The 100 List, 40-59 …
the next 20 memory characters
Time to meet the next twenty memory characters. Remember, these are the ones I’ve chosen to put in my memory list. You’re welcome to use any or all of them in your memory list, just as you wish, but it’s far better to make your own 100 List. It’ll be personalised, and that much more memorable. And it’s a pretty safe bet that some of my memory characters won’t mean a thing to you anyway.
But stick with this for now, so that you get the idea. Once you understand how the 100 List works and what it’s used for, you can get busy and construct your own 100 List. This batch takes us past half way. See, I told you it wasn’t much! Take a look at them and, who knows, there might even be a few memory characters in there that you recognise, and would like to use.
Meet your characters!
See them holding up a banner or placard bearing their number, or bearing a two-digit number tattoo, or speaking their number aloud. Doing this will place them more firmly in their number slot, so that whenever you hear a particular two-digit number, the character you’ve assigned to that number will instantly pop up in your mind.
George Formby could be cleaning windows … or racing a motor bike … or riding a horse … or playing the ukulele … or playing the fool any way you want. Very versatile, our George, oh aye! Turned out nice again! 😉
THE 100 LIST, 40-49 | |||
No. | CHARACTER | UNIQUE ACTION | MEMORY NOTES |
40 | Eric Bristow | playing darts | 'darting' about |
41 | Prince Charles | planting a tree | ceremoniously, or digging |
42 | WC Fields | juggling | |
43 | Charlie Chaplin | big, shabby shoes | 3rd marriage was in '43 |
44 | Freddy Krueger | slashing, metal claws | four metal fingers |
45 | Winston Churchill | smoking a big cigar | WWII ended in '45 |
46 | George Formby | cleaning windows | made Britain laugh |
47 | Steve Davis | playing snooker | famous for scoring 147 |
48 | Yvette ('Allo 'Allo) | straightening seams | 48 ... her bra size? 🙂 |
49 | Old Mother Riley | with mop and bucket | Film, New Venture, '49 |
Make your links creative and humorous
It’s not always enough to link one character to another in a logical way, although there will be times that’s all you have time to come up with. What you really want is to make your links funny, or weird, or bizarre. Even unusual isn’t enough – you want zany, off-the-wall, absolutely ridiculous!
If you’re linking 42 to 47, that’s WC Fields and Steve Davis, but you don’t just want to see Fields playing snooker on your mental screen. No, not good enough. Not good enough at all. There must be scope to make something of that situation …
THE 100 LIST, 50-59 | |||
No. | CHARACTER | UNIQUE ACTION | MEMORY NOTES |
50 | Tommy Cooper | with bottle and glass | 50% comic, 50% magician |
51 | Frankie Howerd | eating an apple | fruit seller, "The Ladykillers" |
52 | Don Corleone | peeling an orange | death omen, "The Godfather" |
53 | The Queen | putting her crown on | the coronation was in '53 |
54 | Rolf Harris | painting a huge mural | using a very wide brush |
55 | Albert Einstein | solving equations | Einstein died, '55 |
56 | Uncle Jed | whittling a stick | |
57 | John Lennon | playing piano | Heinz 57 tin open on the piano |
58 | Frankie Fraser | playing a machine | ran a gambling company |
59 | Old Steptoe | tearing newspaper | for the outside 'karzy' |
A cast of thousands
Well, a hundred anyway. But that hundred memory characters will play thousands of roles over a lifetime as your memory list develops. Every time you remember a long number, or use the characters to link to a string of facts of any kind, they will be interacting in ways you can’t even imagine yet.
And that’s why you’ll remember them – because each and every time they make an appearance on your mental screen they will be in a new situation, doing different things, using slightly differing props, linking to different characters, and extending a whole new story.
They will be your personal cast, subject to your direction, ready and eager to play any role you specify, and to do precisely what you tell them. Don’t go carried away and go power mad, but have fun with them! This memory list of yours is a powerful thing, but with great power comes great responsibility! 😉
This cast of one hundred characters is infinitely changeable, infinitely variable, infinitely interesting, and most importantly of all, infinitely memorable. So pay attention to all the details that come to mind with each one.
Make use of all their individual traits, and keep linking them in ever more creative ways. With that attitude in mind, this memory list, your own personal 100 List, will open the door to feats of memory that even you will find amazing.
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