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JoeMTurner.com Corporate Magic Update |  |
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Greetings! Happy New Year! I'm starting 2006 with more advance bookings than ever... and for that, I am grateful to all of you! Keep an eye on this monthly newsletter for more "Shenanigans" updates, as well as helpful links, tools, and interesting bits of magic that you can add to you own presentations. Please take a moment this week to tell someone you know about my work -- and perhaps forward a copy of this email to them! One last comment... on January 8, the magic community lost a gentleman who was a legend among magicians. Alex Elmsley was a British computer programmer who was a major figure in close-up and card magic in the mid-20th century. Every close-up magician in the world today uses techniques that he invented! I presented a short lecture on his work to the Atlanta chapter of the International Brotherhood of Magicians this month in his honor. Mr. Elmsley was 76.  Joe M. Turner
Shenanigans continues its successful monthly run at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead. The next two shows are already on the calendar, and there is a good chance that the show will go on the road later this year. If you know of a nice hotel or community theatre in your city where a one-man special event might be a good fit, please let me know! We can take this show on the road! In the meantime, tickets for the January show are on sale now via my web site -- purchase online and I'll see you in Buckhead for a night you'll never forget! Please take a moment and share the information about this show with your friends and colleagues in Atlanta. Better yet, buy an extra ticket and bring them with you!
I'll be sharing some additional information about this next month, but I wanted to give you a sneak preview. My friend Romanus Wolter is "the Kick Start Guy." He's a popular professional speaker at meetings and conferences all over the place, and his new book is coming out soon. This is more than some "warm fuzzy" book. This is a simple, effective approach to identifying and achieving what you want with your life. It is this kind of thinking and ACTING that transforms a person's life, relationships, and business. It's on Amazon now for pre-orders... why wait? And don't forget to visit Romanus online here.
This month, you will learn a pleasant little swindle that may be of use to you not only at the office, but also at your next "happy hour." Let's suppose you're at a social function with a colleague. You drop a handful of toothpicks on the table and suggest that each of you take turns removing 1, 2 or 3 toothpicks. Whoever takes the last toothpick must buy the next round. (Or, perhaps they must pick up the check, pay for the cab to the airport, scribe during the meeting, etc.) Unsurprisingly, you always win!
This little game is a con, and it is easy to manage if you know how many toothpicks to start with, and if you insist that your opponent go first. (Completely out of fairness and the goodness of your heart, of course!) The starting number of toothpicks must (n*4) + 1. That is, one plus any multiple of 4. So you can start with 5 toothpicks, or 9, or 13, or 17, and so forth. You simply watch the number of toothpicks your opponent takes, and you take away enough to add up to 4 between the two of you. If he takes 1 away, you remove 3. If he takes away 2, you do the same. If he takes away 3, you remove 1. That way, the two of you consistently take away four toothpicks at a time. As an example, say you started with 13 toothpicks. Your opponent must go first. He takes away 2 toothpicks, so you also remove two. That leaves 9. They take away 3 more, so you remove 1. That leaves 5. If they take away 1, you remove 3. That leaves only 1, and it's their turn. They will take the last toothpick, and fall victim to your little swindle, right at the end. In actuality, the game is lost before it begins! (Just for the record, it's wrong to use this information to harm or cheat anyone for real, so please... this is for entertainment purposes only!)
Surely you realize that this can be done with any kind of item. In an office setting, you might use paperclips on a desk. In a training room, you might use post-it notes on a flip chart! Either way, it's an interesting example of a planned, controllable process that may be perceived as random or uncontrollable. You can draw any number of comparisons between that and the stresses in an organization undergoing change! (As a problem for you to consider... can you work out how to control a game like this if you play against two people?)
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