In the world of theatrical illusion, misdirection is a form of deception where the performer attracts attention of the audience to a certain thing to distract it from something else. Managing audience attention is the aim of all theatre, and is the primary need of any magic act. If the magic is of an "pocket trick" variety or an extensive stage production misdirection is the main key to the success. The term refers to either the effect (the eye's attention being drawn to the unimportant object) or the sleight of hand or the patter (the magician's speech) that causes the illusion.
It's difficult to determine who first coined the phrase, however an early mention of misdirection is found in the writings of a renowned performer and author, Nevil Maskelyne: Admittedly, it consists of misleading the senses of the audience to hide from detection certain details for which secrecy is required. At the same time, magician and artist Harlan Tarbell noted, Nearly the whole art of illusion relies on the art of misdirection.
Some magicians who have studied and evolved techniques for misdirection includes Malini, Shin Lim, Juan Tamariz, Tony Slydini, Tommy Wonder, along with Dai Vernon.
Henry Hay describes the central conjuring process as a manipulating interest.
A few magicians divert attention of the audience by using two fundamental ways. The first is to make the audience look away for a fleeting moment, so they aren't aware of a sleight or move. Another approach alters the viewers' perceptions, leading the audience into believing that something else can be a factor in the success of the trick even though it isn't a factor in the result in any way. Dariel Fitzkee explains that the true skill of the magician is in the skill that he displays in manipulating the spectators mind. In addition, sometimes, props such as the magic wand can aid in distraction.
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In the absence of misdirection, even most skilled sleight-of-hand or mechanical gimmick will fail to produce an illusion of strong magic. Undeniably, misdirection is the essence of most compelling magic.
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 uses this technique to alter the viewers' thoughts or perceptions of sensory input and lead them to make false conclusion.
Magicians have debated over the usage of the term, "misdirection," causing a great deal of discussion regarding what it is and how it operates.
Expert magician Jon Finch
identified a difference in misdirection from direction. One is a negative word as opposed to the other, positive. Ultimately, he equates the two as the same thing. If a performer, through some means, has directed the mind of the audience to the conclusion that he's done something which he has not done, he has wrongly led them to believe this; hence, misdirection.
Tommy Wonder has pointed that it's more effective, from the magician's perspective, to concentrate on the goal of directing attention to the audience. He writes that misdirection implies the wrong direction. It suggests that attention is directed away from something. Through constant use of this phrase, it eventually becomes so ingrained in our minds that we might start to perceive misdirection as directing our attention away from rather than toward something.
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Slydini said that if the magician believes it, the audience will believe it, and the magic they can't perceive. The trick is to believe what the magician does and then follow the magician. misdirection site
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