Misdirection Lines

Jun 23, 2011
92
0
Quito, Ecuador
Hi I need some help with misdirection. I have big trouble before and during the execution of a control (example: Orbit, clipshift) because I can't really create an offbeat to perform the sleights safely. My only resource is the one taught in the orbit control video: telling the audience I have a 50% chance to guess the color of their card. I really need some more, Please help me.
 
Nov 19, 2010
125
0
A very strong form of misdirection can come from just eyesight not any type of lines. Lets say your doing the orbit control and right after inserting the card you make eye contact. Right their you should be good, because in their mind you just put a card in the deck and there is no reason to look at your hands but in your mind you know it's time to do "the move" so during the move give eye contact do your control and move on. Most likely your getting caught because your staring at your hands doing that makes your audience do the same. Misdirection can help but your sleight must be able to handle without it. I suggest you practice everything to a level where 90% is the sleight and the 10% is just the misdirection that could possibly not even be needed. So basically misdirection is important but you can't ever completely rely on it.
 
Aug 2, 2011
150
0
California
I really like the book, Five Points In Magic by Juan Tamariz. It isn't all about misdirection, but it is a must have for every magician.
 
Sep 1, 2007
723
2
Really? If there's nothing worth watching over there, why watch it? spectators may suspect and therefore reactions will be smaller because they can remember the moment where you misdirected them

[facepalm]

+10 internets to decisive.

Anyway- it sounds like you don't need misdirection, you need to get away from the move. If your hands are on the cards right after a selection is made, then of course the spectators won't look away. That's the most obvious time to do something! Instead break the action up- get away from the heat and selection and control it later.
 
Aug 17, 2010
411
4
Slydini was called the "Master of Misdirection" for a very good reason. The Annotated Slydini also has a bit on this.

Aside from the many good recommendations here, see if you can find something on acting technique, specifically "throwing focus".

Some things that work for me is asking a question of a spectator, or cracking a joke (my go-to one is "hey, don't watch that closely - I'm not that good), Or use a bigger action to cover the smaller one, like turning to address a spectator on your other side.
 
best line that will fool them every time, "are those keys in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me" ;) and don't forget the wink. Just be careful when performing in San Francisco, it may backfire on you...I learned my lesson :\ haha
 

Jay Adra

Elite Member
Jul 11, 2011
332
3
Australia
www.jayadra.com
Really? If there's nothing worth watching over there, why watch it? spectators may suspect and therefore reactions will be smaller because they can remember the moment where you misdirected them

You're so right... damn, and I thought that one was foolproof...

Oh! How about this then: "Don't look over there! There isn't something really interesting going on over there!" And then if they look and it's nothing you can't be blamed for telling them to look at nothing, because you specifically told them not to.

In all large amounts of seriousnessness, just ask them a question and make eye contact. Unless they're not trusting you at all and burning your hands constantly, they'll look up and answer. The question could be as simple as "you remember your card?".
 
Sep 2, 2007
1,186
16
42
London
An interesting thing about misdirection is that you don't have to misdirect the eyes, just the mind. In other words, providing your audience are thinking about something else, they can be looking straight at your hands and still not spot anything provided your movements are smooth and relaxed enough. On that basis, a line like, "Now, you need to watch closely, I don't want you to miss anything", executing the sleight on the word "watch", can work well, if you deliver the line with enough authority, as if it's a genuinely important instruction. People's mind goes into "accepting instruction" mode (that's not the official psychological description, but you get what I mean), so they wait until the end of the sentence before enacting what you've asked them to do. It's a similar idea to the psychological stop force from ECT, where you use the timing of your instruction to indicate where they should stop you.
 
Jun 1, 2009
1,066
6
My favorite is just looking at them or talking to them. It's fairly simple. Scripting your tricks will help too, so that way you can talk while you're doing the sleight. In my "Joker's Wild" routine, after the second card is lost, I start talking about how the joker is a wild card. As I'm doing that, I look at all the spectators and casually cut the cards on the table, not really bringing any attention to them. Another fun one is while I'm setting up for the "two into one" rubberband effect, I set up right in front of them, but I look around at the ceiling or the wall or something and mumble. When I come back, they were all looking where I was, it's very hard not to laugh at that when I'm performing.

Just talk, be casual, and release tension when a sleight needs to happen.

Jacob
 
Jun 23, 2011
92
0
Quito, Ecuador
An interesting thing about misdirection is that you don't have to misdirect the eyes, just the mind. In other words, providing your audience are thinking about something else, they can be looking straight at your hands and still not spot anything provided your movements are smooth and relaxed enough. On that basis, a line like, "Now, you need to watch closely, I don't want you to miss anything", executing the sleight on the word "watch", can work well, if you deliver the line with enough authority, as if it's a genuinely important instruction. People's mind goes into "accepting instruction" mode (that's not the official psychological description, but you get what I mean), so they wait until the end of the sentence before enacting what you've asked them to do. It's a similar idea to the psychological stop force from ECT, where you use the timing of your instruction to indicate where they should stop you.

That's really interesting, it creates an offbeat while the spectators look at your hands. Very useful, Thanks
 
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