Memory Demonstrations

                   A few theatrical agents were gathered together  at a carnival, to see an act that everyone was raving about. As everybody watched in awed silence, Bosco, the Great, climbed up a ladder to a tiny pedestal, four hundred feet in the air.

On the pedestal, he took a deep breath, and then started to pump his arms to and fro. The drums rolled until they reached a noisy crescendo, and at this precise second Bosco, the Great, actually left the pedestal and flew!

His arms pumping madly, he flew around the entire arena, up and down, back and forth.

Just then one of the agents turned to another, and asked, “is that all he does, bird imitations?”!

            I SUPPOSE that some of you are wondering why I am teaching, or have taught, all the memory feats in this  book. You think that since I am a performer, and my performance does consist of memory stunts-I am creating competition for myself. Well, perhaps I am, but it doesn’t bother me too much. I know that if any of you do want to perform in front of an audience, you will have the ingenuity to put together your own stunts and plan your own routine. And, most important, you will realize that you have to sell yourself, not your memory feats.

It Pays to Remember Anniversaries, Birthdays and Other Important Dates

“Does your husband forget your anniversaries?”

“Never. I remind him of it in June, and again in January; and I always get two presents!”

             If a man’s memory is so poor that he can be led to believe that he has an anniversary every six months-then he deserves to have to buy two presents.

             Seriously though, the peg system can be applied to remembering not only important anniversaries, but also important dates in history. It is also helpful for memorizing addresses, prices or style numbers.

             As far as dates are concerned, if you want to remember people’s anniversaries or birthdays, just associate the people, or substitute words for their names, to the date, in this way:- Suppose Mr. Gordon’s birthday is April 3^rd. if you associate Mr. Gordon, or  the word, “garden” to “ram,” you would remember it. “Ram” represents 43, and Mr. Gordon’s birthday falls in the 4^th month, on the 3^rd day!

It Pays to Remember Appointments and Schedules

“The man who is always punctual in keeping appointments never loses anything by it.”

“No, only about half an hour waiting for the other fellow to show up.”

             THERE ISN’T much I can do about those of you who know that you have an appointment, and get there late, anyway. But  I think I can help you if you forget those appointments completely. You’ve already learned, in a previous ehapter, how to remember your errands or appointments for each day. You can still use that idea; but if, in your particular business, or even socially, you find if necessary to keep numerous appointments during the week at certain times of day, you’ll be interested in this chapter. The system contained here is one which enables  you to make a conscious association as soon as you’ve  made an appointment. By making this association, you can recall all your appointments for each day of the week without bothering with a date or memo book.

            For those of you who don’t care about remembering weekly appointments or schedules, I would suggest that you learn the idea behind the method anyway. You never know when you might find it useful. Please don’t let the length of the explanation frighten you; once you understand and use it, there’s nothing to it.

Amaze Your Friends

FARMER (showing off his farm to a friend):

How many sheep would you say were in that flock? See if you can get close with a rough guess.”

FRIEND (after short pause): “I’d say there were about 497 sheep there.”

“why, you hit it right on the head, that’s exactly right! How in the world did you know?”

“it was simple, really, I just counted all the legs, and then divided by four!”

            THE MEMORY stunt contained in this chapter may not be as astounding as dividing the legs of sheep by four, but it’s certainly easier to do. You’ll probably be glad to know that there are no mathematics involved at all-just a trained memory.

          A friend of mine in the textile business here in New York has told me that he has gained quite a reputation for himself by remembering numbers. He goes to lunch with a few business acquaintances each day, and he invariably asks them t9o give him any four or five digit number to memorize. He usually has anywhere from there to six people with him, and he memorizes the numbers they give him. They interrupt him during the luncheon to see if he can still recall the numbers, and, of course, he does.

Don't Be Absent-minded

Towards the conclusion of his lecture on the wonderful  sights to be seen in this world, the famous  traveler said, “There are some spectacles that one never forgets!”

At this point a tiny old lady in the back row, stood up and timidly inquired, “Oh, my, can you tell me where I could get a pair? I’m always forgetting mine!”

              ARE  you continually plagued by misplacing certain items? Do you waste precious time searching for your glasses or are you the type that’s always screaming, “But I just had it in my hands a moment ago!”? Do you always hide your valuable trinkets so well that you yourself can’t find them? Ladies; are you constantly late for a dare because you simply can’t locate your favorite lipstick? And, men; does your wife rant and scream while you laboriously search for that misplaced cuff link?

            If the answer to any of these questions is, “you,” run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore-.

          Well, if this were a radio or television commercial, it might sound something like that, don’t you think? But seriously, have I hit the bull’s eye with some of the above questions? I’m almost certain that I have, because very few of us are fortunate enough not to be absent-minded at times.

          Many people make the mistake of confusion  absentmindedness with a poor memory. Actually,  I feel that they should be considered as two entirely different things. People with excellent memories can also be absent  minded professor stories; well, be assured that in order to be a professor you must have a good memory to being with. The hundreds of gags about the absent-minded professors who wind their wives, kiss the cat good night and put out the clock, may be true  for all I know, but it still doesn’t signfy that they have poor memories.

The Importance of Memory

A business man traveling in the mid-west was told about an Indian, living in the vicinity, who had a most fantastic memory. Having just completed a memory course, and priding himself on his own newly acquired achievements, he decided to visit this Indian to see whose memory was better.

He introduced himself to the Indian and proceeded to test him. The memory expert answered every question quickly and accurately. His mind was storehouse of knowledge, containing such information as the important dates, scientific theories, etc. the business man couldn’t stump him. Finally, he decided to try one last question. “what did you have for breakfast on the morning of April 5^th 1931?”

The Indian didn’t hesitate for even a second, as he answered, “Eggs!”

The business man took his leave, completely stunned by this prodigious memory. When he arrived home, he told all his friends about it, only to have them scoff and say that eggs were usually eaten at breakfast, and that anyone could have answered that.

As the years passed, the man began to believe this, until one day he found himself back in the mid-west on a sales trip. One afternoon he happened to come upon the same Indian he had met here years ago. Wanting to show that his memory for faces was pretty good, he raised his hand in the traditional Indian greeting, and  said, “How.”

It Pays to Remember Telephone Numbers

The little girl was trying to get the telephone operator to find a telephone number for her.

OPERATOR:  you can find that number in your telephone directory.

LITTLE GIRL: Oh, I can’t, I’m standing on it!

                ALTHOUGH MOST of you do not have to stand on the telephone directory in order to use the phone, you do have to use it quite often to look up numbers that you’ve forgotten. Sure, many people feel that it isn’t necessary to remember phone  numbers since that’s just what the directory is for; but the fact remains that the phone companies have to keep information operators on duty continually. Next to forgetting names and faces, I think the most common memory complaint  is, “I simply can’t remember telephone numbers!” as I  mentioned in an earlier chapter most untrained memories are one-sided. Those w ho usually do remember telephone numbers can’t remember names, and vice versa. Of course, I intend for you to be able to do both , and more, with equal proficiency.

             My good friend Richard Himber, famous musician magician, realized that most people couldn’t remember phone numbers, so he did something about it. He made it very simple for everyone to remember his-he just told them to dial his name, R. Himber. Somehow, he managed to obtain an exchange  for his telephone that  begins with the letters, RH. The rest of the number is 4-6237, which  you get when you dial i-m-b-e-r. now, don’t you all dial it just  to see if this is true-take my word for it, it is!