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Hi guys,

I've learnt a few things to do with directing attention, and I've recently got Tamariz's five points, and it's a very good book which has taught me quite a bit, but it's a bit on the short side, in my opinion. And I know some people will probably refute that and say that less is more, and maybe it is, but in the case of misdirection, surely the more techniques you have, the less obvious your misdirection will be, because you won't be using the same few techniques over and over again?

Can anyone suggest some good books or dvds on misdirection, that cover the subject in a bit more depth? A book that pretty much focuses soley on directing attention?

Regards,

Liam

the thing with misdirection is, its something that changes from person to person, and trick to trick.
Nelms offers good advice in showmanship,anything published by or about Slydini will have tons of advice, as do vernon, and Ammar.But, The bottom line is you have to taylor it to suit your own personal timing and body posture,and movements.

It's not so much a matter of misdirecting an audience, as it is a matter of direction. I think Stong Magic (Darwin Ortiz) has something to say on this.

Slightly different to misdirection. But Kenton Kneppers Secrets of Indirection is an excellent work. It has been reviewed on here

sutra86998.php

You really need to begin with:

Magic By Misdirection

by Dariel Fitzkee.

If you do not want to purchase the actual book a pdf form of it is obtainable (very cheaply) from Lybrary.com

Allen Tipton

Gary Kurtz's "Leading with your head"
Tommy Wonder's "Books of Wonder"

Study videos of Slydini to see the concepts Tamariz wrote about in action.

Regarding the mix of technique and misdirection, you might want to read and study Darwin Ortiz's "Designing Miracles". Basically, it analyzes the construction and design of tricks to maximize the illusion of impossibility. I've read it a few times cover to cover myself...

All great stuff above, esp. Books of Wonder.
Pocket Power by Jarle Leirpoll is excellent. As well as being an outstanding magician he has a background in TV and film and has much to say on the subject of directing attention. Several extremely well presented effects, too, but the meat of the book is on directing attention. The really great thing about these explanations is that Jarle goes into the "why", not just the "what" - the mechanics of where people look and where their attention is focussed.
There's a great section on misdirection from the master himself in "Magic Page By Page".

I have a long way to go in this area, and there aren't many good sources that I've seen. One of the things that wasn't obvious to me (even though it's written in lots of books I'd supposedly read) was that people can be made to feel uncomfortable when misdirected - a more sophisticated version of "ha ha, made you look". I now always try to provide some reward for them focussing where I want - so the idea is to create a flow between points of genuine interest, rather than a way to cheat them into looking away from the real action. It's obviously both, but I've found being more considerate gets a better response. Also makes you think a lot more from the audience point of view, which is great. I think the real masters can get away with almost anything. Page's card under glass is a short, funny and slightly brutal use of misdirection (not direction) for comic effect, that's well worth looking up. I think it's on his lecture DVD and one of the secret seminar DVDs maybe? It's in Page by Page too, I think. He goes on about Heba Haba Al being able to do this to the same guy all night in slightly different ways, with it (of course) getting funnier every time.

Tommy Wonder, (Slydini), Vernon, Tamariz, Ortiz have all been mentioned; They ought to be researched by anyone seriously into magic in their own right.

Personally I am not a massive fan of Nelms or Kenton Knepper, although I know they are esteemed. It's been a long time since I read 'Magic and Showmanship' and I do remember it had a section on Misdirection, but that is all I remember. Evidently whatever it did say did not profoundly resonate with me and revolutionize my misdirection skills.

I would value any advice from Allen Tipton and I have heard many great things about Fitzkee. Fitzkee's book looks more specifically like what you are after.

My own recommendation for someone contemporary who has put out very decent material specifically on misdirection would be James Brown.

Finally, I would say perhaps nothing new and thus, probably, counsel long ignored- namley that learning comes mostly from real world practice, a little charm, confidence, a commanding personality, a reasonable guage of where attention is and generally common-sense (e.g. Not being nervous when doing what you are trying to misdirect, Not being blatant about misdirection or not just completlety failing to have planned to focus attention elsewhere, not having no misdirection at all), having practiced the move or whatever needs to be done surreptitiously and last but not least, a healthy dose of opportunism... Formulaic, clever ruses and theories perhaps have their merits, but they ought to be primarily refinements and improvements above all else.



(Ps: Some great place to observe marvellous misdirection and the techniques of masters at it include advertisement, Politics and The Media.)

hedges wrote:One of the things that wasn't obvious to me (even though it's written in lots of books I'd supposedly read) was that people can be made to feel uncomfortable when misdirected - a more sophisticated version of "ha ha, made you look". I now always try to provide some reward for them focussing where I want - so the idea is to create a flow between points of genuine interest, rather than a way to cheat them into looking away from the real action. It's obviously both, but I've found being more considerate gets a better response.

If the spec knows they're being misdirected, it isn't really misdirection, it is just haha, made you look...

Once, i thought of writing something on how to learn Misdirection.
But i felt that nobody would pay for a piece of paper with the words.....

how to learn to misdirect correctly ... Spend 6 months doing it wrong, and learn from your mistakes.

on it.

Liam you might care to look on Leirpoll's Misdirection Resource Centre
Below is a quote from same.
Allen Tipton



'MISDIRECTION - YOUR MOST POWERFUL TOOL

Sent out May 9th 2000


I honestly believe that understanding Misdirection is the single most important thing for every magician. If you know a few magic secrets and some basic moves, you can fool some spectators most of the time. But if you have a thorough understanding of how Misdirection works, then you can truly mystify all of them, all the time!

ATTITUDE
One basic Misdirection technique is attitude. If you treat something as if it's important, they will pay attention. And if you pretend it's not important, they will focus their attention elsewhere.

Example:
In my "Card in Mousetrap" routine, I arm the mousetrap as the spectator is shuffling the cards. It's not hard to draw attention when you're arming a mousetrap! (Will he hurt himself..?) This gets the shuffling spectator's attention away from the deck, where she could find something sneaky. Also, when I give the spectator the deck for shuffling, I just hand her the deck and move on to something else. It looks like I don't care about the deck.

Here, two principles work together. My Attitude is that the deck is not important - the trap is. Also, my Attention is focused on the trap, and that leads their attention there too.

ACTIVE AND RELAXED
This is one of the really, truly GREAT techniques that can be found in Gary Kurtz' book "Leading With Your Head". If you hold out a deck of cards, spreading them to show that "there are no extra aces" and then relax as you square them up, you are going from an ACTIVE to a RELAXED state.

This is when you should do your secret move! The importance of doing the move on the relaxation has also been addressed by Christian Chelman. Chelman tells us to do the move as we breathe out. It's basically the same thing. When you exhale, you relax, and your audience's attention is momentarily dropped.

CHOREOGRAPHY
I'm also a firm believer in using choreography and body language to cover moves. There's nothing that can hide your moves better than physical cover. Carefully planned body movement can provide you with that kind of cover. Of course, you need logical reasons for your body movements, but those reasons are really not so hard to come up with.

Example:
In my "Norwegian Travelers" routine, I need to get a break under the top two cards in the deck. This is simply done by pushing off two cards and pulling them back while the little finger obtains the break. Simple, but not invisible... I use my body for physical cover. I have the spectator that signed the cards to my left, and I make a left body turn as I drop my hand with the deck. My right hand gives something for the spectator to hold (my reason for turning my body). Behind my leg, no-one can catch the move.

There's a whole chapter on Choreographic Misdirection in my book "Pocket Power". You can also read an article that I wrote for Magic Magazine on my web pages at http://www.leirpoll.com/choreography.htm" target="_blank

Note that the article in Magic was changed a little by the editors - the version on my web pages is MY version - uncut!

THEY LOOK WHERE YOU LOOK
Another basic rule of Misdirection. Most magicians know it, but not everyone has grasped the true potential of it. When I use the pockets for switching, ditching and stealing, I use this principle extensively.

If you really want to study the power of this principle, take a look at Juan Tamariz' "Double Crossing the Gaze" switch. (It's described in my book and video "Pocket Power".) When you try this for real people, you will see how they follow your gaze while you do the dirty work under cover of some natural looking actions!

On my web pages you can view a video of "Toilet Paper to Egg" from my book "Pocket Power". Click here to find the book and the video sample: http://www.leirpoll.com/pocket.htm" target="_blank

WANT TO READ MORE ABOUT MISDIRECTION?
Then I would like to direct your attention (no pun intended) to two books. One is "Leading With Your Head" by Gary Kurtz. This book is my all time favorite! I think it is the best magic book ever written! I had read all the classic books on Misdirection, but I didn't quite grasp it. Then I read "Leading With Your Head" and suddenly got it! Where other books tell you how to "do it on the off-beat", Gary tells you how to CREATE the off-beat. What a difference! This is the only book I've read seven times.

Here's a link to Leading With Your Head on my web pages, where you can read more about it (and even buy it.) http://www.leirpoll.com/leading.htm" target="_blank

The other book I want to recommend is my own (shame on me...). I think my approach to Misdirection in "Pocket Power" is unique. As a cameraman and editor for film and TV, I have a comprehensive knowledge of the techniques that film makers use to direct our attention around the silver screen. What I've done is to adapt these techniques to magic and Misdirection, and it works wonders! Here's the link to the Pocket Power Book again: http://www.leirpoll.com/pocket.htm'" target="_blank

kartoffelngeist wrote:

hedges wrote:One of the things that wasn't obvious to me (even though it's written in lots of books I'd supposedly read) was that people can be made to feel uncomfortable when misdirected - a more sophisticated version of "ha ha, made you look". I now always try to provide some reward for them focussing where I want - so the idea is to create a flow between points of genuine interest, rather than a way to cheat them into looking away from the real action. It's obviously both, but I've found being more considerate gets a better response.

If the spec knows they're being misdirected, it isn't really misdirection, it is just haha, made you look...

I guess the core of what I'm saying is, nobody likes a smartarse.

So Liam--all in all--Most of the Main Basics involved using Misdirection are:

1. You must know your routine & the props involved--thoroughly
2. Be able to perform it smoothly. No hesitations, hums and er's. Question yourself on Pace & Timing.
3. In Close Up keep everything looking & sounding--as 'natural' as possible.
4. Have confidence in yourself and your performing persona
5. Use your eyes, your head, your body position,your gestures, your smile, and your patter which must flow.
6. With patter-write at least--a rough script.
I prefer an exact one (allowing for the odd alteration during performance conditions) KNOWING your script gives you time to think, especially if someone interrupts
or something in the routine is not going completely according to plan. Learn your script till you know it inside out. Then the trick is being able to deliver the patter
as THOUGH FOR THE FIRST TIME. Actors do this every night of the year, all over the world. It is just another technique. Every so often RE LOOK at your script and see
if it needs updating, cutting or revising in some way. A good rule for the routines too!
7. Try to carry out the move, the handling on the off beat.
8. Avoid like the plague--TELEGRAPHING the move.
This occurs when there is; with lack of rehearsal, preparation, and 1,,2,3,4 ,5 & 6 above.
9. NEVER embarrass any spectator or make him/her look stupid or feel uncomfortable,

Johnny Ramsay once said to me when I was a teenager.. 'Look into THEIR eyes lad. Ask a question. And as you do --make the move.'

If you are performing Close Up Magic--you will find much good PRACTICAL advice--all gather from years of experience in the book:

'Close Up Presentation' by John F. Mendoza. Published by The Presto Place, Iowa, in 1979.

Well worth trying to find a copy

Allen Tipton

Allen Tipton wrote: 'Look into THEIR eyes lad. Ask a question. And as you do --make the move.'

And that there has got to be just about the best piece of advice on the subject.

Maintain eye contact (which is the reason that I always practice performing for a poster), act casual, calm and there's no reason for the spec to suspect that you're doing anything sneaky.

Yes Lady of Mystery--a good idea.
It sound silly but even a row of toys gives you 'someone' to play to.

Rehearsing Magic has always been (in most cases) a solitary occupation.
Why do we always rehearse alone?
Once you have planned, learned and tried out the routine why not ask a most trusted friend to watch it--several times.
Then you have a live and friendly audience.
Ask him/her what they think.NOT just 'fine', 'OK' 'Looks all right'. ASK WHAT DOESN'T LOOK RIGHT. You may be surprised at their answers.
Put anything right--then ask him/her to watch you again say 2 --3 weeks later

Far more useful than rehearsing in front of a mirror.
Mirror rehearsals have their uses BUT remember--you are seeing things the opposite way around--and you are LOOKING and therefore NOT CONCENTRATING FULLY on what you are actually doing. Timing & Pace especially are thus, distorted.
If you want to check a move /handling you need 3 mirrors--joined together. 1 in front and one each side of you.
Certainly if if you work Close Up--the small expense is worth it.
Buy a roll of Plastic Mirror (Amazon UK for one supplier) Cut 3 pieces of thick card or better still 3 pieces of hardboard and glue 3 lengths of the plastic mirror to these..
Then hinge, with carpet tape, the 3 mirrors together. You have a sort of 'old fashioned Dressing Table Mirror' to work to.
A view from 3 sides

Some of the Great Masters of Illusion (including, I think the late Doug Henning) had 3 large mirrors, on castors, so they could view themselves from all angles.
Mirrors have always been used in Ballet Studios for the same reasons.

Allen Tipton