A Misdirection Story

There is a definite difference between magic for magicians and magic for laymen. The most obvious is sometimes a fellow magician will not give you the same sort of reaction you would get from a laymen when performing a magic trick. Meaning the magician may not be as impressed as someone who is not in the know. At the same time there are some magic tricks out there that magicians love to watch and get enthusiastic to watch a sleight or a psychological technique being used when an audience member won’t think it’s that big of a deal.

Over the years there are effects I have developed which I believe only magicians would appreciate. These effects most of the time show off a great skill such as being able to do realistic blind shuffles, which are shuffles that leave the deck in the exact order it was in before you started the shuffle. It might also be a fancy and skillful way of revealing a card. In the end of the day though for a lay audience, it’s still just a card trick and using a multiple packet cut which took hours of practice to find a card is no different to them then if you used an easier or even gimmicked way of revealing a card.

There are also tricks I perform which are wonderful when played to someone on a one on one situation. On these moments I like to perform this sort of magic for one lay person and the rest of the audience being made up of magicians. In most cases the methods I’m using for such a trick are incredibly bold. So while the person who is not in the know witnesses a miracle, the magicians can’t believe the boldness utilized in performing the magic effect.

I asked a fellow magic fan to write the following passage:

I recall the first time I met Adam. It was when I attended my first meeting of the Lincoln Magical Society. Adam and the rest of the guys and gals in the LMS, welcomed me into the fold, and I was immediately impressed with Adam's talent after watching him do a few card tricks. After the meeting Adam and Dave Carr invited me to go with them to a bar to have a drink and talk magic. Even though I didn't have enough money to go, Adam insisted, saying that he would cover me and I could pay him back later.

While at the bar we tossed back a few, and began to trade chops. I don't remember everything that happened that night, but one incident is forever burned into my brain. Adam, Dave and I were sitting at a table talking, and a young woman noticed that we were performing card tricks for each other. We noticed her watching us and asked to join us and we offered to show her a few tricks.

Adam offered to do a card trick, and had the young woman pick a card. She looked at the card and Adam placed it face down on the table. The next few moments seemed to move in slow motion just like in the movies. Here is what happened from everyone else's point of view. Adam asked the woman about her ring, then he looked into her eyes and he named her card. Both Dave and I were shocked, but for entirely different reasons, because we saw two completely different things. I am sure Dave saw everything just I stated previously. I, on the other hand, saw a moment of pure magic that haunts me to this day. It was at the moment that Adam asked the woman about her ring, for whatever reason, perhaps I was taking a drink of my beer; this clever bit of misdirection did not take me in. I sat in disbelief while two things happened at once. The woman looked at her ring explaining that it was a gift or something to that effect, and I watched in bewildered awe as Adam looked down at the table and peeked at the tabled card. Even though I know that Adam just peeked at the pip, I swear to me it looks as if he flipped the card completely over, stared at it for a good minute. Like I said it was like slow motion. After his peek at the card, he just looked back at the woman and asked her to look into his eyes. He then named the card. It was perfect, the woman was just floored and so were Dave and I. Once the woman left, I just looked at Adam and asked him, "Is it hard to walk, with balls that big?" I told Adam that was the boldest move I had ever seen. Dave was completely clueless about what I was talking about and Adam just sat back in his chair, and smiled.

I need to clear up a couple of things just for completeness. It’s funny I still remember the girl’s name of that night. (Felecia) This isn’t really a trick I go out of my way to perform, but when it hits it’s a miracle for both laymen and magicians and later I’ll tell you what happens when I miss.

Anyway, after the other two magicians showed a couple of cards tricks she asked if I could do anything. Here’s what actually happened. I spread the cards out on the table and asked her if there were any funny marks on the back of the cards. She stated no. I then asked her to slide a card towards her on the table. Now before she could look at it, I noticed she was wearing an exotic ring. It was one of those rings girls wanted you to notice. How I look at it, if they didn’t want you to notice they wouldn’t wear it. I acknowledged the ring and asked her if it was a gift from a relative.

Exactly at that moment, she looked down at the ring and held it up to the light so she could admire it while she told me where she had gotten it from. While she was doing that, I moved in without drawing attention to the movement and looked at the pip of the card by merely placing my hand on top of the card and bending the corner up using my thumb. This gave me the glimpsing opportunity. At the time she didn’t catch me, so I drew her attention back to the card trick and asked her if she had a free selection.

She said yes.

I asked her if there was anyway for her to know what the card was.

She said no.

I told if there was no way for her to know what the card was and she was the one to pick it then there would be no way for me to know what the card was, correct?

It made sense to her at the time, so she agreed.

I told her to look at the card while I looked away.

After she noted the card and with some more mysterious by play I plucked the card from her thoughts and revealed what the card was.

I had two magicians there with me. Felecia, the spectator was seated on my right. One magician was seated at my left and missed the peek. The other magician was sitting right across from me and witnessed the peek.

Now what I was thinking during this time is a lot more important then the motions and movements used to perform this miracle. When performing these tricks there is a chance you will get caught. If my direction of Felecia’s attention wasn’t strong enough, then she could have easily caught me looking at her card. Luckily, most people in general are vain and when they’re not out to catch you then they’re more than happy to tell you about themselves. When people go inside their minds to remember something most of the time they look away for just a split second, which gives you plenty of time to do whatever secret move you want to perform.

Also in the rhythm of the trick and the environment I was in, Felecia didn’t think the trick had even started yet.

Keep in mind that I did have a back up plan if I got caught. If by chance she caught me peeking at her car and you can tell when you get caught I would have changed the trick and done something else such as Paul Harris’s Ultimate Rip-off. Again at the time she didn’t know what trick I was going to perform and she didn’t even know the trick had already started.

The number one advantage a magician has over his audience is the magician knows what’s going to happen.

That is the main reason someone always asks to see something again. It’s so that the next time around they’re ready for it and know what to look for.

Always wishing the best,
Adam White

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