World Famous Magicians

In the world of theatrical magic,misdirection can be described as an art of deceit in which the performer is able to draw attention of the audience to one item to distract them from the other. Managing audience attention is the goal of every theatre,and is the primary need of any magic act. It doesn’t matter if the magic is the “pocket trick” variety or an extensive stage production that relies on misdirection,it is the primary secret. 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 the patter (the magician’s speech) that creates the illusion.

It’s difficult to determine who was the first person to coin the phrase,however an early reference to misdirection can be found in the writings of a renowned writer and illusionist,Nevil Maskelyne. it is a method of distracting the senses of the audience in order to screen from detection certain details that require secrecy. At the same time,the magician,artist and author Tarbell noted,Nearly the whole art of illusion relies on the art of misdirection.

Many magicians who have studied and refined misdirection techniques include Max Malini,Derren Brown,Tamariz,Tony Slydini,Tommy Wonder as well as Dai Vernon.

Henry Hay describes the central conjuring process as a manipulation of interest.

Many magicians divert attention of the audience in two basic ways. One causes the audience to look away for a fleeting moment,so that they aren’t aware of a trick or movement. The other method alters the perception of the audience,lulling the audience into believing that some other factor can be a factor in the accomplishment of the feat even though it does not have any bearing on the effect at all. Fitzkee says that the true skill of the magician is in the talent that he displays in manipulating the minds of the viewers. Additionally,sometimes a prop such as the magic wand can aid in the misdirection.

Without mastery of Misdirection makes use of the limitations of the human mind to give the wrong picture and memory. The brain of an average audience member can only concentrate on only one thing at a given time. The magician makes use of this technique to alter the viewers’ thoughts or perceptions of sensory input and lead them to make false conclusions.

Magicians have debated over the usage of the term,”misdirection,” causing plenty of debate regarding what it is and how it operates.

Renowned magician Jon Finch made a distinction in misdirection from direction. One is a negative word as opposed to the other,positive. In the end,he considers both as one thing. If a performer some method,has influenced the mind of the audience to the conclusion that he has done something which he has not accomplished,he has incorrectly guided them into that belief; hence,misdirection.

Tommy Wonder has pointed out that it’s more effective,from the magician’s viewpoint,to concentrate on the purpose of directing the audience’s attention. He writes that misdirection implies an untrue direction. It implies that attention is diverted from something. When we keep using this term it becomes it is ingrained into our brains that we begin to see misdirection as taking our attention away from rather than toward something.

Tony Slydini explained that if the magician believes that,the audience will believe in it,and the magic they can’t observe. Misdirection is true when they believe in what the magician is doing and then follow the magician. source