Pseudo-Methods Explained For Magicians

Here’s the dictionary definition of pseudo-:

When it comes to magic, a pseudo-method is a seemingly genuine method given to an audience, obvious or otherwise, for a magical effect. It's not about pretending you're using magic powers; it's about giving your audience a believable method for a trick which still feels magical. Probably the most common pseudo-method is telling a spectator you’re reading their body cues to figure out which card they chose when you’re really just doing a pinky-break.

When should you use a pseudo-method?

Well, spoiler alert: The end of the post will explain why I think you should always use a pseudo-method. But let’s start with the six reasons why magicians historically choose to use a pseudo-method. Then, we'll break down the three types of pseudo-methods successful magicians use all the time.

1. To be more believable: Sometimes, magicians want their magic to be as believable as possible. Because if people believe what you’re doing is real, they won’t look for a method.

2. To misdirect from the actual method: Sometimes, a pseudo-method is more engaging and exciting than the real method. Trying to figure out which physical cues Derren Brown uses to tell if someone is lying prevents you from looking for the true method.

3. To be more impressive: Most of the time, a pseudo-method can be far more impressive than the actual method or even the trick without any explanation. Pretending that you are memorising a deck to accomplish a trick might enhance it.

4. To tell a better story: Your pseudo-method might be part of a broader story that’s more important to tell than leave the audience with nothing but a puzzle. Perhaps your story is that you practised one particular skill daily while waiting for the bus as a child.

5. To get an audience on your side: People like to feel included and smart. Letting people in on an apparent method is a fast way to connect and disarm an audience.

6. To get more comments: Pseudo-methods have a knack for triggering comments, and comments trigger the algorithms to send your content out to more people.

What are the three types of pseudo-methods?

OK, we’re getting into it now. There are three categories of pseudo-methods you should consider applying to your magic…

Open: This is a pseudo-method that is undeniably visible to an audience. A great example of an open pseudo-method is the bullet catch, in which the audience is forced to believe the magician is catching the bullet for real. A coin bite is another example where we’re forced to believe a chunk is bitten and spit back onto a coin. The magician does not need to tell you what the pseudo-method is for you to understand what you're supposed to believe is happening immediately.

Exposed: These are pseudo-methods that you explicitly describe to an audience – usually delivered as part of a script. Quite often, a magician performs a trick, then reveals the pseudo-method and repeats the trick. Without the exposed pseudo-method, the trick would still be fooling, but it might be more impressive once the pseudo-method is exposed – a mind reader might tell the audience they know what you're thinking because they're reading your body cues.

Closed: This is a pseudo-method that is neither of the above but is indeed in place. A closed pseudo-method is essentially a pseudo-method purely for the performer. It helps streamline their delivery. It’s important to note that closed pseudo-methods do not need to live within reality. For example, a closed pseudo-method could be that your hands expel magnetic currents to move a deck of cards. By making that decision and believing it, this will enhance your performance.

The Best of The Best

Jonathan Goodwin consistently and brilliantly applies open pseudo-methods. Whether he’s smashing a glass jug with a single shot of a crossbow over his shoulder blindfolded or escaping from under thousands of stone pebbles, he’s not exposing anything because the trick itself is presented as the pseudo-method.

Derren Brown uses exposed pseudo-methods to connect with a British audience that likes to be in on the secret, tell better stories, and be more impressive. He’ll even pretend he spent six months subconsciously programming someone to pick a particular object.

David Blaine is the king of closed pseudo-methods. Whenever Blaine does anything, he has absolute conviction in his execution, even when we’re not sure what’s going on in his mind. When he levitates or bends a coin or makes a card rise out of the deck, you can tell that in his mind, you get the sense that he has fabricated a miraculous closed-pseudo method, which he believes in 100%.

Why do I believe every trick deserves a pseudo-method…

You need to believe what you are doing is real, even if it’s magic. To do that, you need to know how or why you can do it. Even if that secret is impossible. Perhaps when you levitate a dollar bill, you tell yourself you have magnetic charges between your fingertips.

Why is this closed one worth doing? We don’t really have charges between our fingertips, so what’s the point? Consider how it might look if you used a different closed pseudo-method. Perhaps you believe you can lift the bill off the table using the power of meditation. Or that your eyes can lift anything they focus on — Suddenly, you’re performing three different effects entirely.

Closed pseudo-methods do not need to be implausible. You might believe you’re reading someone's body movements to figure out a card. Or you can work it out by asking them unrelated questions. You’re not telling them this is how you’re doing it, and it’s not open or exposed. But by giving your performance that direction, suddenly, it’s a little more believable and streamlined.

Andy Nyman, Derren Brown's co-writer and co-director, coined the term "focess" a long while ago (combining the words "fake" and "process"). Nyman has an acting background and encourages magicians and mentalists to consider the fake process playing out during a routine. I'd always assumed "focess" was a closely-guarded term until I met a magician in The Netherlands who'd heard Nyman lecture it once.

I feel that acting out a closed pseudo-method like this guarantees you’re not just thinking about the true method or trying your best to hide it. Instead, your internal dialogue is focused on telling a great story, even if that story is implausible. By determining and labelling your pseudo method, you’re also avoiding confusion.

We’ve all seen magicians read someone’s mind, combining multiple supposed pseudo-methods that don't seem believable when used together.

Don't do this. If you're reading someone's mind to tell them what their PIN code is, it might be believable if you're basing it on the way they move their eyes. Still, it becomes less realistic when you base the next number on how they say the numbers aloud, the next on how they hold their phone, and the final one on what they say they had for dinner last night—pick a lane, don't dance around.

Invent a pseudo-method for your next trick, even if it’s just for you.