Secret Magic Talk - Pi Max
Ingo Oschmann, Andreas Fleckenstein and Alexander Lehmann discussed my Pi Max memory routine in their German podcast "Der Secret Magic Talk". Here is a summary of the segment:
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The final section begins with a question: what is the world record for reciting the digits of Pi from memory?
They cite the Japanese mnemonist Akira Haraguchi, who recited 100,000 digits of Pi in 2006 over the course of roughly sixteen hours. The hosts find the achievement both absurd and fascinating. Pi, they observe, is one of those numbers almost everyone encounters at school and barely uses in ordinary life, yet it continues to exert a peculiar fascination.
This is precisely where Vincent Hedan’s Pi Max comes in. According to the hosts, the routine allows a performer to bring this apparently “freakish” memory ability convincingly onto the stage. It may involve “only” 17,000 digits rather than 100,000, but they joke that this should probably be enough for most audiences.
Pi Max is described as a carefully constructed three-phase routine. The performer displays a small book filled with the decimal digits of Pi and claims to have memorized them.
In the first phase, the spectator opens the book anywhere and merely announces the page number. The performer can immediately state the first digits printed on that page.
In the second phase, the challenge becomes considerably stronger. The spectator opens the book somewhere without the performer needing to know the page and reads out five consecutive digits. From that exact point, the performer can continue reciting the sequence—and, in principle, keep going for as long as desired.
The third phase is described by the hosts as particularly strong. The spectator names their birthday, for example January 26, represented by the sequence 2601. The performer can then state exactly which page, line and position contains that sequence in the book. The routine therefore ends not merely with another display of memory, but with something directly connected to the spectator.
The hosts know several performers who actually use Pi or Pi Max in their shows. At least three are mentioned as successfully performing it on stage. Because it appears to be an extreme feat of memory, they say it receives very strong reactions from audiences. One host initially considers the effect slightly more abstract than a conventional memory demonstration, but is persuaded that in the right context—such as a mentalism show or a presentation about numbers, mathematics or memory—it works extremely well.
They then discuss the evolution of the method. Hedan first released the basic concept in 2010 and published another version around 2015. Earlier versions required the performer to know a memorized deck. Pi Max now offers a version in which this is no longer necessary. Instead, only ten English words have to be memorized, forming something rather like a short poem. The hosts consider this surprisingly straightforward: once those ten words are known, the performer can present all the principal effects they have just described.
Another new feature is the inclusion of individual pages containing facts about Pi. These make the book more varied visually and conceptually while also supplying ready-made presentation material—for instance, the story of Akira Haraguchi. The facts can themselves be incorporated into additional effects.
They also mention a kind of lie-detector test: the spectator gives five digits and then changes one of them. The performer is able to identify which digit was altered.
According to the podcast, the package includes the small book, written instructions and access to an online learning tool for practicing the various phases. What matters to the hosts is that Pi Max is not merely a clever method but a complete routine designed to be performed.
Their opinion becomes especially clear when they compare it with another Pi book test that relies on an app. They regard that alternative as needlessly complicated. The birthday phase of Pi Max is particularly convincing to them: the spectator simply names a birthday and the performer immediately knows where the corresponding number sequence appears. There is no need to enter information into an app first.
Their opinion is unequivocal: they much prefer Hedan’s method. Pi Max is described as a genuinely strong effect and almost as a category of magic in its own right, because the audience does not perceive a conventional trick so much as an extraordinary human ability.
One host compares that response with other demonstrations he has performed, including a magic square and work with a memorized deck. Whenever spectators believe they are witnessing a genuine feat of mental ability, he says, the performance acquires an additional layer of impact.
This leads to a brief, joking moral discussion: after all, the astonishing memory ability displayed in Pi Max is not actually what it appears to be. As a possible compromise, they suggest memorizing at least fifty or sixty genuine digits of Pi.
Asked whether one of them has personally performed Vincent Hedan’s routine, the answer is yes. He has used it in connection with a memory workshop. The other host jokes that he therefore convinced the participants he possessed a tremendous memory even though he actually knew only a small portion of the digits—“almost like a mentalist.”
The final verdict is once again very clear. If choosing between Pi Max and the app-based alternative discussed in the episode, they would choose Pi Max. Several products may pursue essentially the same goal, they say, so one should simply choose the best solution. In their view, Pi Max is very probably that solution.
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You can listen to the full podcast in German here:
Lets Cast
https://letscast.fm/sites/secret-magic-talk-f757ed02/episode/bis-zur-unendlichkeit-und-noch-viel-weiter-darauf-ein-standing-ovation
Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/secret-magic-talk/id1574030695?i=1000624325802
