Split from:Good Magical Advice

[Meffy]

From the point of view of one who has been audience member and small-time "performer" but also a student and observer:

Play to your audience's expectations. Play mental judo, using the weight of those expectations to carry the weight of the effect. Example I've seen mentioned several times: When the audience are expecting a tricky move give them a divertingly suspicious red herring. Now they think they've seen "the tricky bit," they won't be as likely to be vigilant when you pull off the real smoove move.

[Bob Klase]

From the point of view of one who has been audience member and small-time "performer" but also a student and observer:

Play to your audience's expectations. Play mental judo, using the weight of those expectations to carry the weight of the effect. Example I've seen mentioned several times: When the audience are expecting a tricky move give them a divertingly suspicious red herring. Now they think they've seen "the tricky bit," they won't be as likely to be vigilant when you pull off the real smoove move.

That does work for some performers. Usually the ones that it will work for are the ones with enough experience and skill that they don't use it (other than 'sucker' tricks where a phoney explanation is given).

With a 'red herring', the audience walks away thinking they know how you did it and they're wrong. If you really need the red herring and don't use it, the audience walks away thinking they know how you did it and they're right. As far as the spectator is concerned there's no difference between those two options.

And that's exactly the problem with the Too Perfect Theory in my earlier post. You can let them figure out how the tricks works and be right, or you can give them a red herring so they'll be wrong, or you can try to do magic that leaves them with no possible explanation.

To paraphrase Erdnase (because I'm too lazy to go look up the actual quote right now), it's not enough that the audience doesn't know exactly what you did, they must not even suspect that you did anything.

[Meffy]

The best ones I'm thinking of kind of disprove themselves, so the sharp audience members realize they must've been mistaken... but only after it's too late. If I could remember some of what I've read through I could give examples, but that might break the "secrets" rule. I'm far from being able to put any of that into practice, probably won't approach it but it's worth having a go.

[Bob Klase]

The best ones I'm thinking of kind of disprove themselves, so the sharp audience members realize they must've been mistaken... but only after it's too late.

There would be a lot of examples of that and they would be different than just giving a false solution that keeps them away from the real solution. Johnsson's theory was more that you let them walk away with a false solution that also lets them credit you with skill. My opinion of that is that you're no longer doing magic and if you want them to walk away crediting you with showing them great skill (rather than great magic) then you should take up juggling or something.

[Meffy]

@Bob: I suppose you're right. I retract my statement.