Alain Nu's 2nd special has now aired (and will repeated back to back on Sunday with his first special - check your local listings).

The one routine that caught my eye on this special was the prediction done for the girl who wanted to visit Rome. Alain asked her to choose an age at which she imagined taking her dream trip to Rome. He then scribbled something down, and only after he was finished, did he ask the girl for her age.

He turned around the sheet, and the number was nowhere to be found on the sheet of several numbers. Or rather, it was everywhere, as the numbers were arranged in a manner such that they totaled her chosen number (44, BTW) in all the row, columns, diagonals, four corners and more!

It's not my place to say how he was able to obtain the right number, but the magic square (as they are known) make for fascinating study. If you're interested in learning more about magic squares, here are some great links:

Grand Unified Square Theory (My review of Harry Lorayne's April 2005 Genii article on magic squares)
Mark Farrar's e-book on Magic Squares
Mark Farrar's Magic Squares pages
Grogono's Magic Square site
My Mentat Wiki article on Magic Squares