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No matter how good you are at slight of hand you always need to be able to distract your audiance just for that one split second to "get your move in." There are great one liners and actual moves with the cards you can do to distract a viewer and keep them hooked on your show.

Remember like everything with magic: EYE CONTACT!!!
If you look at someone it makes them want to look back.
(Why do you think David Blaine barely ever blinks?)

Example of something to say right after someone has picked a card:

Is it (name any card)??
(This works for almost every routine as long as you are not forcing a card)

If you guess the right card: You have a minor miracle on your hands. Eighther continue with the trick or call it quits there. I personally keep going to generate/add even more amazement.

If you guess the wrong card: Say, " I out of fifty- two times, I'm bound to get it someday" That gives you more than enough time to distract the viewer. Usually they laugh and from there you can continue with the routine.

Example of something to do to distract the audience:

Tell them to take the top card and hold it backside up. Then tell them to slowly turn it around. Ask them if its their card. It obviously isnt but in that time you just manuvered their original card anywhere you wanted in the deck. They will always laugh at you because they think that you have messed up but as soon as you finish the routine the effect will be even stronger because you took them from thinking you were an amateur to actually thinking you are a magician.

Both of these examples I have used in performances and are effective no matter how juvenile they sound. Just remember magic is only 50% of the effect the other 50% is where you add your own style. These two examples will hopefully improve your timing. They are just my way of expressing my unique interpretation of performing. My question for you is. What punchlines/actions do you use to throw off your audience?

Thanks for reading

I think there are generally three rules of misdirection, i cant really remember where i got these but they are all well known in common

1. If you believe in what you are doing, the audiance will also believe it

2. Motion covers motion ( I think this was actually one of Dai Vernon's)

3. The eyes of a spectator follow yours

I usually try to incorporate any times I need misdirection in to my patter or story telling. Maybe ask them to picture their card in their mind or distract them with some story telling, in one of my routines I explain how I train my cards to be like famous magicians and the card they've picked in my houdini card. This give me plenty of time to get up to all sorts of mischief.

At the end of my hopping coins routine I've taken to adding a final load into my hand once it is empty and the coins have vanished.

I just ask the specs what they think is in my hand, and every time, without fail, somebody says nothing.

At this point I look him straight in the eye and say 'Ahh, so you've seen this trick before then?' Everyone else looks at him, he's looking at me, and I take an orange, lemon or whatever else I can get my hands on and load it, in full view of everyone, into my hand.

There is also some good advice in Jay Sankey's book, Beyond Secrets.

For a masterclass in "re-direction" you must read "The Books of Wonder" by Tommy Wonder.

These contain what I believe to be the best instructional essays on the subject.

I think that the most important thing is that any distraction is subtle and fits in with what you're doing at the time. Just a simple phrase or question can be one of the best. Remember that if you're performing close up, the spectator can only have a small area in their field of vision at any time. If they're looking at your face, they're not going to be able to see your hands.

Another brilliant piece of misdirection that I use all the time if I've got a number of specs or one who is really refuses to take his eyes off my hands is to get the spec to sign a card. At that point everyone's eyes will be on the spec and you've got plenty of time to do whatever you need to do.