The Wizard of FOZ (El Mago de FOZ)

“The Wizard of FOZ – (El Mago de FOZ)”, is a Mathe-Magic Presentation, where the traditional Spanish 48 deck of cards is used to make three FOZ Magic Squares.

For the show, I use large A5 size cards, and a wooden board 2.80 meters wide and 1.10 high, made in three sections that can be folded (easy assembled and easy transported)

For small audiences, the average card´s size is sufficient or even the miniature small cards can be used.

The act is made of four parts (a, b, c, d) with a half time in between, where the audience joins in the magic.

These four faces can be seen in the page El Mago de FOZ on the Excel file FOZUDOKU that you can download here

To begin with, the cards have to be in ascending order, from 1 to 12, with the four suits in this order: OROS/GOLD, ESPADAS/SWORDS,  COPAS/CUPS, BASTOS/CLUBS.

In the first phase (a) the 48 cards are placed down, forming three 4x4 squares.
First the two diagonals of each square are formed by placing the cards (from the back of the deck) face down.
After the rest of the cards are placed filling the blanks left, first a card up then a card sown in each square, then a card on the left then a card on the right in each square, and this is repeated once more until all the 48 cards are face down forming three 4x4 squares, this is the first phase (a) or INITIAL OSITION, (see in more detail how the cards are placed in the page El Mago de FOZ in the Excel file FOZUDOKU).

But these three 4x4 squares are NOT Magic Squares yet, because NOT A SINGLE CARD IS IN THE RIGHT PLACE and ALL cards need to be moved to a new place.

This is done in the second phase (b)

The 48 cards that are face down are moved to a new position face down, WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE CARDS, moving the cards blindly as they are and continue to be face down)

When all the 48 cards have been moved to a new position, the Magician is able to “guess” 6 cards on each 4x4 square (18 card´s in total).

The moving of the 48 cards from one place to another, while the cards are face down and the ability to guess correctly and name 18 cards is the magic effect of the show.

What follows is the half time of the show, where the audience is invited to participate and do magic too, guessing the remaining 30 cards. The singular and unique properties of the FOZ Magic Square is explained and the 6 known cards in each square are clues to guess the other cards, because where there is a group of four cards that have 3 known cards, the 4th  cards can be “guessed” by calculating it.

Telling the audience that the following groups of 4 cards add up the same and not a suit or colour is repeated.

  1. – The four horizontal lines.
  2. – The four vertical lines.
  3. – The two diagonal lines.
  4. – The four corners.
  5. – The little 2x2 square in the middle of the 4x4 square.
  6. – Each of the four little 2x2 square that form the quarter part of the 4x4 square.
  7. – The four corners of each of the four 3x3 squares inside the 4x4 square.

All these groups of 4 cards:
On the 4x4 square on the left add up to 22 and not a suit is repeated.
On the 4x4 square in the centre add up to 26 and not a suit is repeated.
On the 4x4 square on the right add up to 30 and not a suit is repeated.

Little by Little, like in a Sudoku, the audience “guess” the 30 cards, this gives to this Magic presentation a new dimension, where not only the Magician does Magic, but also the audience participates and makes Magic, something that they do with enthusiasm, specially the children as they realised that by adding the numbers they can also do Magic and “guess” the cards correctly.

The half part is finished when all the cards are “guessed” and are face up

During the third phase (c) the Magician moves again ALL the cards from one place to another, placing the cards face down.
In the same order as in phase (a) The INITIAL POSITION.
(You can see the order to do this in the page El Mago de FOZ in the Excel file FOZUDOKU.)


In the fourth phase (d) the Magician collects all the cards in order, suit by suit, showing the cards as he is doing it inviting the audience to name the cards: one, two, three, four, five, six… etc

Of course, the Magician as memorised beforehand all the 48 cards and their position in each of these four phases (a, b, c, d).

 

How to do a Wizard of FOZ?

To memorise all the cards and their position in the four phases (a, b, c, d) takes a long time and it´s difficult.

For those who want to do a Wizard of FOZ presentation, without having to memorise so many cards they can do their own Wizard of FOZ starting from any FOZUDOKU SOLUTION.
First select a SOLUTION to a FOZUDOKU, (from the Excel file FOZUDOKU) where ALL 48 cards positions in the three FOZ Magic Squares are revealed
 
Place on top of the table these 48 cards in the same position.

Check that there are no mistakes.

Double check again once more that ALL the cards are in the right place, and no mistake was made.

Now turn over ALL the cards and place them face down.

Go to the page 104 POSICIONES (from the Excel file FOZUDOKU) and select a position for each of the three FOZ Magic Square and turn over the six cards in each Magic Square.

Now ALL the cards on the table have 18 cards face up and 30 cards face down, to be “guessed” in the same way as in the Mathe-Magic Presentation The Wizard of FOZ, but without having to memorize so many cards.

(If you wish, you can memorise the 18 cards, beforehand, to give it a little Magic effect to the presentation The Wizard of FOZ).

 

Whatｴs the difference between a FOZUDOKU and The Wizard of FOZ?

The solution to the FOZUDOKU and The Wizard of FOZ is the same, both are formed by three Magic Squares with the traditional Spanish deck of 48 cards.

The difference is that:
In the FOZUDOKU the 30 cards are placed down, in The Wizard of FOZ the 30 cards are revealed (turn over).

Because at the beginning of the “guessing” in the FOZUDOKU there are ONLY 18 cards on the table and 30 empty spaces.
To complete the three Magic Squares in the FOZUDOKU you have to place the 30 missing cards.

Whereas at the beginning of the “guessing” in The Wizard of FOZ, ALL the 48 cards are on the table in the right place (18 cards face up and 30 cards face down)
To complete the three Magic Squares in the The Wizard of FOZ  you have to reveal (turn over) the 30 missing cards

The advantage of The Wizard of FOZ is that when you make a guess and reveal (turn over) the card you can check immediately if you have make a mistake or not
Whereas if you make a mistake in the FOZUDOKU when placing the cards you will NOT notice until later on when you need to place a card and you do not have it in your hand, because you have already mistakenly place it on the table.