Misdirection (magic)

In theatrical magic, misdirection is a form of deception in which the performer draws audience attention to one thing to distract it from another.

The term describes either the effect (the observer's focus on an unimportant object) or the sleight of hand or patter (the magician's speech) that creates it.

It is difficult to say who first coined the term, but an early reference to misdirection appears in the writing of an influential performer and writer, Nevil Maskelyne: "It consists admittedly in misleading the spectator's senses, in order to screen from detection certain details for which secrecy is required.

The other approach re-frames the audience's perception, distracting them into thinking that an extraneous factor has much to do with the accomplishment of the feat when it really has no bearing on the effect at all.

The magician uses this to manipulate the audience's ideas or perceptions of sensory input, leading them to false conclusions.

In World War II, British military intelligence employed stage magician Jasper Maskelyne to help devise various forms of misdirection such as ruses, deception, and camouflage.

Magicians who have researched and evolved misdirection techniques include Max Malini, John Ramsay, Tommy Wonder, Derren Brown, Juan Tamariz, Tony Slydini,[8] and Dai Vernon.