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Magicians know Harry Lorayne as the author of some very popular books of card magic, but Harry, who is now in his 90s and still writing card magic books, really made his bread and butter from a related but different form of show business. He was recognized as one of the foremost “memory experts,” and in the 1960s and 70s, he made scores of television and night club appearances, amazing audiences with his memory stunts.
In this clip he memorizes the names of the people in Johnny Carson’s audience, having met them briefly just once before the show. It’s fun to see how Harry uses his entertainment skills and enthusiastic personality to turn what could be a dry demonstration into a showstopper.
Thanks to YouTuber Rudy Tinoco
No matter how good your memory may be, you would bore those people to death if you don’t know how to entertain.
Yes. For example the way he leaves one person in the front until the end–as if he had forgotten his name. I guarantee he did that for every performance. Also he casually says there must be hundreds of audience members. I did a quick estimation of the people who stood up, and it wasn’t more than a hundred.
Still, it was quite an impressive feat