Thanks for purchasing Pi.

Now that you have downloaded and saved this instructional

pdf on your computer or tablet, let’s erase the first page of the book. In order to hide the
download link on the book’s first page, you have several options.
First solution: simply tear off the corner of that page.
Second solution: take a Sharpie and cover the download instructions in black; if anyone
asks you about it (no one will), just say that the book came like this when you borrowed it,
or that you did it to cover an annoying ad.
The third solution is to enter the following url in your internet browser then to print the
image as a sticker (it’ll look even better if you can round the corners) and use it to cover
the download zone: http://is.gd/scratchen

Keep in mind that for the audience, this book is not a prop, it’s a real book, and real books
get damaged in various ways. It’s part of the distressing process that will make the book
convincingly real to your audience.

1
 10,000 decimals of Pi

Introduction
«You all know Pi, right? 3.14... you know, that thing we learn in school then never use! Pi is
fascinating, because it has an infinite number of decimals after the comma. It means that any
sequence of digits can be found somewhere in Pi. Your birthday... your credit card number...
Here is an interesting and disturbing thought. If you translate every digit of Pi in a letter, you get
an infinite sequence of mixed letters. But if the sequence is infinite, somewhere in Pi there is a word.
Somewhere there is a sentence. Somewhere in Pi there is a full book. That means that, somewhere in
Pi, you can find your biography. You could also find a partially false biography, and you would have
no way of knowing if it’s true past tomorrow. Everything is in Pi.
You could also translate every digit into a pixel, to get images, and you’ll end up with an infinite
sequence of images that don’t make sense, a bit like static on TV at night (actually, a lot of daytime
TV doesn’t make sense either...). If this sequence of images is infinite, somewhere in Pi you can find
the first image you ever saw in your life. And you could also find the last image you’ll see when you
die. Everything is in Pi.
Some people, like me, started to memorize the decimals of Pi. There is a championship and people
competing to see who knows the most decimals. In 2006, a Japanese guy named Akira Haraguchi
was able to recite 100,000 decimals of Pi! It took him 16 hours.
I’m not that good, I only know the first 10,000. In this book, you’ll find the first 10,000 decimals of
Pi. I have a photographic memory so when I look at a page, I memorize the digits on that page, the
page number, and so on. I haven’t finished memorizing the book, I put a bookmark at the beginning
of the section on which I’m still working.»

Effect 1
«Take this book, open it at any page and tell me the page number at which you are. I’ll try to
remember the first digits of that page. Page 123 ? It starts by 0 3 8, correct ?»

Effect 2
«In fact, it’s quite easy because it’s the beginning of the page. Let’s try something harder. If I tell
you N O P Q R, you recognize N O P Q R as a segment of the alphabet, right? And once you know
where you are in the alphabet, you can keep reciting: S T U V... It’s the same with Pi. In my head, I
have a sequence of 10,000 digits. If you give me a string of 5 digits, anywhere on any line on any
page, it will give me a position in Pi and I’ll try reciting the rest from there. Does it make sense? Go
ahead, give me 5 consecutive digits, one by one, anywhere on any page. 6 9 7 8 0? And then it goes
2 9 0 3 8, correct? I’m going to keep reciting; if I’m wrong, don’t be nice, tell me I’m wrong and I’ll
try to correct myself, ok? Let’s go: 6 1 3 5 4 3 2... No? Not a 2? What is it? 1? Ok. I’ll start again
from here: 1 7 5 4 6 1 9 0 8... I can go until the end of the book so stop me when you’ve had
enough...»

2
Effect 3
«You remember, at the beginning I said that everything can be found in Pi. Your credit card
number, your biography, the last image you’ll see when you die... your birthday too. For example,
my birthday is 16th of October, so that would be 1 6 1 0. I looked it up, it’s around the 60,000th
decimal, so I know it’s not in this book. Tell me your birthday; I’ll try to remember if it’s in the book
(I cannot promise it’ll be) and if it is, I’ll try and tell you the page, the line and the position on the
line where you can find your birthday. You were born on the 12th of April? Ok, so we’re looking for
1 2 0 4... if I remember correctly, it’s in the book... it’s at page 163... line 2... end of line 2. Is this
correct? Perfect!»

3
 Method

Introduction
Before you start, put a small, colorful post-it as a bookmark in the book, on page 149, so
that it’s slightly out-jogged from the top edge of the book. Now let’s examine the text used
in the introduction. Even though it doesn’t contain any magic effect, it is still important.

«You all know Pi, right?»

When mentioning Pi, show the red symbol on the book’s cover to make sure everybody
understands what you talking about.

« 3.14... you know, that thing we learn in school then never use!»
This funny comment also helps you create empathy with the audience, because most of
them will agree with you on the fact that very few of us use Pi on a daily basis.

«Pi is fascinating, because it has an infinite number of decimals after the comma. It means that any
sequence of digits can be found somewhere in Pi. Your birthday... your credit card number...»
By talking about the birthday at the beginning of the introduction, you introduce an idea
to which you will circle back at the end, creating a clear ending for the demonstration.

«Here is an interesting and disturbing thought. If you translate every digit of Pi in a letter, you get
an infinite sequence of mixed letters. But if the sequence is infinite, somewhere in Pi there is a word.
Somewhere there is a sentence. Somewhere in Pi there is a full book. That means that, somewhere in
Pi, you can find your biography. You could also find a partially false biography, and you would have
no way of knowing if it’s true past tomorrow. Everything is in Pi.»
I borrowed this true yet shocking theory to Jorge Luis Borges, who explored the concept of
infinity in his short story «The library of Babel», published in his Fictions book. I suggest
you read this text to familiarize yourself with certain presentational ideas used in this
effect.

«You could also translate every digit into a pixel, to get images, and you’ll end up with an infinite
sequence of images that don’t make sense, a bit like static on TV at night (actually, a lot of daytime
TV doesn’t make sense either...). If this sequence of images is infinite, somewhere in Pi you can find
the first image you ever saw in your life. And you could also find the last image you’ll see when you
die. Everything is in Pi.»
Here you use the same idea again (replacing the digits with something else) but in a
different way.

4
«Some people, like me, started to memorize the decimals of Pi. There is a championship and people
competing to see who knows the most decimals. In 2006, a Japanese guy named Akira Haraguchi
was able to recite 100,000 decimals of Pi! It took him 16 hours.»
Haraguchi’s name can be found in the first written pages of the book. Not only you’re
mentioning an impressive fact linked to the presentation, you’re also implicitly showing
that the book is normal.

«I’m not that good, I only know the first 10,000.»

This false modesty refocuses the effect on you and will make the audience laugh.

«In this book, you’ll find the first 10,000 decimals of Pi. I have a photographic memory so when I
look at a page, I memorize the digits on that page, the page number, and so on. I haven’t finished
memorizing the book, I put a bookmark at the beginning of the section on which I’m still working.»
During this sequence, you can show different pages of the book, as well as the presence of
the bookmark.

Effect 1
For the first two effects, you will use the fact that the book does not contain the real
decimals of Pi. The digits have been placed in a specific order that can be memorized with
a simple code based on the alphabet.
To use this code, you need to memorize these two groups of words:

Even group Odd group

TEACH FETID TIGHT FACET

ACTED HABIT ADDED FIGHT
BEIGE BATCH BITCH FACED
CHIEF CADET CAGED FAITH
DICTATE DITCHED

These two groups have some properties. The first eight words of each group always
contain 5 letters. The last word of each group always contains 7 letters. In each group, each
line starts with a different letter: T, then A, then B, then C, then D.

5
Finally, all these words have been written with a very limited set of letters, and each letter
has a value (its position in the alphabet):

letter A B C D E F G H I T

value 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

Once you have memorized these two groups and the letters’ values, you can make it seem
like you have perfectly memorized the first 10,000 decimals of Pi.
Let’s go back to the script and see how to perform the first two effects.

«Take this book, open it at any page and tell me the page number at which you are. I’ll try to
remember the first digits of that page.»
These instructions are very simple and direct. The spectator will give you a page number
between 2 and 147. We will also address some exceptions afterwards, they’re very rare and
easy to manage.

• Page between 2 and 147

Take the page number and mentally subtract 50 until you obtain a result between 2 and 47.
Here are some examples:
32 remains 32
82 becomes 32 (82 - 50 = 32)
132 becomes 32 (132 - 50 - 50 = 32)
You obtain a result that we will call X.

If X is odd, you will use the Odd group.

Take the digit for tens in X. It will be either 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4. Translate it into a letter,
depending on its value (A = 1, B = 2, and so on). This letter tells you which line to use in
this group. For example, if X is 13, the digit for tens is 1, which you translate into an A,
which tells you that you will use the line starting with an A (ADDED FIGHT).
Next, take the digit for units in X. It gives you a starting point on the line. For example, if
X is 13, the digit for units is 3, so you will start at the 3rd letter on line A.
Now that you know your starting point, you just have to recite the value of this letter, then
the value of the next two letters. In our example, X is 13, you start at the 3rd letter on line A,
so you will announce 4 5 4 (DED).

6
Here are some more examples:

35
The tens are 3, so you start on line C (CAGED FAITH). The units are 5, so you start on the
5th letter of this line. You will announce 4 6 1 (D F A).

29
You start on the 9th letter of line B and you announce 5 4 3 (E D C).

11
You start on the 1st letter of line A and you announce 1 4 4 (A D D).

Since the words of lines T, A, B and C all have 5 letters, you can easily find the position of
any letter on these lines. Same thing with line D, whose word always contain 7 letters.

If X is even, you will use the Even group.

The rest of the procedure is the same. Let’s see some examples:

14
The tens are 1, so you start on line A (ACTED HABIT). The units are 4, so you start on the
4th letter of this line. You will announce 5 4 8 (E D H).

36
You start on the 6th letter of line C and you announce 3 1 4 (C A D).

20
The tens are 2, so you start on line B. The units are 0 but you cannot start with the 0th letter
on this line. So you will start with the last letter of the previous line. In our example, you
will announce 0 2 5 (T B E).

The idea of reciting values while decoding words can seem difficult at first, but you will
get used to this mental gymnastic.

7
Now let’s see some exceptions. If you manage your spectator properly, if you’re not in a
conflict with him and if he is neither stupid nor mean, these cases will be very rare. Even if
they occur, you will see that they are very easy to manage.

• Page 1
In general, if the spectator chooses page 1, he is trying to trick you, because this is the
beginning of Pi: 3. 1 4 1 5 9 2 6 5 3...
This is not a problem. When he tells you that he is on page 1, just say it is too easy because
it is the beginning of Pi, then ask him to go elsewhere in the book to make the
demonstration more interesting. You can also decide to memorize the first ten or twenty
decimals of Pi so you can recite them if he chooses this page.

• Pages that, once reduced, are worth 0 or 48 or 49

In these cases, you know the spectator is trying to trick you, because these pages are either
blank or chapter beginnings! Now you can reveal that fact, then use another spectator and
ask him to go elsewhere in the book to make the demonstration more interesting.

• Pages between 151 et 189

These pages are beyond the bookmark indicating the section you said you hadn’t
memorized yet. The spectator is trying to trick you. Again, remind him you haven’t
properly memorized this section yet, use another spectator and start over.

Effect 2
«In fact, it’s quite easy because it’s the beginning of the page. Let’s try something harder. If I tell
you N O P Q R, you recognize N O P Q R as a segment of the alphabet, right? And once you know
where you are in the alphabet, you can keep reciting: S T U V...»
To introduce the second effect, I use this brilliant example suggested by Pit Hartling in his
excellent book Card Fictions. Pit was inspired in this by Roberto Giobbi, and this
dramatization is coming from J.N. Hozinser. Once the spectator understands the idea, you
can transpose it to Pi for the second effect.

«It’s the same with Pi. In my head, I have a sequence of 10,000 digits. If you give me a string of 5
digits, anywhere on any line on any page, it will give me a position in Pi and I’ll try reciting the
rest from there.»
This second phase is much stronger and freer than the first one. If you just give the first
digits of a page, people might think there is a mathematical link between the page and its
first digits. By offering to recite Pi from any place in the book, you promise a very
impressive feat.

8
«Does it make sense? Go ahead, give me 5 consecutive digits, one by one, anywhere on any page. 6
9 7 8 0?»
Listen carefully to the digits given par the spectator. Translate them into letters, with the
same values as before:

letter A B C D E F G H I T

value 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

Next, try and find where is this sequence of letters in your groups of words. In our
example, 6 9 7 8 0 gives us FIGHT.
Now that you know that the spectator is on the word FIGHT, you can keep reciting from
this position. FIGHT is followed by BITCH FACED, so you announce 2 9 0 3 8 6 1 3 5 4. In
this way, you can recite your words until the end of the Odd group.
If you want to continue reciting values, it is very simple: continue with the words of the
Even group.

The Odd group and the Even group alternate regularly between pages 2 and 147, so you
recite Pi until the end of page 147 if you wish. You will start repeating yourself after
reciting both groups completely, but nobody will notice, because nobody can memorize
everything you recite.

«I’m going to keep reciting; if I’m wrong, don’t be nice, tell me I’m wrong and I’ll try to correct
myself, ok?»
It is very important that the spectator is a good «confirmer» otherwise the audience will
think that you are announcing random numbers. Make sure the spectator understands
that he must stop you if you make a mistake.
If you make a mistake, no problem, stop at that point, correct your mistake and being
again.

«I can go until the end of the book so stop me when you’ve had enough...»
I would suggest that you recite about 60 to 70 digits. To do this, no need to count in your
head, just recite digits until the spectator has to turn the page to follow you, then recite a
dozen digits more. The moment when the spectator turns the page to follow you is very
strong for the audience, because it confirms that you are really reciting the content of the
book, and that you recite so many digits that you go on to the next page!

9
There are two rare cases where you will not be able to find a match between the sequence
given by the spectator, and your groups of words.
In the first case, it is because the spectator chose digits on the first page of the book, which
contains the real decimals of Pi. When you realize this, you can reveal that he is on the first
page (which is an impressive revelation) then ask him to take another 5-digit sequence
elsewhere in the book.
In the second case, it is because the spectator chose digits beyond page 147. You can
confirm that by looking at the bookmark. If you see it sticking out from the same side as
the book’s front cover, you know the spectator is in the wrong section so you can ask him
to take another 5-digit sequence elsewhere in the book.
These two exceptions are rare if you manage your spectator properly, if you’re not in a
conflict with him and if he is neither stupid nor mean.

Effect 3
«You remember, at the beginning I said that everything can be found in Pi. Your credit card
number, your biography, the last image you’ll see when you die... your birthday too.»
You introduce the third and final phase by circling back to the discussion you had at the
beginning.

«For example, my birthday is 16th of October, so that would be 1 6 1 0. I looked it up, it’s around the
60,000th decimal, so I know it’s not in this book.»
Your birthday is used as an example to announce the demonstration. In fact, all dates can
be found between pages 151 and 189 but, regardless of your birthday, say that yours is not
in the book. It reinforces the credibility of the book.
In addition, since you said you haven’t properly memorized the section beyond the
bookmark, you have a good reason to be a bit slower and to take your time to do the
simple math that is described a bit further.

«Tell me your birthday; I’ll try to remember if it’s in the book (I can promise it’ll be) and if it is, I’ll
try and tell you the page, the line and the position on the line where you can find your birthday. You
were born on the 12th of April? Ok, so we’re looking for 1 2 0 4... if I remember correctly, it’s in the
book... it’s at page 163... line 2... end of line 2. Is this correct? Perfect!»
Here is the method to find the spectator’s birthday. First, if he was born on the 31th of a
month, pretend to search your memory then announce, appearing to be sorry, that his date
is not in the book; it is true, it is not in the book. Then you can ask a date to another
spectator, or ask the same spectator for a different date that is meaningful to him.
If the date is not a 31th, here is what you mentally do.

10
Take the spectator’s month and multiply it by 30. You can make easier by multiplying by 3
then by putting a 0 at the end of the result. For example, September becomes 270 (9 x 30).

Then add the day to this result. For example, if the spectator was born on the 16th of
September, you obtain 286 (270 + 16).

Whatever the final result is, you will see it as a 3-digit number ABC. A is for the hundreds,
B for the tens, and C for the units. Here are some examples:

date A B C

16th of September 2 8 6

4th of January 0 3 4

27th of November 3 5 7

To get the date’s page, add 150 to AB. For the 16th of September, you get 150 + 28 = 178, the
page on which you can find this date. For the 4th of January, you get 150 + 03 = 153, the
page on which you can find this date. For the 27th of November, you get 150 + 35 = 185, the
page on which you can find this date.

To get the date’s line, simply take C. The 16th of September is on line 6 of page 178. The 4th
of January is on line 4 of page 153. The 27th of November is on line 7 of page 185.

11
Finally, if you want, you can even announce the date’s position on the line. There are only
three options: beginning of the line, middle of the line, end of the line. To avoid obvious
repetitions, dates are not always on the beginning of a line. Their position depends on the
value of C:

C line position on the line

1 1 beginning

2 2 end

3 3 middle

4 4 beginning

5 5 end

6 6 middle

7 7 beginning

8 8 end

9 9 middle

0 last beginning

The positions alternate: beginning, end, middle, and so on. So you don’t have to memorize
them, they can be inferred.

12
Let’s see some more examples:

• 1st of January: 0101

30 x month = 30. Plus the day (1), you get 31, or 031 in 3-digit format ABC. 150 + AB = 153,
and C = 1. The sequence 0101 can be found on page 153, line 1, at the beginning of this
line.

• 10th of June: 1006

30 x month = 180. Plus the day (10), you get 190. 150 + AB = 169, and C = 0. The sequence
1006 can be found on page 169, last line, at the beginning of this line.

• 6th of October: 0610

30 x month = 300. Plus the day (6), you get 306. 150 + AB = 180, and C = 6. The sequence
0610 can be found on page 180, line 6, in the middle of this line.

• 24th of December: 2412

30 x month = 360. Plus the day (24), you get 384. 150 + AB = 188, and C = 4. The sequence
2412 can be found on page 188, line 4, at the beginning of this line.

These operations can seem complicated at first but it just requires a bit of training so that it
becomes more fluid and intuitive.

Jérôme Damien created an app for iPhone so you can practice the effect.
It's free and here is the link to get it: http://is.gd/ApplePi

Isidore Buc created an app for Android so you can practice the effect.
It's free and here is the link to get it: http://is.gd/PiAndroid

13
Answers to two frequent questions
Since I created the first version of Pi, some magicians have had recurring questions.

1. Does this book really exist?

If a spectator decides to check that the book you are using is a real book and he goes on the
internet, searching for the title 10,000 decimals of Pi or its listed author (Nina Chevendt), he
will find that there is indeed a book like yours. And if he wants to buy it, he will receive an
identical book, except it will contains the real decimals of Pi.

2. What if the spectator checks Pi on the internet?

The fear that a spectator will use internet to check the content of the book is a false one, for
several reasons.
The first effect (in which you remember the first digits of a page) cannot be disproved by
internet, because even if you can indeed find websites listing decimals of Pi, no website
can confirm that the first digits of a page in this book are the correct decimals or not.
For the second effect, internet cannot help the spectator check if you are really reciting Pi.
If someone wanted to check, he would have to find a website listing at least 10,000
decimals of Pi, then find the chosen 5-digit sequence in it, then verify that the following
digits are the same as the ones you are reciting. And he would have to do all this while
following your effect, and without you noticing.
For the third effect, the trap is the same as for the first effect. You announce a page, a line
and a position on the line for his birthday. These things are specific to the book you are
using so they cannot be disproved on the internet.

14
Note on date format
Since there are some many different cultures in our world, not all of us have the format
convention when it comes to writing the date. At least 50% of the planet uses the DMY
(Day/Month/Year) format: in this system, the 16th of September 2016 is written
16/09/2016. About 4% of the planet (including the USA) uses the MDY format: in this
system, the 16th of September 2016 is written 09/16/2016. When I added the birthday
ending to my Pi routine, I had to make a choice about the date format, and I chose the
most widespread system, DMY.
However, if you are performing for people who are used to the MDY system, it is not a big
problem. During the third and final effect, when you ask for somebody’s birthday, ask for
the day first, then the month, naturally creating a DM order, instead of the MD order your
audience is used to. It makes sense that you would memorize things a certain way and
that you cannot change afterwards.

15