The interested pharaoh ordered this magician to be immediately delivered to him. Presenting himself before Cheops, Jedi readily agreed to demonstrate his magic. Delighted, Khufu immediately ordered to behead a prisoner and bring his body from prison so that the magician could reattach the severed head. However, for obvious reasons, Djedi was not enthusiastic about the prospect of such an experiment and stated that “it would be inappropriate to do something like this with a sacred creature.” Pharaoh reluctantly agreed to replace the man with a goose. The body of this bird was placed at the western wall of the palace, and the head at the eastern wall. Jedi “said something magical” - the goose rose from the ground unharmed and cackled loudly. To be more convincing, the same thing was done with the bull. Impressed, Cheops began to extort from Djedi the secret number of Thoth's chambers (the pharaoh wanted to build exactly the same palaces for himself), but the cunning magician was so clever and diplomatic that he managed to avoid a direct answer, without angering the king at all.

It should be noted here that Dzhedi acted completely wisely by refusing to add a head to a person - this trick would simply be impossible due to the difficulties of finding a double who would agree not only to replace the murdered prisoner, but also to hide this secret for the rest of his life - short and predictable . The trick of dismembering living beings and then restoring the integrity of their bodies remains popular to this day, having turned into a trick involving sawing a woman. The only nuance is that previously such “magic” was based on distraction and substitution of objects, and now - on the dexterity and flexibility of the magician’s assistant, who manages to press her legs to her chest so that the saw blade passes through the now empty box.

Pleasant twilight of the Middle Ages

Let's turn over several pages of world history at once. Do you smell fried meat? This is Peter von Albano. Or Gilles de Rais. Who can sort them out now... In any case, the edict of Charles V (15th century), which prohibited the practice of black magic on pain of imprisonment and even the gallows, as well as the special bull of Pope John XXII, which anathematized all alchemists, completely neutralized the emerging in this era differences between pragmatic scientists and superstitious mystics, instilling in the mass consciousness one simple and memorable slogan - “all heretics burn equally brightly”! The monotonous pyrotechnics of the relationship between the Christian Church and those who constituted more or less significant competition for it in the field of fraudulent miracle-working forced European “wizards” to forget about their former political and religious ambitions and urgently retrain themselves as showmen.

History has brought to us the name of a court magician who served the notorious English king Henry VIII. One day, while walking with the monarch's retinue around Hamton Castle, the sorcerer Brandon noticed a dove sitting on a high wall. Bringing this to the king's attention, Brandon pulled out a piece of chalk from his pocket, walked over to the wall on top of which the dove was, and drew an outline of the bird on it. Next, the magician took his dagger out of its sheath and struck with it directly in the center of this image. As one might expect, the dead pigeon fell spectacularly at the king's feet.

However, instead of showing surprise or even interest, Henry VIII fell into deep thought. Logic told him that the physiological differences between the English monarch and a simple pigeon were absolutely insignificant from the point of view of real magic. Having made this conclusion, the perspicacious king decided to cut off Brandon’s head, just in case. Fortunately, the unfortunate sorcerer was able to turn the whole matter into a joke - Henry VIII limited himself to only a stern warning that such “miracles”, henceforth performed at his court, are guaranteed to provide Brandon with a personal meeting with the Apostle Paul and other saints.

Painting by Hieronymus Bosch “The Fraud” (1475). Three thimbles as a means of taking money from gullible citizens.

Magic & Themis

It should be said that one remarkable event occurred in the sixteenth century, thanks to which illusionism soon got rid of the dubious aura of otherworldly art and took its rightful place in the developing industry of mass entertainment. Imagine the ordinary English village of Smith (Kent), in which lived a wealthy landowner named Reginald Scott. This venerable gentleman grew very good hops and periodically visited Rochester to perform his duties as a justice of the peace. At one of the court hearings, he came across a case of witchcraft.

A certain Margaret Simmons was accused of malicious intrigues against the church - a fragile young girl, tortured half to death by stupid but efficient investigators who carried out unscientific “God's tests” (Dei indicium) on her. Being a real businessman, Reginald Scott believed in all sorts of devilry only when it promised him a clear benefit. And since there was absolutely nothing to take from the girl, distraught from torture, the judge not only completely acquitted her, but in addition to this, began a thorough study of all documented cases of the use of “black magic,” the supernatural essence of which was not obvious.

Having become acquainted with the then-famous French “sorcerer” named Couthares, Judge Scott carefully analyzed and summarized all the known facts about witches and sorcerers, publishing his monumental work “An Exposure of Witchcraft” in 1584 (the first London edition consisted of 560 pages). A separate chapter of this book, “The Art of Tricks and Similar Tricks,” contained detailed explanations of the secrets of the most popular “miracles” at that time. There was nothing to cover up the scientific arguments of the church. This was followed by several judicial precedents with the complete acquittal of fairground “warlocks” and “necromancers”, whose real guilt was only an unsuccessful joke directed against the church or the king. Sunset an entire era the persecution of dissident stuntmen was already close.

It's really hocus pocus

Continental Europe had the greatest influence on the appearance of modern illusionism. Thus, in the 17th century in Germany and Holland, the performances of one self-proclaimed “wizard” enjoyed some popularity, calling himself Ojes Bohes (in fact, this was the name of the magician and demon from Norwegian legends) and using the pseudonym “Hocus Pocus” - a confusing phrase, uttered by him during the market “witchcraft” (in full it sounded like “hocus pocus, tonus talonus, vade celeriter yubeo”) in order to distract the attention of the audience.

This “spell”, which according to some versions was a perverted text of the Catholic Mass “hoc est enim corpus meum” (“this is really my body”), was immediately picked up by other representatives of this craft and after some time became the calling card of all illusionists and stuntmen. In Russian, this phrase was borrowed as the basis for a concept denoting a cunning trick or trick. It is noteworthy that in the Germanic group of languages ​​the word “focus” is still used only as an optical term, borrowed from Latin (focus - hearth, fire).

18th century: Giuseppe lights up

The next stage in the development of the art of illusions was the 18th century. While most illusionists were engaged in petty street tricks, the Italian magician Giuseppe Pinetti was able to take a huge step forward by transferring his “magic” to the stage of the theater. Pinetti's performances were distinguished by a sophisticated and lush ambiance, which brought them to a completely new level of spectatorship.

So, in 1784, he performed in London, demonstrating the capabilities of the “third eye” (reading closed books, identifying objects in boxes, etc.). The success of these performances was so great that it attracted the attention of King George III, who, after some hesitation, invited the famous magician to Windsor Castle. It was there that Pinetti triumphantly staged a brilliant show, which featured dozens of assistants, exotic animals, as well as hidden mechanisms and complex systems mirrors The wings of popularity carried the magician from England to Portugal and Germany. Finally, in 1800, he came to Russia, where he died safely at the age of 50.

It is worth noting that various writers and publicists have repeatedly tried to reveal Pinetti’s tricks and even published books with their detailed descriptions. This greatly irritated the master, who was accustomed to living in the style of his ideas - independently, richly and brightly. He wore the best clothes he could find and rode in the most expensive carriages. He was moderately eccentric, deliberately attracting the attention of the crowd with his extraordinary antics. For example, while walking down the street, Pinetti could suddenly stop near a tray with fresh rolls and, breaking one of them, “discover” inside gold coin, which after a couple of seconds subtly turned into a decorative token with his own initials.

It is Pinetti who bears the main credit for developing the principles for building the image of a modern magician - recognition, unusualness, courage, artistry and slight pomp. Speaking about the “sorcerers” of the 18th century, we should also mention Giovanni Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) and Count Alexander Cagliostro (1743-1795), whose magical merits are so well known that they do not need to be listed.

“The Matrix” of the Romantic era: dodge this!

Late XVIII- the beginning of the 19th century - the time of the appearance of hundreds of professional magicians. At that time, “scientific” tricks became especially fashionable, when performers who called themselves “doctors” and “professors” described stage performances in the language of “science.” For example, the Frenchman Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin explained his famous trick with levitation by the properties of a certain gaseous substance - ether, supposedly permeating the entire Universe. Robert-Houdin has become a legendary figure - now he is sometimes called the “father of modern magic”, because. he improved the technique of performing many tricks and props, which subsequently became widespread.

For illusionism, the entire 19th century was marked by blind imitation of the style of Giuseppe Pinetti. Thus, a certain Blitz, a native of Hamburg, who received considerable recognition in England and the USA, became known for his creepy trick - shooting at himself from a real combat revolver. A spectacular, but very dangerous performance, from which a little later, on March 23, 1918, the famous “magician” Chung Ling Su ( real name This artist, who skillfully used makeup to create his signature “Chinese” image, was Robinson). Later, this trick was complicated by the use of two pistols, the barrels of which were aimed at the chest or head of the magician.

What is the strength, Jean? And power is in magic!

In 1845, Europe learned the name of a young watchmaker from France, who invested all his money in renting the Parisian “Valois Gallery” to show absolutely phenomenal tricks. His name was Jean Robert-Houdin, but he is now also known as another “father of modern magic.” Robert Houdin was and remains the only magician in the world who prevented a global international conflict with the sheer power of his art.

The point is that to mid-19th century, the Algerian colony was on the verge of an uprising against French occupation. On special instructions from the government, in 1856, Robert-Goodin went to Africa, where he took part in a magic competition, pitting local sorcerers against his latest tricks of catching a flying rifle bullet and effortlessly lifting heavy chests. This performance impressed the gullible Algerians so much that a whole series tribes immediately left the ranks of the uprising, which soon lost its former relevance and came to naught. This case is the only and largest duel of magicians in the entire history of mankind, which has real confirmation and decided the fate of several states at once.

The twentieth century became the culminating point in the history of the development of the art of stage magic, enriching it with a whole galaxy of names - the Englishman David Devant (levitation, mind reading), the Americans Thurston and Downes (card tricks), as well as Serva le Roy, Oswald Williams, Owen Clark, Walter Hince, Louis Nokola, Percy Shelbit and of course Harry Houdini (real name Eric Weiss) - an emigrant from Hungary who had a unique talent escapist. It seemed that there was not a single rope, chain, handcuffs, bars or chests that could hold him. One of the most popular magicians on the planet died on Halloween night, October 31, 1926, from a ruptured appendix caused by a blow to the stomach, which, with Houdini's personal permission, was inflicted by a fan in order to test his famous ability to withstand any force.

Show must go on!

The Second World War presented the whole world with a whole bunch of problems that were fundamentally incompatible with entertainment. They simply forgot about tricks - only at concerts held between battles to entertain soldiers, clowns occasionally performed the most simple manipulative tricks. In the middle of the century, entertainment illusionism had an unimaginably powerful rival - television, which had built itself a cozy nest in the weak human soul. A similar thing already happened at the end of the nineteenth century, when ancient world theater fell to the invasion of silent cinema. But fortunately, two-way contact between the viewer and the artist is still in great demand. This keeps both the theater and the circus afloat, which has taken most of the modern magicians under its wing.

Currently, there are about 300 thousand hardware illusion tricks and about 50 thousand tricks based on sleight of hand. Today's stars are Paul Daniels, David Copperfield and Lance Burton. They and their followers will decorate the dwindling constellations of non-mass culture until they die last man on Earth. After all, people always want to believe that there is something that they do not yet know.

MBOU "Kirskaya Secondary School"

1. Introduction

Research topic: “Secrets of magic tricks”

Relevance of the research: We believe it is necessary to conduct this research because: 1) We want to discover the secrets of magic tricks in order to learn how to perform magic tricks; 2) This research would help attract others to the art of illusion (tricks).

The purpose of our research: to reveal the secrets of magic tricks

Research objectives: to study the history of the origin of tricks; discover the main principle of the magician's work; master the basic rules of a magician; learn to perform simple tricks.

Object of study: the art of illusions (tricks)

Subject of research: the history of the origin of tricks, methods of showing simple tricks

Research methods: collecting information from different sources, comparison, analysis, observation, experiment

Characteristics of the sources used to write the work: during the research, we visited various sites about magic tricks. On the elementrick website. ru we found information about the occurrence of tricks. The main focus of this site is teaching magic tricks via video. An article from the website “The First Shop of Tricks and Illusions” helped to reveal the meaning of the word trick. This site introduces visitors to interesting tricks and also offers to buy the necessary props for performing them. We familiarized ourselves with the rules of a novice magician in the article “Tricks” on the “Article Factory” website. This site is intended for posting articles on various topics.

Characteristics of the personal contribution of the authors of the work: on the Internet we were not able to find a single research work by students about magic tricks. Perhaps this is due to children's lack of interest in the art of illusions. We think that this work will draw the attention of others to the art of magic. And the video we created showing tricks will certainly be useful to many beginning magicians, so we decided to post it on YouTube.

2. Main part

2.1. Introduction

What are tricks? Some people consider magic tricks to be real magic, others say that magic tricks are just sleight of hand and no magic at all. To understand this issue, we decided to conduct a study.

We assumed that if we revealed the secrets of magic tricks, we would be able to perform simple magic tricks ourselves.

We studied the necessary information in books and the Internet and this is what we found out.

2.2. History of tricks

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 the calling card of 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 with scientific point vision.

In 1873, in London, a certain illusionist John Neville Masklin opened the first permanent Magic Circus, which existed for another 40 years.

In the 20th century, great illusionists appeared in the world: David Devant, Harry Houdini, David Copperfield, David Blaine, the Safronov Brothers. The main task of modern magicians and illusionists is to show the audience the most amazing and shocking tricks. [ 1 ]

Conclusion: Having studied the history of the origin of magic tricks, we realized that the art of illusion is one of the most ancient arts. Previously, magic tricks were used to deceive or intimidate people; nowadays, magic tricks are one of the favorite folk spectacles. They can be shown everywhere: on theater stages, in circus arenas and entertainment venues, at tourist stops and even at home, at the table among friends.

2.3. The main principle of a magician's work is averting his eyes.

What is the main principle of any magician’s work? Vladimir Dal, in his dictionary, correctly noted that “focus” is a diversion of eyes, a distraction of attention. This is the main rule in the work of a magician-illusionist. [2]

People are designed in such a way that they cannot monitor several actions at the same time. The magician's skill lies in the fact that several of his uncoordinated movements occur simultaneously. During the performance, it seems that everything the magician does is seen by the audience, but in reality this is not the case. He simply skillfully distracts the viewer, concentrating his attention on what he needs. These are the so-called elusive movements of the illusionist.

In order to distract the audience from the main thing, some magicians look into the viewer's eyes, as if hypnotizing, others prefer to manipulate objects for this purpose.

Conclusion: Every trick has two sides: one is obvious, the audience sees it, and the second is secret, and one can only guess about it. And the magician's task is to show the trick so that its secret side is not visible.

2.4. Five basic rules that a novice magician should not break

Now we knew what it was main secret any trick, but what else should any aspiring magician know? On one of the sites we found the five commandments of a magician:
1. Never say what you are going to do. First, it robs the audience of surprise. Secondly, it alerts them to what they should pay attention to. Thirdly, it does not give you the opportunity to get out of an unfortunate situation if the trick does not work out.
2. Never repeat a trick two times in a row, because the second time the audience watches not the trick, but how it is performed.

3. Never explain the secrets of magic tricks, even traditional ones.
4. Constantly train so that the execution technique is brought to automaticity.
5. Never argue with spectators. Always be polite and correct. [3]

2.5. Learning to perform simple tricks

Everyone loves magic tricks - they are interesting to watch because the magician looks like a wizard. But it’s even more interesting to show them: you feel like a sorcerer, a magician. Psychologists also say that magic tricks teach people to work in front of an audience, to be attentive, dexterous and, of course, prepared.

Now we were eager to learn how to perform tricks as quickly as possible, but which tricks are best to start learning with, because there are a great many of them. In some tricks, objects disappear, in others, on the contrary, they appear. Small objects in the hands of a magician turn into large ones, and large ones into small ones. Magicians can read the thoughts of spectators and guess their wishes. And there are a great variety of props for performing tricks: scarves, ropes, glasses, playing cards, balls, matches, coins and much more.

On the YouTube video hosting pages we found videos in which famous magicians Boris Arbuzov ("Trick Box" program) and Ilya Larionov ("School of Magic" program) teach children the secrets of magic tricks. First, we enjoyed watching the training videos, and then we tried to show our favorite tricks ourselves. Of course, we weren’t able to show the tricks the first time. But after a fair amount of training, we were able to achieve good results.

As a result of persistent daily rehearsals, we mastered several tricks.

At school, we shared the results of our work with our classmates and showed them the tricks we had learned. All the kids in the class also wanted to become magicians.

3. Conclusion

The research revealed a lot of new things for us:

We learned that the art of magic is one of the most ancient types of art, it is more than five thousand years old. They realized that the main secret of magic tricks lies not in magic and magic, but in the ability of the magician to show the trick so that its secret side is not visible to the viewer. We mastered the basic rules of a magician and learned how to perform simple tricks.

Thus, we were able to achieve the goal of our research and were able to uncover the secret of magic tricks. The hypothesis we put forward at the beginning of the study was confirmed. This work helped us attract the attention of others to the art of magic tricks.

Resources used: http://elementrick. ru/istoria-fokysov-illyziy/
http://www. magic-shop. ru/?action=news_view&id=126
http://article-factory. ru/fokusy/obuchenie-fokusam/745-fokusy. html
http://ru. wikipedia. org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%B B%D0%BB%D1%8E%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC

Appendix 1

History of tricks

The art of illusion (tricks) originated in Ancient Egypt about five thousand years ago. Evidence of this is the ancient Greek papyrus, which depicts Dedi of Dedsnefu demonstrating a magic trick to the pharaoh. Magicians of that time made jewelry disappear and appear, beheaded geese, and then reattached their heads; also, with the help of these “forces,” many things disappeared from the crowd among the people and ended up in the magician’s possession, while he was in plain sight all the time. And, in the same way, by the “will of the gods,” huge gates swung open, huge statues of these gods crawled out of the ground, these statues could stretch out their hands to the people (blessing the people), the statue could even cry. But, as you know, similar speeches were considered either a divine force or a force of darkness. Thus, the art of magic was then most often used to manipulate the people.

In medieval Europe, magic tricks were considered witchcraft and magicians paid for it with their lives. But even under such circumstances, there were craftsmen who quickly brought God-fearing people under their influence.

In the 17th century, in Germany and Holland, the performances of one self-proclaimed “wizard” enjoyed some popularity, calling himself Ojes Bohes (in fact, this was the name of the magician and demon from Norwegian legends) and using the pseudonym “Hocus Pocus” - a confusing phrase he uttered during the market “witchcraft” (it completely sounded like “hocus pocus, tonus talonus, vade celeriter yubeo”) in order to divert the attention of the audience.

This “spell” was immediately picked up by other magicians and after some time became the calling card of all illusionists. In Russian, this phrase was borrowed as the basis for a concept denoting a cunning trick or trick. It is noteworthy that in the Germanic group of languages ​​the word "focus" is still used only as an optical term, borrowed from Latin (focus - hearth, fire).

In the 18th century, in England, illusionists and magicians gained some recognition and position in society. At that time, the illusionist Isaac Fawkes had wide fame and celebrity, having earned it by performing tricks right in front of everyone - in fair booths and at dinner parties.

So by the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, hundreds of professional magicians appeared. And the so-called “scientific” tricks, those tricks that the performer (pretending to be a doctor or professor) explained from a scientific point of view, are gaining wide popularity. For example, Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin explained his trick with levitation as the properties of a gas (ether). In fact, the gas had nothing to do with the trick, but at that time people were quite sure that it was just the gas. And later Robert Houdin is called the “father of modern magic,” but the most interesting thing in his biography is that he became a professional only at the age of 60. Robert Houdin was also an excellent inventor who improved both the technique of many tricks and the props used for them. Houdin became a legendary figure and the profession of illusionist owes much of its popularity to him.

So, by the beginning of the 19th century, many groups of magicians and illusionists appeared in the USA and Europe, who toured very often, giving performances in a variety of theaters. And in 1873, in London, a certain illusionist John Neville Masklin opened the first permanent Magic Circus, which existed for another 40 years.

The 20th century in the history of the development of the art of magic tricks and illusions becomes the most “fruitful”, as such great illusionists as David Devant, who successfully became famous in tricks with levitation and mind reading, appeared in the world, the Americans Thurston and Downes, who became famous in card tricks, as well as Serva le Roy, Oswald Williams, Owen Clark, Walter Hince, Louis Nocola, Percy Shelbit and, of course, Harry Houdini (real name Eric Weiss), who is one of the most talented people in the world.

But in the middle of the 20th century, magicians and “wizards” had a very strong rival - television, which was quite strongly included in the number of people’s favorite pleasures. But the “real” contact between the artist and the viewer also remains quite popular, which makes people not forget about theaters and circuses, where a lot of magicians and illusionists flock.

By the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, such great stars as Paul Daniels, David Copperfield and Lance Burton appeared in the world, who still have many followers to this day.

Currently, the world also knows many great names that are in no way inferior, but on the contrary, ahead of their predecessors. Stars such as David Blaine, Criss Angel, and the Safronov Brothers have shown the world many amazing and shocking tricks.

Appendix 2

Classification of tricks

Focuses can be classified:

By age interests:

1. Children's tricks

2. Tricks for adults

According to the method of illusionary effects (compiled):

1. "Creation"

    Appearance Disappearance Move (transposition) Change of appearance (transformation) Restoration

2. "Management"

    Revitalization Levitation Stickiness

3. "Violation of the laws of nature"

    Invulnerability Permeability Coincidences Spectator failures Anomalous phenomena

4. "Mentalism"

    Mental control Search, identification Mind reading Transmission of thoughts Predictions Extrasensory perception [ 4 ]

According to the props used in them:

    Tricks with a "magic" wand. Tricks with paper, newspapers, confetti. Tricks with money. Tricks with scarves, fabric, cords and ropes. Tricks with balls, eggs, cubes. Tricks with playing cards. Tricks with flowers, bouquets, flower pots. Tricks with aquariums, cages, fish and animals. Tricks with liquids, bottles, glasses, glasses. Tricks with cigars, cigarettes, matches. Magic tricks with electric lamps and glass. Tricks with clocks, rings, alarm clocks. Tricks with tables, boards, frames, photographs. Tricks with swords. Tricks with headdresses. Tricks with large equipment.