In theatrical magic, misdirection can be described as a form of deception where the performer attracts attention of the audience to a certain object to divert attention from something else. Controlling attention of the audience is the aim of all performances, and the most important requirement of all magic acts. It doesn’t matter if the magic is a “pocket trick” variety or the stage is a major productionmisdirection is the main element. The term describes either the effect (the eye’s attention being drawn to an object that is not important) or the sleight-of-hand and patter (the magician’s voice) that causes the illusion.
It’s difficult to determine who coined the phrase, however an early reference to misdirection appears in the writing of an influential author and performer, Nevil Maskelyne. it consists of misleading the senses of the audience to hide from detection certain details for which secrecy is required. Around the same time, magician, artist and author Harlan Tarbell noted, Nearly everything about sleight-of-hand depends on this art of misdirection.
Magicians who have studied and evolved techniques for misdirection include Max Malini, Derren Brown, Juan Tamariz, Tony Slydini, Tommy Wonder as well as Dai Vernon.
Henry Hay describes the central act of conjuring as manipulating interest.
Magicians can divert attention from the audience in two basic ways. The first is to make the audience look away for a fleeting moment, so they don’t detect some act or gesture. The other approach re-frames the viewers’ perceptions, leading the audience into believing that an extraneous factor can be a factor in the success of the trick but it actually has no bearing on the outcome in any way. Fitzkee explains that the most effective magic is the ability that he displays in manipulating the mind of the audience. Additionally, sometimes a prop like the magic wand can aid in misdirection.
In the absence of it, even the most proficient sleight-of-hand or mechanical device is not likely to create an illusion of genuine magic. In reality, misdirection is the bedrock of almost all successful magic.
Misdirection uses the limits of the human mind to give the wrong picture and memory. The brain of a typical spectator can only focus on one thing at the time. The magician uses this to influence the viewers’ thoughts or perceptions of sensory inputwhich leads them to incorrect conclusions.
Some magicians have debated the use of the term, “misdirection,” causing plenty of debate about the meaning of it and how it works. The exceptional illusionist Jon Finch drew a distinction between misdirection and direction. One being a negative term, while the other is a positive. In the end, he sees both as one thing. If a performer, by any means, has led the mind of his audience to the conclusion that he has done something that he’s not done, he’s wrongly guided them into that beliefand, consequently, misdirection.
Tommy Wonder has pointed out that it is much more effective, from the magician’s point of viewto focus on the purpose of directing attention to the audience. He writes that misdirection implies an untrue direction. It suggests that attention is diverted away towards something. By constantly using this term, it eventually becomes so it is ingrained into our brains that we may begin to see misdirection as taking our attention away from rather than towards something.
Slydini explained that if the magician believes that, the audience will believe it, and magicians are something that they cannot see. The trick is to accept what the magician says and then follow the magician. resource