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Derren Brown

Published on Sunday, December 31, 2006 in , , , , , ,



Other than the Knight's Tour videos I've featured here and here, chess hasn't made much of an appearance on this blog.

Derren Brown, who has been featured once or twice before here, helps to remedy the situation. In the above video, he challenges 9 champion chess players simultaneously, and actually wins most of the games! He also predicts (mostly) the number of pieces that will be left on the board, too. Stick through to the end, and he'll actually explain part of the feat, as well.

In another Derren Brown video, he performs some amazing feats of memory with playing cards, as well. Be warned that there is some brief profanity in this video, however.

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lewisthemusician

Published on Sunday, December 31, 2006 in , ,



This memorizer, known as “lewisthemusician”, recites Pi to 56 digits!

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Maadhu Krishnan

Published on Thursday, December 28, 2006 in ,



Young Maadhu Krishnan is only in preschool, yet he knows the capitals of all 50 states from memory!

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Tatiana Cooley, Scott Hagwood & Rajan Mahadevan

Published on Sunday, December 17, 2006 in , ,



This clip from the Discovery Channel features Tatiana Cooley, Scott Hagwood and Rajan Mahadevan, all of whom are top performers in the USA Memory Champoionships.

This clip is interesting, as it doesn't just focus on the memory feats themselves, but the methods behind the feats, as well.

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Andi Bell

Published on Wednesday, December 13, 2006 in , ,



Back in 2003, the BBC featured a series of documentaries titled The Human Mind. In the first episode, Get Smart, they featured memory champion Andi Bell memorizing 10 decks of cards in 20 minutes, to the point where he can recall where each card is in each deck!

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Ari Gorman

Published on Wednesday, December 13, 2006 in



Meet Ari Gorman, who has a most unusual talent. He can speak, and even sing, backwards!

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Michel Gondry

Published on Wednesday, December 13, 2006 in , ,



I've posted numerous Rubik's Cube videos before, preferring to post only the more impressive feats, such as solving it blindfolded, while juggling or behind the back.

Michel Gondry, however, puts the most unusual spin I've seen on the Rubik's Cube so far, by solving it with his feet!

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Making Millions The Easy Way

Published on Sunday, December 10, 2006 in , , ,



So, did the title grab your attention? It's the title of this BBC video documentary, which is available free, courtesy of the BBC and Google Video. The video is 47 minutes and 46 seconds long, making it the longest video ever posted on Grey Matters Videos, so you may want to set aside some time to watch it.

The documentary concerns the MIT Blackjack team, and how they came together and eventually were able to win millions from Las Vegas casinos. There is also some great background on the history of card counting, including a talk with Edward Thorp, who is regarded as the father of card counting.

It can be a little too dramatic at times, but it's definitely worth watching in its entirety.

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Squaring Numbers In Your Head

Published on Wednesday, December 06, 2006 in , ,


9999 Squared In Your Head! - video powered by Metacafe


This is a great approach to squaring large numbers mentally. Once you understand the concept of a reference number (referred to as a base number in the video), it's not hard to do mentally. You can practice with numbers up to 125 over at mathpath, too.

If you would like to learn to go the other direction, over at the Grey Matters Mental Gym, I can teach you how to extract cube roots, square roots and even fifth roots!

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David Mitchell

Published on Saturday, December 02, 2006 in ,



OK, he's not quite at “Thrond”'s level yet, but David Mitchell already has the U.S. Presidents memorized, which is quite remarkable for his age!

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“Thrond”

Published on Friday, December 01, 2006 in ,



In “Thrond's” previous entry, he recites an impressive amount of memorized data. In his newest video, to which Ryan (his real name) alerted me in the comments of the earlier entry, he bests his previous feat. In addition to reciting all the books of the Bible (both the Old and New Testaments), all the books in the Book of Mormon, all 50 US States, the alphabet in reverse, and all 43 United States Presidents, he throws in every movie that has won the Oscar for best picture, too!

In this video, the list is pronounced clearer and is shown on screen, making it easier to follow and watch.

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