Dave Farrow

Dave Farrow
Dave Farrow in 2011
Born	David Andrew Farrow (1975-01-10) January 10, 1975 (age 50) Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)	Memory coach Entrepreneur Self-help author Professional speaker
Spouse(s)	Andrea Lee Zakel (m. 2008)
Children	1
Parents	G.Wayne Farrow Virginia Farrow
Awards	Guinness World Record for Most Decks of Playing Cards Memorized in a Single Sighting (1996) Guinness World Record for Most Decks of Playing Cards Memorized in a Single Sighting (2007)
Website	davefarrow.com

David Andrew Farrow (born January 10, 1975) is a two-time Canadian Guinness World Record Holder for Most Decks of Playing Cards Memorized in a Single Sighting, entrepreneur, memory coach, speed reader and keynote speaker. He is best known for winning the Guinness World Records for Most Decks of Playing Cards Memorized in a Single Sighting in 1996 ^[1] and again in 2007 ^[2] when he set out to reclaim his record after it was beaten in 2002. The initial record was set at the Guinness World Records museum in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada while the latter was performed for Discovery Channel Canada at CTV Television Network studios. ^[3]

Early life

Dave Farrow was born on January 10, 1975, in Kitchener, Ontario, to Wayne and Virginia Farrow. Born into a blue-collar family, his father Wayne is a retired factory worker, who dealt in space shuttle parts and his mother Virginia is a homemaker.

At the age of 14, Farrow was enrolled into Eastwood Collegiate Institute, a public high school in Kitchener. Farrow has an older sister, Kathy, who was born in September 1973.

Guinness World Records

Dave Farrow setting his second Guinness World Record for Most Decks of Playing Cards Memorized in a Single Sighting at CTV Television Network studios in April, 2007

At the age of 21, Farrow received his first Guinness World Record for Most Decks of Playing Cards Memorized in a Single Sighting in 1996 where he memorized the order of 52 decks of playing cards, randomly shuffled together, and recalled them correctly under Guinness Record rules (a total of 2704 cards) in a single sighting. ^[4] Years later in 2002, Dominic O'Brien broke his record by memorizing 54 decks of cards. Farrow broke the record again in 2007.

He memorized on single sighting, a random sequence of 59 separate packs of cards (3,068 cards), which took around 14 hours to memorize. Farrow later recalled these cards at CTV Studios, Daily Planet , and the recall took approximately 9 hours. While undertaking this feat, Farrow made just one mistake during the entire attempt. This successful record is featured in the Guinness Book of World Records, 2009 edition. ^[5]

Personal life

Farrow first met his wife, Andrea Lee Zakel at Toronto's Polaris Star Trek convention in 2004. They were legally married in 2008 at Toronto City Hall and had their wedding at Backus Mill Heritage and Conservation Centre. They currently live in Buffalo, New York and have one son, Alexander, born in April 2014. ^[6]

References

• Archive.org 2009 Kitchener Record article

1. Guinness Book of World Records, 1997 edition
2. Guinness Book of World Records, 2009 edition
3. "Most decks of playing cards memorised in a single sighting". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on June 13, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
4. Guinness Book of World Records, 1997 edition
5. "Most decks of playing cards memorised in a single sighting". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on June 13, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
6. "Birth of Alexander Farrow". Dave Farrow. Retrieved June 8, 2015.