Misdirection: Where can I buy that?

[Chris Martin]

Misdirection? Where Can I Buy That?

This is about all of the crappy “misdirection” that I’ve seen in some videos.
Lately I have seen a lot of what I call, “forced misdirection.” This is when the magician forces the spectator to look where they want them too. By this I mean the magician is practically taking the spectators head and turning it away while he/she does their move. In case you’re skeptical, this is bad! Too much misdirection can ruin a performance! You’ll make your audience feel like the dog that you keep pretending to throw the ball but you don’t and the dog chases after nothing! Misdirection is, once again, a technique improved mainly by performance. But there are things to know and tips for when you use it.



The first thing I will talk about is too much misdirection. You don’t want to make them think that you did the move while they weren’t looking, but while their burning your hands and that they have no doubt they followed you all of the time. That’s the beauty of misdirection, is that they don’t know it happens. This is where implied misdirection comes in. You want to give the audience a choice if they want to be misdirected or not. I know, it sounds crazy, but it does work. Let me give you an example. Lets say you need to ditch a gimmick into your pocket, (for this example 1= terrible misdirection 2= good implied misdirection) 1= the magician swings the arm without a gimmick way out to the side and says “look here!”, and ditches it. Yes it works, but it is crude and the audience might not know exactly what you did, but they know that something shady happens then. 2= the magician makes a little eye contact and slightly moves his hand into the audiences view. This is a good method because the audience doesn’t have to make eye contact with you, they choose to. They feel like their in control and have watched every movement of yours. You’re giving them the option to be misdirected. They feel, once again, in control. This is a good feeling for your audience seeing as they always feel like their one ahead but in reality, you are. Not only will they feel in control, you will get better reactions.


Here’s a real life situation that occurred recently to me. I was outside and my friend has seen all of my new magic and he’s demanding to see more. Being the nice guy that I am, I decided to make one up on the spot. I grabbed a rock and did the French drop; he said “I know how you do that!” I said “just wait” and looked him in the eye. He gave me a skeptical look and I tossed the rock right off to his side. He didn’t even see it! I then showed both hands empty and he freaked out. See the possibilities you have when you use this misdirection? This is a good tactic that I always use. It helps a lot and is very full proof. As it seems in all my articles, you just need to get out there and try it. Have some fun with it too! Thanks for reading!