"Pick A Card. Any Card." Misdirection in the Magic Arts

“Magic is the only honest profession. A magician promises to deceive you and he does.”
~Karl Germain

Misdirection is a form of deception in which the attention of an audience is focused on one thing in order to distract its attention from another.*

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What is it we love so much about being fooled? It's fascinating to see a talented magician in action. He makes a coin disappear right before your eyes. "How did he do it?" The coin re-appears under your dinner plate. How did that happen? You write your name on a dollar bill and he makes it disappear. Later you find it in your pocket. Or inside an uncracked hard boiled egg. Or some other impossible place.

I can't tell you how it was done, or I'd have to kill you. What I do know is that misdirection is a central ingredient in all magic performances. The past few years I have enjoyed being in the Duluth Dylan Fest circle not only because of our shared appreciation for the music of Bob Dylan, but also because of our shared fascination with the magic of John Bushey, host of KUMD's Highway 61 Revisited. Whether at a private party, or riding the rails on the annual Blood On The Tracks Express, it is not uncommon to find that John has armed himself with his "bag of tricks" and there will be a little entertainment offered at some point during the evening.

That entertainment break is a form of theater. It's especially thrilling because of the intimacy of the occasion. There's nothing quite like being three feet away when a master magician is at work.

Before going any further, I am going to ask you to select a card. Think of that card. Write it down if you need to. Remember it well.

Misdirection uses psychology and neuroscience to control peoples' perceptions. Here's a short TED Talk showing misdirection in action. You will see the four principles of misdirection outlined: eye contact, confidence, a big action, and good story telling. (The TED Talk is actually here.)

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One good thing about this trick is that I'm not going to pick your pocket. When we're done here today you will still have your wallet, your watch and your jewelry.

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Are you still thinking about that card? Was this your card?

Here's an example of Penn & Teller doing a trick using misdirection. (Do not try this at home.)

A lot of people don't know that Steve Martin began his entertainment career as a teen doing magic at Disneyland. He quickly learned that you have to be entertaining in order to stop people in their tracks long enough to watch the show. You can't do misdirection if you can't first get their attention. Here's Steve Martin in his role as The Great Flydini on the Tonight Show.

In his autobiography Born Standing Up, Steve Martin wrote that he had been on the Tonight Show 17 times before a single stranger said, "Aren't you that guy who was on the Tonight Show?" Fame is not something that happens overnight. 

Watching The Great Flydini brought to mind for me the old Banana Man routine that Captain Kangaroo used to do way back when. Note how both these entertainers rely on the unexpected to keep our attention. For many of you this is way before your time. Amazing how much history has
been preserved for us now on YouTube.

Do you still remember that card? If not, don't worry about. I've forgotten what it was, two. How much do you want to bet that it's right here in front of your face?

There's a reason I went down this path today. I hope to share that secret with you soon. And may all your days be magical.

* Wikipedia