At the end of October 2020 a group of well-known maths communicators (Zoe Griffiths, Samuel Hansen, Matthew Scroggs, Ben Sparks and Katie Steckles) organised a twenty-four hour marathon of maths magic, running alongside Mark Watson’s 24-hour comedy show Watsonathon and aiming to raise money for the charity Turn2Us which helps people in low-income jobs & gives out emergency grants, and the Comedy Support Act, supporting comedians and other performers who have little/no income during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. It was presented via Katie Steckles’ YouTube channel.
I was contacted by Zoe who asked if I’d like to take one of the 48 half-hour slots. You can see the result in the player below! This is just my bit; a playlist will be created shortly that will allow you to watch the entire 24 hours. I’ll update this page with a link to that when it is released.
My “trick” was to ask Katie to pick a 2-digit number, raise it to the fifth power and tell me the result. I then – quick as a flash – worked out her original number. Then I told her how I did it!
It was amazing to be in such auspicious company as Matt Parker, Susan Okereke, Ayliean MacDonald, Bobby Seagull, Colin Wright, Vicky Neale, Rob Eastaway, Eugenia Cheng, and Hannah Fry