The Natural Misdirection Magic Method

One of the great things about One Ahead as a publication is that we get to go in-depth in our teachings of principles and magic subtleties.

While magic shops could easily get torn apart in the reviews section if they ever released a product that relies heavily on misdirection — our readers understand that many of the best magicians in the world have entire illusions and tricks that depend on misdirection as the only method.

When we think about misdirection, a term used beyond magic, we often think of the obvious “look the other way” idea. In cartoon form, that’s a person literally pointing in the opposite direction. In the stereotypical magic form, it’s a glittery dancer shimmying around on the other side of the stage.

In reality, great misdirection ends up being much more straightforward. The mist instinctive it is for the audience, the better. And instinctive things tend to be very very simple.

What most magicians don’t consider when they hear the term misdirection thrown around in an occasional magic tutorial is that there are many types of misdirection. One straightforward variation is called time misdirection, in which the performer simply puts time between two actions. If you have ever performed the cross-cut playing card force, then you have practiced time misdirection. I’m sure Gaia Elisa Rossi will write about effective psychological misdirection for One Ahead someday – another incredible type of misdirection. I remember being delighted when I discovered that audiences naturally look where you look, so if you want to stop them from watching your hand, stop looking at your hands and look them in the eyes — your spectator will do the same.

Anyway, onto my favorite form of misdirection: natural misdirection. I won’t lie; I like this variation because it makes people like me, who work behind the scenes on TV magic shows, feel like total geniuses. You can even see Stuart MacLeod, one of my favorite magic producers, visibly delighted when he comes up with a form of natural misdirection on Netflix’s Magic Prank Show.

What is Natural Misdirection?

Natural misdirection is a type of misdirection in which the spectator misdirects themselves and is not directly led by the magician. The simplest way to think about this is that the misdirection is a result of the spectator's actions, not a direct result of the magicians. Because of this, the misdirection also feels more “natural” because it happened by the spectator's justification.

Start by considering what we might see as a very typical form of misdirection — the magician holds up their right hand and focuses on it intently as they make one card vanish and reappear in their hand.

Now consider this simple form of natural misdirection: The magician asks the spectator to hold out their hands, so they place the items in their hands and then hold them out flat.

The natural misdirection here comes in the moment in which the spectator has to put down the objects that are already in their hands. Perhaps the magician chose a spectator who was already holding their phone, or the objects were items the magician gave them to hold earlier in the routine.

I really love this example because it is so devilishly simple, and it’s enhanced by something you did way earlier — giving them the object. Sure, asking your friend to hold out their hand might misdirect them slightly, but most of us are capable of holding out a hand without being very distracted. But, if at the top of your trick, you take the cards out of the box and hand your friend the box to hold — wow, what a way to set things up such that when you ask them to hold out their right hand (whichever hand is holding the box), they’re forced to momentarily hand the box to the other hand before holding it out flat.

Another example: The spectator has chosen a card at random, and you need to perform a top change to switch your precision to its matching pair card. So, you look up from your hands, look them in the eyes, and even lean in and perform the top change during a bigger sweeping body movement.

Now, what if instead of having to do the above, earlier in the routine, when the spectator chooses their card, you ask them to put it somewhere safe? This means when it comes time to misdirect, you can simply ask them to retrieve the card again, creating a natural moment of misdirection. The rest of the group will also naturally look to the place where the card was hidden, like a back pocket.

Yes, they are retrieving the card because you instructed them to, but it is the justified action itself that’s naturally causing the misdirection. You’re asking them to do something that feels justified, and the misdirection is a result of that action.

Okay, what about a trick in which one spectator makes three decisions, and after each decision, you must complete a secret sleight?

One of my favorite forms of natural misdirection is to get the spectator to help you choose someone else. Instead of having one spectator make all the decisions, get each one to make one decision and then choose someone else. During this second moment, they will naturally look around the group, and the group will naturally do the same or look at the spectator. This creates time for any secret moves. When the final spectator makes their decision, ask them to confirm they do not know each other, and they’ll naturally look around again.

Some super simple and reliable forms of natural misdirection would be signing a playing card or showing the card to a group of friends or the camera. If you watch TV specials closely, there are some brilliant examples of famous magicians asking celebrities to show chosen cards to their friends and the camera while the magician is happily switching out the entire deck.

I’ve worked with TV magicians over the years who have implemented some of the most amazing and devilishly simple examples of natural misdirection.

One time, a magician would ask a spectator to retrieve a pen to create some natural misdirection. Upon rehearsing this, they decided they needed to increase the level of misdirection, so what did they do? They added some more pens, asking the spectator to retrieve the black pen from the cup of different-colored pens.

A very straightforward form of natural misdirection I’ve used repeatedly on TV shows is getting a spectator to sign their contributor release. When someone is signing a form or reading an agreement, you can switch almost anything in the room they are in.

The example used in Netflix’s Magic Prank Show is actually revealed on screen. The team is trying to work out ways of ensuring that the spectator does not look up as they walk through a tunnel and step into a waiting car. The group decided that a simple form of natural misdirection would be to make them focus on where they are placing their feet. They do this by making the ramp they walk down wobble slightly, and it works perfectly. Instead of looking up, the spectators naturally keep an eye on where they’re stepping after reacting to the initial wobble caused by their footsteps.

Coming Up With Natural Misdirection

So, if you have a move or a sleight that you’d like to do under the cover of misdirection, here’s what you need to consider if natural is the way you want to go.

Firstly, step backward from that moment of misdirection.

Natural misdirection works best if it is set up far in advance. Take the example of a spectator retrieving a chosen card from their pocket—that only works because they put it there earlier. If, at that point in the routine, you asked them to do something else, it might not feel as justified.

Think of this as a sort of boomerang. What is the thing you can set into motion earlier that will come back in a great way at the exact moment you need it?

For the Netflix example, the team did not need to work backward much to note that the spectator was walking toward the car. Noting this moment leading up to the required misdirection gave them the idea to make the walkway wobble and cause distraction.

What is happening in the moments leading up to the necessary misdirection? Is your spectator walking onto the stage? Have they just handed you something, put something away, made a decision, etc.? Working backward through these steps will help you come up with options, but be sure to work your way all the way back to the beginning of the routine.

Usually, it’s the actions early in the effect that can become boomerangs, and it’s actions later that you interfere directly with.

Next, note all of the props, the environment, and the people in play. If nothing immediately jumps to mind, consider adding something.

You might add a request for the spectator to sign a card or place something inside a box to create natural misdirection.

One of the most famous magic tricks I ever had the pleasure of working on was an absolute nightmare until I suggested that we use two spectators instead of one. With two spectators in play, there were suddenly so many more opportunities for natural misdirection.