A hypothetical Venn diagram might be made with one circle for skillful, knowledgeable magicians, a second for people who are passionate about physics, and a third for those with a puerile sense of humor. Harapan Ong exists perfectly in the center of the area of overlap between all three circles.
I first had the pleasure of meeting Harapan when he was studying in London. He was a regular at The Magic Circle, where I can often be found on a Monday evening, and would be socializing in the clubroom, wowing London’s magicians. As an added bonus, at that point he hadn’t published the critically acclaimed Principia, so everything he did was both surprising and novel, met for the first time in performance rather than prose.
Since Harapan published Principia a lot has changed for him. He now has a career to maintain, a family to care for, and two daughters to raise, all of which led him to wonder whether he still has time for magic. Family x Man is the answer to that question, a collection of four main effects, each with a variation, as well as a couple of bonus items.
Genii is delighted that Harapan agreed to offer our readers a taste of its contents: one of the main routines, Off By 4! As you read, keep that Venn diagram in mind as you are transported to the intersection between cleverly constructed magic, physics nerdery, and a particular sense of humor.
—By Will Houstoun
Off By 4!
An excerpt from Family x Man by Harapan Ong
Effect
The spectator selects a card (e.g., Ace of Hearts). The magician then removes a prediction card previously placed in the card box—it is shown to be the Five of Hearts.
Just when the spectator thinks the trick has failed, the magician makes good on the prediction by revealing that there is a second part to the prediction—on the back of the Five of Hearts, the words “I will be off by 4!” are written on it, proving that the magician was correct all along, as the value of the Five is indeed “off by 4” from the Ace, which has a value of one.