| this trick into Genii. We took pictures with a Polaroid camera. The idea was that I |
| would take the pictures back home with me, write up text to go with the trick and send |
| it back to Mr. Larson to put into Genii. That is what I did and that is what he did. |
| A couple of things happened at this point. When Mr. Larson started shooting pictures, |
| I decided to use the pick up move on the first two coins instead of using it only once. |
| This was a very risky step on my part. It has worked out very well for I have |
| performed it that way since then. The other issue was what to name it. Karrell Fox |
| was around and he suggested I should name it Al-Ternating coins. That was a good |
| idea. However, I was majoring in physics in college and the rectangular arrangement |
| of coins and cards suggested the name Matrix, which is a rectangular array of numbers |
| in math. When I typed it up that October I typed, Matrix by Al Schneider, at the top of |
| the paper. And so it began. |
| I was not prepared for what happened. In the following year, I went to a few |
| conventions. I would sit with the audiences at the close-up tables and every performer |
| would perform Matrix. I did not know what to say. I sat and watched it. No one |
| seemed to realize that it was my trick being performed. Either that or I was too |
| embarrassed to look around to see if anyone noticed I was there. |
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