Smile and the world smiles with you
Misdirection is quite possibly the best known magic technique. You’d be hard pushed to find a lay-man who hasn’t heard of it. Needless to say, there has been numerous chapters and books dedicated to the subject.
The real secret is that you are the best misdirection. This may pain a few magicians who often tend to deflect attention away from themselves and hurry through any slow moments or pauses for fear of dead time.
The classic technique of asking a question to get a volunteer to look up is fine, but not if it is the first time you have looked at them. You need to make yourself interesting, I don’t mean with hobbies like Wing Walking but worth looking at.
Smiling is the bare minimum but make sure you use facial expressions too. Facial expressions are a natural way to communicate and as such we are programmed to look out for them and pay attention to them. Therefore, it will become natural for your audience to look up at you during any brief moment of inaction as they will be looking for communication they may miss otherwise.
If you only communicate verbally this opportunity is lost. You can compare it to listening to the radio, it really doesn’t matter where you focus your gaze, however you need to watch a television because the visual action is equally as important to the whole experience.
When delivering any lines, not just instructions, do it to the audience and not to the cards or whatever props you are holding. Wait until the spectators have met your eyes before talking.
This is not only for moments requiring misdirection, but for all moments where nothing is happening elsewhere. It will create a strong bond with you and the audience and the better you connect the better everyone’s experience will be. If your face expresses fun or amazment that will be passed on to the spectators. If you think they are important enough to meet their eyes, they will attribute the same importance to you.
Also by looking up at your spectators you will notice those with eagle eyes burning your hands, these are the people you need to ask the questions to as they need stronger misdirection. It can be uncomfortable to wait for their focus to shift at first but believe me in becomes easier and it also makes your magic easier.
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