Gary Kurtz - Misdirection

8/9/2019 Gary Kurtz - Misdirection

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MISDIRE TION

ND

DIRE TION

Keys to the mplification

of

the Magic Effect

G RY

KURTZ

ONTENTS

2 Introduction 2

3 The Importance of Misdirection 3

3 Visu

al

Noise

3

4 Opennessand t he Open Posit ion 4

6 Coord ination

of

Actions and

the

Priority

o f Movements

6

6

Economy o f Mo t

io n 8

9

Active

and

Relaxed States 9

The Natural Of fBeat

Creating

the Of fBeat 2

3

Regaining

Attention

3

4

The Eyes

4

5

Verbal

Misdirect ion 5

6Naturalness 6

7

Directing

Audience

Attention 7

6

Principals

Elements 6

2

The

Prime Focus:

The

Remembered Effect 2

Final Words

En t ir e contents Copyright 96 9 by Gary Ku rt z

Al l R ights Reserv

ed


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INTRODUCTION

WHYANOTHER WRITTEN TREATISE ON THE RTOF

MISDIRECTION?

First 01all ,

because I feel mi

sdir

ection an d dire ction of a ttention

are majo r skil lsof the magicians craft , skills whi ch unfortunately

are often u nd erstood o nl y a s up erf ic ia l level i f not c om pletely

misunderstood). Misdirection has noth ing

to

do

with

distraction

It has everything to

do

with

c on tr o ll in g a nd

directing attention

.

Secondly, it has been my experience in st udyi ng other

performance arts , that on e te acher may r epeatedly tell you

somethi ng an d y ou mig ht sti ll fai l to

grasp

the concept. Another

teacher might then tel l you the sa me t hi ng s in a slightly different

way , a nd it ca n l ea d to a rev el atio n, a s ud de n u nd erstan di ng of

the principles involved.

I m hopi ng

th en , that the way in wh ich I

articulate things might lead you to a

deep

er understanding of our

art.

Lastly, part of the e mp hasi s in thi s man us cri pt is on the two -fol d

purpose of being ab le to

man

ipulate the audience s attention :

Misdirection aids

In

deception Direction

draws

attention

to

Important

elements

, All the techniques puttogether give you the

tools to control and man ip ul ate w ha t yo u w an t the a ud ie nc e to

see

For me, thi s has pro ved to be far more satisfying an d

useful

than

compet ence in manipulative technique alone. As in all t he oth er

arts, phy sical tec hn iq ue s are o nl y the first pa rt of b eing an

artist.

To cont rol your audience s attention, pe rception and memory of

what they ve seen - n

ow

those are the real techniques of magic.

THE IMPORTANCE

OF

MISDIRECTION

I hav e

secret ass istant...He r name is Miss Direction.

-J o h n Ra msey

Misdirection /direction play s a

major

role in ele vating the mag ician

from trickster to magician. Personally, I

almost

neve r

do a move

without misdirection , even though I a m technically quite

c ompe te nt. Th e rea so n for thi s i s tha t , in

the

w ords of E rdn ase :

Not only shouldn t they see anything, they shouldn t suspicion

anything.

For me t he n, m is di rection is not just a cover for the

moves, but a pre caution aga inst suspicion, to keep suspicion

from ever entering the

audi

ence s minds. O nl y w he n there is no

trace of suspicion can t he re be a s us pe ns io n of disbelief. Only

when there i s a sus p en s io n o f d isbelief, can th ere be

magic .

Ah , wh ere to b eg in?

V isual N oise

V isual noise is a fairly self-explanatory p hrase: Its tiring , and

even annoying, to watch: A performer

who

gestures Wildly, as he

shifts his

body

weight from foot

to

foot , c onstantly shuffling

and

riffling his de ck of cards as he talks a

blue

streak . It creates

confusion , and, it can be d et ri me nt al to t he proper set-up and

execution of m is di rective/directive actions: With a performer

constantly on the

move

, the audience

d oe sn t k no w what

to

watch : Sh ou ld they be wat ching

yourhand

s to mak e sure you re

not

doing something funny?

Or should they , as soc ial huma ns do

by instinct, look at you w he n you re talking ?

Its our responsibility to mak e

our

wo rk as easy as poss ible for

ou r a ud ience to wa tc h and enj oy ; to let t hem know what is

important and what is unimportant.

You can be an extremely en erg etic performer, and still be in

perfect control.


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OPENNESS

AND THE OPEN POSITION

What I refer to as the

pen

Position is one where the audience

can see, in the ir peripheral vision , all of the elements in play. and

they can see that everything is fair and above board.

Example: When perterming card magic, hold the deck loosely in

your motionless , extended hand when you talk. This way you can

talk to

the

audience without their attention being spl it between

you and what y ou r h an ds are doing. You can still be very

animated y

our

free

hand

, face

and

voice, just don t be

constanlly riffling

and

shuffling the cards.

My suggestion is that

y handleyour

props well away from

your

body , very openly, and with as l it tle movement as possible ,so

they dist ract attention away from you .

What I call Openness refers to an attitude of performing

everything as

openl y and

cleanly as poss ible : showing them

through words and actions that you re going out of your way to

be fair and that you r eno t cheat

ing

on them.

Example: Slydini's Knotted Silks.

The spectator'sthemselves tie the knots. Tony tugs on them, and

asks O .K? O.K? He goes

ou t

of his way to make sure that the

spectatorsare a hundred percent satisfied that the silks are tied.

Then t he m agi c happens

A more detai led example: An Ambitious Card routine.

The spectator replaces his card

into

the fanned deck. In closing

the fan, sidesteal the

card i nt oyour

right hand (the Eyes,

andt he

Name as misdi rection) : Now at this point, Steven...... . In

bringing the deck up to the left fingertips, in front of the

spectator 's eyes (because you want to be as fair as

pos

sible):

The palmed card is replaced on top: ... how far down from the

top of the dek

woul

d you say your card is? He gives his

response,

conv

incing

himself

.

Very openly (hands well forward towards him) perform a double

turn-over, showing an indifferent card on top of the deck: Well,

one thing s for sure.../ts no t on top, ri

ght

? .. Repeat the double

turn-over and hol d the

deck

loosely on your extended and

motionless left palm as you perterm your magic gesture over the

cards. With all attention on the card s, turn over the top card to

show the selection has risen to the top .

The effect youll gel out of this h nd ling ismuch

suonq er

than it you held the de k l igh tly in your hand with your

elbows pressed into

your

sides and the deck two inches from

your stomach.

The second move is Vernon's Tilt: Move clos e to a person on

your right , displaying the sel ec tion at your right fingertips.

Pertorm Tilt. with the express intent of showing her that the card

goes into the middle

: Watch. TI,e 5C.. ./nto the centre

of

the

deck.... Relax your lef t hand, mov ing it forward into an Open

Position , wi th her looking at it from behind: You saw the card go

in, yes?....

In lhis case you involve

one spec tato r

specifically. She

verifies for everyone the truth of what you say.

Perterm a double l ift to show the ca rd is back on top : And yet it

still comes back to the top...

One fast time... Pick up the double card and bring i tto the right

edge

of the deck, in preparation for the turn-over. Draw attention

to it: ..The 5C... Del iberately, f lip it over, take the top card and

move your left hand forward , so several people are seeing the

deck from behind. Insert

the

card into the centre of the deck

(supposedly the same actions you performed the last time) . Very

openly push the card in.

They

see every thing from all sides:

..Into

t

centre of the deck.... Yes? Yes?...

Here. everyone verify the t ruth of your slatements.

Pertorm your

magi

c gesture, then turn over the top card : And

still om s .... tothe top .

The above examples illustrate how , by adopting an atti tude of

Openn ess (doing nothing different technically) , you can greally

amplify the effect on the spec tators .


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Most mov es w hi ch req ui re mis di re ctio n ta ke o nl y a s pl it s ec on d

to perform. The rest of the time you should be in an Open

P os it io n. Th ey mis s a few d etai ls , b ut they d on t know it. All they

r em em be r is t ha t you w en t out of y ou r way t o be f air and a bo ve

b oa rd . H ow s th at for a l as ti ng i mp re ss io n?

COORDINATION OF ACTIONS, A ND TH E P RIOR IT Y OF

MOVEMENTS

The hum an eye is a tt ra ct ed by mot ion. Simple fact. But, the

hum an eye can really only f ocu s on one m ov em en t at a time.

Using the p ri nc ip le of t he Coordination 01 Actions one action

secondary) can pass unnoticed in the shadow ofanother action

primary).

The basis of this principle first verbalized by Tony Slydini) is that

b o th a c ti o ns egin an d stop at e xa ctl y the same t ime. Th e

ot her ele me nt lies in

the

c ho ic e of p rim ar y and s ec on da ry

actions.

Examples of the Priority 01 Movements:

1-A h an d m ov in g forward will t ake pr ec ed en ce over a h an d

relaxing back.

2-A hand rising will attract more attention than a hand dropping

down

to y ou r s id e.

3 -An y a ctio n w hi ch is

active

wil l command more attention than

an a ct io n w hi ch is passive.

4-Any action which you invest with

Importance

will t ak e

p re ce de nc e ov er a n a ctio n w hi ch y ou d o a utomatic al ly , without

thinking.

5-Additionally, any1hing

colourful,

flashy, well

l it, wil l draw more

attention that something

commonpl ce

and seemly unimportant.

These ar e b as ic p ri nc ip le s of t he at ri cal s ta gi ng , wh ic h can be

used for clandestine as well as overt actions.

A simple example: A bil liard ball steal.

The r ig ht hand a lr ea dy has a ball p al me d. Reach lorw rd with

yo ur rig ht h an d and produce t he p al me d ball at your fingertips

twisting your

body

s li gh tl y to the l eft); simultaneous d ro p y ou r

left h an d to

y ou r s id e>

b ot h a ct io ns s ta rt in g and s to pp in g at

exactly the s ame time. Th e i ns ta nt the ba ll a pp ea rs a t y ou r r igh t

f in ge rt ip s is the

instant

you steal the ball from the h ol de r with

y ou r l eft h an d.

T oss the ba ll i nto the a ir, mov in g the le ft h and b ack to i ts o ri gi na l

position as the ball goes up. Catch the ball, and go into a

flourishy roll of the ball between your extended index fingers.

Properly coordinated and timed,

the viewer will be

completely

unaware

that

the left

hand dropped

to

your

side. The primary

actions also make

lor a

good

effect.

A more extravagant example: Changing a woman into a tiger.

The

c ge

is c en tr e s ta ge , t he re are s te ps le ad in g up to it. The

a ss is ta nt c li mb s up the stairs,

and

enters the cage. A lar ge

c ol ou rful c lo th is p ul le d

down

over the front of the cage. Two

performers spin

the

cage forward into a brightly l it spotl ight right

at the edge

of the s tag e as a no th er a ss is ta nt q ui etly p ul ls the

stairs the supposedly-caged assistant now hidden inside) back

into the

dimly

lit

upstage

area, and offstage. There s a flash of fire

over the cage and the c lo th is pu lle d off, revealing that the

woman has changed i nto a tig er r igh t i n fron t o f the a ud ie nc e s

noses.

T he audience com pletely f o rg e ts t h er e we re e ve r s ta ir s o r

a n ot h er a s si s ta n t i n vo l ve d . T h e t r an s fo r ma t io n ,

and f in al

di splay posit i on applause cue), happens

right

up

close

to

the audience.

A m or e

complex

example

You ve j ust palm ed the f ou r Aces from the bo tt om of the deck

into your lef t h an d and w an t t o p ro du ce them from your pocket.

Your r ig ht hand m ov es f or wa rd t o h an d the deck t o a s pe ct at or

as your left h an d relaxes to y ou r side: Here give the cards a

shuffle..

If y o u d r o pp e d

your

left hand to

your

s id e, a nd t he n

moved

your right hand

forward,

you d have

two noticeable actions


5/12

Your right hand rises in a palm out gesture, bringing all eyes up

with t Oh. wail.. .. Open the righi side of your jacket and look

inside, as you b ring you r lett hand to your hip .

Opening your

jacke

t and tookinq in c reates

intere

st.

fOI

mo re

engaging than the left hand s sma ll mov

ement

Look up at the aud ience as you reach your lett hand into your

insid e pocket, closing the

jac

ket slightly around the

hand

as you

do. You may want to... Reopen your jacket and

look down

as

your left han d pulls the cards from your pocket. Display them in

both hands, chest height and forward in front of you : ...mix these

in there too ...

A l il lie more effective than simply diving your

hand into you r pocket, wouldn t you say? The

final display uses the same staging principles

(forward

and

high) to create a strong final

display position .

Movement and strong staging

allr

act attention. The Coordination

of Actions allows you to make secondary act ions invisible.

For every action there is a balanced

and oppos

ite reaction . For

every movement you want to pass unnoticed, all you have to do

is find a stronger action to counterbalance it. The

challenge

isto

find a primary

action which

Is logical and motivated .

Economy

of Motion

Simplicity is the u lt imate goa l. Anytime you can

eliminate

something extraneous do

so. Sometimes, its not so much

eliminating moves that you do , its a question of simplifying what

the audience perceives and remembers that you did . What we

are doing may be extremely complex. Misdirection, direction and

lhe Coordinal ion of Actions can be invaluable in simplifying which

actions the audience see and remember.

The examples given under the last section already demonstrate

this . Several actions were

made

impercepti

l

e primari ly to aid

deception, but , they also simplified the effects because the

audience was unaware of

hall

the things which were

going

on.

ACTIVE AND RELAXED STATES

When you relax

, your audience

relaxes

.

Th is is were

body

l

anguage and

stage

pr

esence

playa

major

role. This ties in with St

g i

ng and The Priority of Movements I ve

already discussed . If you look at the examples I gave then you ll

notice that aside from the directions I mentioned there was also

an energy specification (eg : A hand moving forward takes

precedence over a hand relaxing back) .

Slydini s postures are a great example of this principle {though

restricted to close-up

magi

c seated at a table, and too

exaggerated for anyone other than Tony} . Tak

ea

look atpictures

of Slydini in action. You ll s ee

how

his whole body directs

attention to the point hes looking at. Look at a hockey player in

position for a face off . See how his whole be ing is focused on a

single objective. Performing

st n

up Move closer to the

audience, lean forward slightly, gesture with your hands well

f

orw

ard and project strongly forward (or in the direction you want

atte ntion

to go) .

Active physicality creates ten sion/attent ion

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Gary Kurtz - Misdirection