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MAGIC
By
MISDIRECTION
CHAPTER FIVE

Well now, let's see what we have unearthed so far:

Back in the second chapter we found the magician simulating taking a ball during the execution of The French Drop. We found him dissimulating with the left hand, the hand containing the baIl, holding this hand as if it were empty. He disguised this hand, disguised it as an empty one. Meanwhile he diverted attention from the hand actually holding the ball to the one in which he pretended to take it. His conduct and posture were natural to a condition of having actually taken the ball. He was confident and relaxed.

A bit further in the second chapter we discover a man interpreting his words, actions and implications in the light of his individual interests. He interprets them for the benefit of another person-to influence that person. He accomplishes his interpreting through skillful and convincing acting.

In the case of The Diebox, the performer dissembles when he disguises the nested die and shell as a die only. He resorts to maneuver in handling the die and shell so that they are not betrayed as such, so that the metal shell will not "talk." He simulates handling a simple die when he must cope with the more complex combination of a nested die and shell.

He dissimulates when he handles the diebox, pretending to be handling a simple container instead Qf the specially prepared device it is. Again the manipulations through which this box goes is a maneuver to prevent betrayal of its secret features.

To get the solid die into the hat he resorts to a ruse. Or he may use a maneuver, coupled with misdirection, to accomplish the same result.

If he elects to utilize the ruse, he must simulate taking out the real die in the act of removing the shell.

He must again resort to a ruse as an excuse for turning the back of the diebox toward the audience during the act of inserting the shell. It is a ruse again which supplies the cover for holding the loaded hat above the eye-level of the assisting spectator.

With the shell in the box, the magician must pretend it contains the die itself. He must pretend to shift the die from side to side during the business of opening the doors. He must pretend to misunderstand the demands of the spectators. He must pretend to be in trouble.

In the performance of the burned bill trick, explained in the last chapter, there are many psychological applications.

The magician anticipates the suspicions of his spectators at the climax of the trick by stressing the fairness of the selection of the particular banknote used and emphasizing its unmistakable identifications before it ever reaches his hands.

He disguises handing the envelope out for examination, even though it goes out for that purpose. He disguises this action to prevent premature forewarning as to its ultimate purpose. Even though it is necessary to fold the bill to its ultimate size to fit the ring box, he disguises the reason by apparently folding it to put it into the envelope. He even disguises its ultimate size so that it will not appear to be unnaturally small when placed in the envelope. He accomplishes this disguise by partially unfolding it.

He resorts to a ruse to gain possession of the envelope so that he will have time to prepare it with the necessary slit for stealing the bill. It is a ruse, apparently opening the envelope with his thumb, which disguises the secret manipulation of cutting the slit with the thumbnail. It is misdirection which diverts attention from his hands while this is being done.

The act of putting the banknote in position for ultimately stealing it is disguised as putting it into a secure container, the envelope. Covering the slit with the fingers and carelessly turning the face of the envelope toward the audience in the act of moistening it, diverts suspicion from that side of the envelope.

Concealing the telltale slit and the absence of the bill is disguised as the act of folding and twisting the envelope. While this is being done the performer simulates holding an envelope containing a bill, while he dissimulates with the left hand in which it is actually concealed.

He disguises getting rid of the bill as an act of getting a blank check. Essential movements are confused with non-essential detail to obscure the path of correct solution. Taking the envelope containing the blank check simulates taking the envelope into which the signed check was placed.

The presence of the two envelopes necessary for the exchange is disguised by using a packet of several envelopes. Getting rid of the envelope containing the signed check is disguised as merely putting aside the no longer necessary packet. Attention is diverted from the packet and misdirected toward the exchanged envelope.

Attention is diverted to the spectator, while the magician loads the bill into the ring box. This attention control is made possible, as has been pointed out, by having the spectator hold the burning envelope. The fire is a distraction. The performer covers his own secret operation by disguising it as a perfectly natural subconsciously relaxed posture.

Then he anticipates the critical climactic move. He reduces the degree of attention upon the actual move of loading the ring box into the sack by resorting to monotonous ingemination or repetition. By the time it is necessary to utilize the move its external aspect has become commonplace. It no longer attracts attention.

It is a kind of misdirection that implies to the spectators that the banknote is already in the package, when actually it is not. This is premature consummation. It leads the spectators to believe that the deed has been accomplished. This disarms them. Thus, they are off-guard when the objective is actually accomplished later.

The use of several wrappings is an application of confusion. Later, when they attempt to analyze the possibilities, the spectators are confronted with so many situations that they are bewildered. They have no idea, even if they suspect that the bill was loaded during the unwrapping, just when it was done.

The performer disguises taking the successive wrappings from the assistant as an act of accommodation. Actually, he is anticipating the vital loading move. When he does load the ring box this is disguised as taking the paper sack.

It is suggestion on the part of the performer that leads the spectator to think that something is wrapped within the ball of cord. Inducing the spectator to return the ball to the sack, while it is being unrolled, is disguised as a suggestion for controlling the ball during this operation. Actually this creates a situation which simulates an aspect that would be true if the ring box were actually within the ball.

The entire finish of the trick is simply a planned ruse to simulate the taking of a subsequently borrowed bill from within a multiple-wrapped package. The banknote never was within the package. The whole thing is a fraud and a hoax. Disguise is probably the fundamental stratagem making possible the entire effect. The final effect is something quite ordinary disguised as something extraordinary, largely through subtle suggestion on the part of the magician.

In addition to the artifices revealed in the analysis of the psychological deceptions utilized in the two tricks just discussed, there is still one principle that is important. This is the stratagem of holding out a false objective.

Later in this work an important trick depending upon psychological principles, Steve Shepard's Vanishing Glass Trick, will apply this principle of false objective effectively. This idea rests entirely upon giving the spectator to understand that the magician expects to accomplish a certain objective, whereas actually he intends to do something entirely different. Of course, it is a form of disguise. As such, it has been discussed before. The performer merely disguises his ultimate purpose.

Now let's see what we have unearthed.

These attacks upon the spectator take three general directions. Some of them are in the form of influencing the external appearance of what the performer is doing. Others are for the purpose of shaping the spectators understanding. The remainder are directed at the spectators' attention.

External appearances are influenced through simulation, dissimulation, ruse, disguise, monotony, and maneuver. While these, of course, influence understanding and attention, their strongest impact is upon the senses. No conscious thought effort on the part of the spectator is required. These factors simply accentuate that which seems to be.

Simulation is a bewildering way of saying something is made to look like what it is not. Webster defines simulation as the act of assuming the appearance of, without the reality-feigning. When one simulates there is an implication of the assumption of a false appearance. This suggests an attempt to make something seem other than what it really is by imitating the latter's external identifying indications such as characteristics, marks, symbols or other signs.

As pointed out previously, the performer simulates taking the ball during the execution of The French Drop. He assumes the appearance of taking the ball, without actually doing so. He feigns, or falsely represents, taking the ball. It is a false appearance. He does this by imitating the true action. The true action is a simple one. It involves grasping the ball and carrying it away, with the performer's attention following the presence of the ball. This perfectly natural action involves no peculiar maneuvers of either hand. It calls for no peculiar facial expressions, no wild or eccentric wavings of the arms, no florid gestures of exaggerated grace.

Were flailing arms, peculiar tics and other external singularities evident during such a simple-and natural-action, the observer would instantly, even instinctively, conclude that the subject of his observation was mentally unbalanced, a character or-of all things-a magician. By these signs ye shall know them!

It is easy to confuse simulation and dissimulation. But they mean entirely opposite purposes.

Dissimulation means the act of concealing the real fact by pretense. When a person dissimulates it suggests that he conceals that which is true. It is an act of hiding something, of covering up, of withholding knowledge. It keeps something secret. It hides the presence of the ball in the left hand, as an example, during The French Drop.

Consider the distinction in the two words. Simulation is a positive act. It shows a false picture. Dissimulation is a negative act. It hides a true picture. One reveals. The other conceals. What the first reveals is false. What the second conceals is true. They are exact opposites. Simulate means similar to what one is not. Dissimulate means dissimilar to what one is. Addison and Steele said in TATLER. Simulation is a pretense of what is not, and dissimulation a concealment of what is.

So, during the execution of The French Drop, while the right hand simulates taking the ball, the left hand dissimulates simultaneously. This left hand hides the presence of the ball. Like the right hand's simulation, it is a false appearance. But this is all they have in common. The dissimulation is accomplished by imitating the false condition.

Notice that the right hand imitates the true condition while the left hand imitates the false condition.

This action, too, is simple. The false condition here is one of emptiness. There is no reason for any attention being given to an empty hand. Apparently that hand has served its purpose for the moment. An empty hand is not clutched tight spasmodically. It is not held tense. It is not fostered and guarded with anxiety. An empty hand is relaxed. And it is disregarded.

Admittedly both of the stratagems are forms of disguise. As a matter of fact, all forms of disguise are either simulation or dissimulation. Disguises either reveal a false appearance or conceal the true picture. So, since this term includes both of the specific stratagems, we shall use the word disguise as a generalized term for either where a nice distinction in meaning is not required.

A ruse is a crafty expedient to divert attention from the magician's real purpose. It is cunning and skillful and is designed to deceive the spectator. It is advantageous to the performer, and it is apt and suitable to the objective in view. It is a suitable means to accomplish an end. It gives a false impression by diverting attention from the magician's real purpose or by making what is untrue seem true. Prom the latter sense, all magic is a ruse. All tricks are designed to make what is untrue seem true.

But in the specific sense, as used in magic, the ruse is a feint that distracts the spectator's attention from the magician's real objective. Thus, in the case of finding an excuse for putting the nested die and shell in the hat, during the performance of The Diebox Trick, the performer gives a false impression. He finds a plausible alternative reason for his action. This diverts attention from his real reason, since knowledge of his real intent, on the part of his spectators, would foster disaster.

The ruse must be plausible and convincing. If it is not, it ceases to be a ruse. A blundering ruse becomes an attractor of attention. It attracts attention to the performer's real objective. It creates suspicion and intensifies scrutiny whereas its real purpose is to divert attention and lull suspicions. A ruse that fails is an exposure of the magician's true purpose.

When the performer is confronted with a situation, such as the necessity of turning the back of the diebox toward the audience when he inserts the shell die-a situation which must attract suspicion because the handling of the box is not natural-he must resort to a ruse. He must provide a plausible alternative reason for turning the box. This is necessary because the real reason must be concealed. Knowledge of the real reason would reveal the secret of a vital part of the trick.

So the ruse is selected from a list of plausible excuses, all of which are untrue. The ruse makes it possible for the magician to do an unnatural thing naturally. The ruse also makes it possible for the performer to do a natural thing under a guise other than the true one. In the latter case he conceals the real reason with a plausible false one.

Invariably the ruse is a plausible, but untrue, reason, or action conveying a reason, for concealing the true purpose for doing some-thing. It must be convincing.

Monotony may be defined as an intentional repetition of what is apparently the same action. After a while this action becomes commonplace to the spectators. It ceases to attract close attention. After it has become commonplace, this action is utilized to accomplish some secret objective. It is effective because the action is not scrutinized closely. In fact, the action is often entirely ignored by the spectators.

This is an act of nondirection by obliteration.

Thus, the repeated taking of the wrappings at the finish of the bill trick obliterates, to the spectators, the significance of the vital loading move. They completely ignore it.

But it is seldom that an action or a thing may be made so inconspicuous as to be obliterated from attention. The process takes too long. Therefore, there is only one thing left to do when the performer must be rid of too close attention on some operation. He must divert this attention to something else. He diverts the attention by temporarily substituting a new, and stronger, interest somewhere else.

In the bill trick the performer misdirects the attention of the spectators by diverting the interest to the spectator. Later in the trick he diverts attention from the packet of envelopes and concentrates interest upon the exchanged One. During the action of loading the bill into the ring box, the interest and attention are swung to the burning envelope.

Invariably, substituting a new, and stronger, interest somewhere else diverts attention.

The maneuver is a series of movements or actions. It is an adroit and dexterous management and manipulation of circumstances and actions. It is a series of actions or situations, even in a difficult or dangerous situation, handled with skill and address. It reveals sureness and lightness of handling and planning without suggesting resistance to overcome. It is an expertly and neatly handled series of movements which have been planned with nicety of perception and tact.

In the alternative method of dropping the die in the hat, during The Diebox Trick, the maneuver is planned in complete detail. The nested die and shell are held in the right hand so the left will have to take up the hat. The table upon which the hat rests is placed at the magician's right purposely. With the nested die and shell in the right hand, it is necessary for the performer to reach across the body for the hat. The right hand clears the way by moving upwards. There is another reason for the right hand to be elevated. This is so the solid die may be dropped into the hat at the exact instant the hat is immediately below the nested die and shell. This part of the maneuver, then, of course, is a ruse.

Continuing the maneuver: At the moment the hat is below the die, the performer diverts attention away from them by speaking to a spectator. When the attention has swung, the magician allows the die to slip into the hat. This is done without noticeable delay in moving the hat and without betraying movements of the right or left hands. Both hands must move as if the hat were still empty and as if the die were still in the hand, as, indeed, the presence of the shell suggests in the latter case. This phase of the maneuver is dissimulation.

In a convincing and plausible manner, the hat is then elevated and handed to the spectator to hold.

From this as an example, it may be seen that the maneuver is an artfully planned and skillfully executed process or course of action, preplanned to influence appearances, apparently extemporaneous, without any suggestion of resistance to overcome.

Summing up what we have found, we may say that external appearances are influenced by:

  1. actions or objects which show a false picture;
  2. actions or objects which conceal a true state of affairs:
  3. substituting false reasons in order to conceal the magician's true purposes;
  4. lulling the spectators' attention;
  5. by diverting the spectators' attention; and
  6. by planning and executing courses of action or procedure, toward a definite objective, artfully and skillfully.
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