28, Jun 2022
How Can Magicians Misdirect The Spectators

In theatrical magic, misdirection can be described as an art of deceit in which the performer attracts attention of the audience to a certain object to divert attention from another. Managing audience attention is the aim of all theatre, and is the primary need of any magic act. It doesn’t matter if the magic is a “pocket trick” variety or an extensive stage production, misdirection is the central element. The term describes either the effect (the eye’s attention being drawn to an object that is not important) or the sleight-of-hands or patter (the magician’s speech) that creates the illusion.

It is difficult to say who was the first person to coin the phrase, however an early reference to misdirection appears in the writing of a renowned magician and writer, Nevil Maskelyne: Admittedly, it consists of misleading the senses of the audience to hide from detection certain details for which secrecy is required. Around the same time, the magician, artist and author Harlan Tarbell noted, Nearly everything about illusions is based on the art of misdirection.

Magicians who have studied and evolved techniques of misdirection are Malini, David Blaine, Juan Tamariz, Slydini, Tommy Wonder along with Dai Vernon.

Henry Hay describes the chief act of conjuring as a manipulation of interest.

Magicians can divert attention from the audience in two primary ways. One causes the audience to look away for a fleeting time, so that they do not notice a trick or movement. The other method alters the perception of the audience, lulling them to believe that some other factor has much to do with the performance even though it does not have any bearing on the result in any way. Dariel Fitzkee explains that the most effective magic is in the talent of his performance in changing the mind of the audience. Additionally, sometimes a prop such as a magic wand aids in confusion.

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Misdirection makes use of the limitations of the human mind to present a false image and memory. The brain of a typical spectator can only focus on one thing at a time. The magician uses this to manipulate the viewers’ thoughts or perceptions of sensory input, leading them to false conclusion.

Magicians have debated the use of the term, misdirection, creating many discussions about the meaning of it and how it works. Expert illusionist Jon Finch drew a distinction between misdirection and direction. One is a negative word, while the other is a positive. Ultimately, he equates both as one thing. If a performer, by any means, has led the mind of the audience to conclude that he has done something that he’s not done, he has wrongly directed them into this belief; hence, misdirection.

Tommy Wonder has pointed out that it’s more effective, from the magician’s point of viewin focusing on the positive aim of directing the attention of the audience. He writes that misdirection implies wrong direction. It suggests that attention is directed away towards something. By constantly using this term, it eventually becomes so ingrained in our minds that we begin to perceive misdirection as directing the attention away from instead of toward something.

Tony Slydini said that if the magician believe that, the public will believe in it, and magicians are something that they cannot perceive. It is true that people believe in what the magician is doing and then follows the magician. misdirection website